Elon Musk reveals Tesla is making its own AI chips for self-driving cars — and he claims the technology will be the ‘best in the world’

Musk predicted self-driving cars would hit the streets in the next two years.Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters

• Tesla is making AI chips for its autonomous vehicles.
• CEO Elon Musk broke the news on Thursday at a company party following an intelligence conference.
• Jim Keller, the company’s vice president of hardware, indicated that producing the chips in-house could allow Tesla to make them much more powerful at a fraction of their current cost.

Tesla is producing AI chips for its autonomous vehicles, according to CNBC.

CEO Elon Musk broke the news on Thursday at a company party following an intelligence conference in Long Beach, CA. “Jim is developing specialized AI hardware that we think will be the best in the world,” Musk reportedly said, referring to Jim Keller, Tesla’s vice president of hardware.

Musk offered no specific details about Tesla’s chip development efforts, though Keller indicated that producing AI chips in-house could allow Tesla to make them much more powerful at a fraction of their current cost.

Musk also claimed that fully-autonomous vehicles will be on the road in the next two years.

The competition to develop self-driving technology has become fierce in recent years, involving both traditional car companies like Ford and GM, as well as tech companies like Alphabet and Apple and ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.