Tesla has made no secret of the fact that it wants to put fully autonomous cars on roads in the next few years. The company needs the best in hardware and software to make this dream a reality. According to a new report, Tesla is now developing its own chips for self-driving cars. It’s reportedly working with AMD to refine its new chip. This move is being viewed as a decision by Tesla to reduce its reliance on NVIDIA.
Tesla currently sources chips from NVIDIA that are crucial to its Autopilot semi-autonomous driving system. Tesla previously sourced chips from Mobileye, the Israel-based company that was acquired by Intel earlier this year for over $15 billion.
Citing a source familiar with the matter, CNBC reports that Tesla has received back samples of the first implementation of the dedicated self-driving chip. The desire to build its own chip is said to be aligned with Tesla’s wish to be more vertically integrated and less reliant on other companies.
Heading Tesla’s silicon project is Jim Keller, a veteran chip architect who has previously worked at both Apple and AMD. He joined Tesla early last year and is now the head of Autopilot hardware. Keller is reportedly heading a team of over 50 people. Tesla has brought in several AMD veterans after Keller was hired.
Tesla has not officially commented on this report.