Tesla’s next-generation AI5 chip has reached another important milestone, this time on the manufacturing side. A Samsung Foundry principal engineer revealed on LinkedIn that the Tesla-Samsung AI5 chip has completed Samsung’s tape-out.
The post confirms the company’s version of Tesla’s processor is now ready to begin fabrication using its cutting-edge 2-nanometer process at the Taylor, Texas, semiconductor facility.
While Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in April that AI5 had reached tape-out, that milestone referred to Tesla completing the chip’s design. Samsung’s latest announcement marks the next phase of the process, confirming the foundry’s implementation is now complete and ready to begin manufacturing the chip on its 2nm production line.
The update is significant because Tesla is dual-sourcing AI5 between Samsung and TSMC, a strategy Musk has said is necessary to support what he expects will be one of the highest-volume AI chip deployments in the world.
Samsung’s tape-out moves its version of AI5 one step closer to engineering samples, although mass production remains some time away. According to Tesla’s current roadmap, high-volume manufacturing is still expected to begin in 2027.
Despite the progress, AI5 won’t be heading into Tesla vehicles anytime soon. During the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call, Musk confirmed AI5 is initially destined for Optimus humanoid robots and Tesla’s AI supercomputer clusters, explaining that the current AI4 hardware is already capable of delivering “much better than human safety” for FSD.
Instead of replacing AI4, Tesla plans to extend its lifespan with an upgraded AI4.1, or AI4+, featuring doubled memory, higher memory bandwidth, and roughly 10% more compute performance. That refreshed hardware is expected to enter production next year, with AI5 eventually making its way into vehicles only after AI4 becomes impractical to continue manufacturing.
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