Tesla AI5 chip tapes out on Samsung 2nm and TSMC; mass production expected mid-2027

Tesla/AI5 / AI6 chips and Dojo 3

A Samsung Foundry principal engineer wrote that the Tesla-Samsung AI5 chip had reached tape-out and would be made at Samsung's Taylor, Texas fab on its newest 2 nm process, then deleted the post. Musk had said in April that AI5 was taped out to both Samsung and TSMC, whose versions differ slightly. Samsung expects volume production of Tesla's AI chips at Taylor in the second half of 2027.

• Tape-out is followed by photomasks, engineering samples and customer qualification before mass production.
• Musk: each foundry makes "slightly different versions" because they translate designs to physical form differently.
• Samsung held an equipment move-in ceremony at Taylor in April 2026.
• AI6 mass production on Samsung 2 nm is now Q4 2027 at the earliest.