Tesla 'Looking at Samsung’ To Make Its Next-Gen Self-Driving Chips

Samsung Electronics is reportedly in talks with Tesla to make the US EV-maker’s next-generation self-driving chips.

The Korea Economic Daily reported on Thursday that the firms have discussed chip design multiple times since the beginning of the year and exchanged chip prototypes for Tesla’s upcoming Hardware 4 self-driving computer.

Samsung declined to comment, while Tesla did not have an immediate response.

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If Samsung wins the order, it is expected to make the chip on its 7-nanometre production process, the report said. Samsung already produces chips in Tesla’s current Hardware 3 computers.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said in the company’s AI Day event in August that Tesla would introduce new hardware for its self-driving computer for its Cybertruck electric pick-up truck in “about a year or so.”

In the chip contract manufacturing industry, Samsung is second to TSMC, which had 52.9% of market share compared to Samsung’s 17.3% as of end-June, according to analysis provider TrendForce.

Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

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Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.