Intel to Make Mystery Chip for Tesla: AI6 or Something New?

Tesla has added another chipmaker to its growing list of silicon partners. Intel says Tesla has agreed to become a foundry customer for its upcoming 14A manufacturing process. Neither side has said what chip Intel will actually build.

Simply Wall St’s Bailey Pemberton reported that the news arrived alongside a broader Intel update. Intel also shared progress on output from its 18A node and announced a $20 billion equity raise to fund new factories for its foundry expansion.

A Big Get for Intel Foundry

Pemberton notes that Tesla gives Intel “a high profile external client willing to bet on its leading edge roadmap.” Intel has needed exactly that as it tries to prove it can compete with TSMC and Samsung on cutting-edge chips.

The two aren’t strangers. Earlier this year, Tesla and SpaceX partnered with Intel on the Terafab project, the massive chip factory Tesla hopes will eventually produce all of its chips in-house. The 14A deal appears to be separate, with Intel making chips in its own fabs.

So, What Chip Is It?

One possibility is a custom infotainment chip, but that’s a long shot. Tesla usually buys off-the-shelf processors for its Media Control Unit. The first-gen MCU ran on an Nvidia Tegra chip, MCU 2 used an Intel Atom processor, and MCU 3 switched to AMD Ryzen. An MCU 4 with a custom Intel-made chip isn’t impossible, just unlikely.

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A more likely explanation is that Tesla is securing extra capacity for its AI chips. AI5 already follows a dual-foundry strategy with Samsung and TSMC, and Samsung recently started trial production of AI5 at its Texas fab, with mass production expected in 2027. A single AI5 chip offers five times the compute of two current-gen AI4 chips combined. Tesla plans to put it in Optimus robots and AI training clusters before it eventually reaches vehicles. With that kind of demand, a backup supplier makes sense.

The timing points somewhere else, though. Intel markets 14A as a rival to TSMC’s 1.4nm-class A14 process, landing around 2028. AI5 is built on Samsung’s 2nm and TSMC’s 3nm nodes, so whatever Intel builds will likely be more advanced. That makes AI6 a strong suspect, even though Samsung already holds a $16 billion AI6 contract. It could also be a chip Tesla hasn’t announced yet.

Probably Not AI4+

One chip is almost certainly off the table: the upgraded AI4+ (or AI4.5) computer. Tesla plans to offer it to HW3 owners as a path to unsupervised autonomy, and those owners need it well before 14A is ready.

For now, Tesla and Intel haven’t shared dollar figures or timelines. If 14A stays on track for 2028, Tesla’s mystery chip should come into focus soon enough, possibly during Musk’s next update on the AI chip roadmap.