Tesla Disbands Dojo Supercomputer Team, Shifts Focus on External Partnerships
Tesla is shaking up its approach to developing in-house chips for driverless technology by disbanding the team behind its Dojo supercomputer, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The lead of the Dojo project, Peter Bannon, is leaving the company, and remaining team members will be reassigned to other data center and compute projects within Tesla, as per Bloomberg’s sources.
This move comes on the heels of around 20 workers leaving Tesla to start their own AI company called DensityAI. The startup, founded by former Dojo head Ganesh Venkataramanan and ex-Tesla employees Bill Chang and Ben Floering, is focused on developing chips, hardware, and software for AI applications in robotics, AI agents, and automotive technology.
While Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been vocal about positioning Tesla as an AI and robotics company, recent incidents during the limited robotaxi launch in Austin have raised concerns about the readiness of Tesla’s autonomous driving technology.
Despite Musk’s previous emphasis on Dojo as a crucial component of Tesla’s AI strategy, the company’s decision to disband the project marks a significant shift. Musk had touted Dojo’s capabilities to process vast amounts of video data and its potential to unlock new revenue streams through robotaxis and software services.
However, talks about Dojo waned in 2024 as Musk started promoting Cortex, Tesla’s new AI training supercluster in Austin. The Dojo project combined supercomputing with in-house chip-making, with Tesla unveiling its D1 chip at AI Day in 2021. The company had also been working on a next-gen D2 chip to address performance bottlenecks.
Now, Tesla is reportedly planning to increase its reliance on external partners like Nvidia and AMD for compute and Samsung for chip manufacturing. A recent deal with Samsung to produce AI6 inference chips highlights Tesla’s shift towards leveraging external expertise in chip design and manufacturing.
During Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call, Musk hinted at potential convergence between Dojo 3 and the AI6 inference chip, suggesting a streamlined approach to chip development and integration.
As Tesla navigates these changes, the company’s board has offered Musk a lucrative pay package to keep him focused on advancing Tesla’s AI initiatives. This move aims to ensure that Musk’s attention remains on Tesla’s core business and AI development efforts.
JS has reached out to Tesla for further insights on these strategic shifts in Tesla’s AI development roadmap.
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