Tesla has abandoned the race for creating its Dojo supercomputers for FSD and other features, as the firm now plans to increase reliance on external partners like NVIDIA.
Tesla Plans To Increase External Spending By Getting Its Chip From the Likes of NVIDIA & AMD
Well, Tesla's Dojo project was one of the first in the market to tap into the supercomputer segment on a more mainstream level. The company had been developing its hardware through partners like TSMC, and the goal was to accumulate as much computing power as possible to enable Tesla's FSD, along with other autonomous projects like humanoid robots. Now, based on a report by Bloomberg, it is revealed that Tesla is abandoning its Dojo supercomputer plans, as the team lead, Peter Bannon is leaving the company to pursue his own startup, called DensityAI.
It is claimed that the Dojo team lost around 20 employees to DensityAI. With the dwindling workforce, the remaining employee count has now been shifted to data center projects within the company. More importantly, Tesla will now increase its reliance on external partners such as NVIDIA for its computing needs, so ultimately, the company won't compromise on the computing power needed for projects like FSD. Apart from mounting competition in the AI markets, one of the main reasons why Dojo has been abandoned is the massive talent drain the team has faced.
The report states that Dojo's former head, Ganesh Venkataramanan, has founded DensityAI, which will also be joined by several ex-Tesla employees. The drain has convinced Musk to shut off the venture, but given that Musk is highly optimistic about the work being done at xAI, he eventually won't face hurdles in his plans to dominate the AI space. xAI is building up massive hyperscalers in the US, which would feed the computing needs necessary for AI-focused features needed for Tesla.
Given that Dojo is abandoned, it would be interesting to see what happens with the recent contract signed by Tesla and Samsung for the AI6 chips, which are also part of the company's pursuit of AI semiconductors.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
