Tesla Shuts Down Dojo Self-Driving Supercomputer Project: Report

Tesla’s ambitious Dojo supercomputer initiative, designed to develop proprietary AI chips for self-driving technology, has reportedly been discontinued. 

Bloomberg reports that CEO Elon Musk decided to end the project after a significant number of key engineers and chip architects left the company, many of whom have joined a new startup, DensityAI.

Leadership Changes and Delays

The Dojo project was Tesla’s attempt to reduce dependence on external chip suppliers like NVIDIA and AMD by building its own AI accelerator chips. However, the effort was marred by repeated delays and frequent leadership changes. 

Notable figures such as Jim Keller and Ganesh Venkataramanan, who played crucial roles in Tesla’s chip development, exited the company in 2018 and 2023, respectively. Most recently, Peter Bannon, who had been leading the Dojo programme, is also reported to be leaving.

According to Bloomberg, around 20 former Dojo team members have moved to DensityAI, a stealth startup founded by ex-Tesla employees, including Venkataramanan. 

DensityAI is reportedly working on AI chips for data centres and robotics, echoing the original goals of the Dojo project. The remaining Dojo staff at Tesla are being reassigned to other data centre and computing projects within the company.

Tesla Shifts Focus to External Chip Suppliers

Despite recent public statements from Musk suggesting progress on Dojo, Tesla has increasingly relied on external suppliers for its AI computing needs. The company’s upcoming AI5 and AI6 chips are set to be manufactured by TSMC and Samsung, respectively.

Commenting on this matter, Elon Musk wrote on X, “It doesn’t make sense for Tesla to divide its resources and scale two quite different AI chip designs.”

While the end of Dojo may not have a big impact on Tesla's core business, the continued loss of experienced staff could pose broader challenges for the company.

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