Samsung Completes Tape-Out of Tesla AI5 Chip for 2nm Production at Texas Fab

Samsung Electronics has completed the design of its version of Tesla’s AI5 chip for self-driving systems and is preparing to start production at its foundry fab in Taylor, Texas, reported multiple media reports.

This news as per sources prompted by  a LinkedIn post by Samsung Foundry principal engineer James Kim stated that the Tesla-Samsung AI5 chip had reached tape-out and was scheduled to be manufactured at the Taylor fab using Samsung’s 2-nanometer process. The post, which was later deleted, added that the chip would soon be integrated into Tesla’s newest products.

The forthcoming AI5 chip is an in-house Tesla design that integrates custom neural cores and ARM CPUs. It follows Tesla’s current AI4 self-driving computer, which is built on Samsung’s 7nm process.

Tape-out is the stage at which a chip design is finalized and handed over for manufacturing. After prevalidation, the design is used to produce photomasks and wafer fabrication for engineering samples, followed by customer qualification before mass production.

In April, Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on X that the Tesla AI5 team had taped out the chip’s design to both Samsung Electronics and TSMC. Musk noted that slightly different versions of the chip would be produced by the two companies because they translate designs to physical form differently.