Elon Musk has shared new details about the production roadmap for Tesla’s upcoming generations of artificial intelligence (AI) chips, outlining a multi-year timeline that stretches into the late 2020s.
The timeline comes just a few days after Musk teased Tesla’s next-generation chips all the way up to AI8, even though the company is currently only on version AI4.
In a post on X, Musk confirmed that slightly different versions of the AI5 chip will be manufactured by both TSMC and Samsung, reflecting differences in each foundry’s design translation process. Despite those variations, Musk emphasized that “the goal is that our AI software works identically” across both chips.
According to Musk, AI5 will begin sample and limited production in 2026, with high-volume manufacturing expected in 2027. The following chip, AI6, will leverage the same fabrication partners and is expected to deliver roughly double the performance of its predecessor.
Volume production for AI6 is targeted for mid-2028, maintaining what Musk described as a “fast follow” cadence between generations.
No specific timelines were provided beyond that, but Musk did say AI7 is already in the planning phase and will require “different fabs” due to its more ambitious architecture. Musk also hinted at AI8, previously described as “out of this world,” suggesting a long-term roadmap of exponential performance improvements in Tesla’s custom silicon.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the timelines from Musk’s post, including previous generations:
- AI3 (HW3): 2019–2022
- AI4: 2023–2026
- AI5: 2026–2027
- AI6: Mid-2028
- AI7: 2029 or later
- AI8: 2030 and beyond
These new chips are central to Tesla’s broader vision for full autonomy. The company’s AI4 chip currently underpins the latest versions of its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system. With AI5 and AI6 still years away, this means the Cybercab, Tesla’s dedicated robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals and which is expected to start in Q2 2026, will initially rely on AI4 hardware before transitioning to next-generation processors in the years to come.
As Musk’s new roadmap highlights, Tesla’s AI chip journey stretches far into the future, despite persisting issues from the early days. The company’s early AI3 (HW3) platform, once touted as the foundation of FSD, struggled to deliver the real-world performance Tesla needed, and the company has promised to retrofit those vehicles with newer computers, but later said those retrofits won’t happen until FSD is solved.
