Tech billionaire Elon Musk has confirmed that a $16.5 billion chip manufacturing deal between Samsung and an unnamed global tech giant is, in fact, for Tesla.
On Monday morning, a regulatory filing in South Korea revealed that Samsung had landed a long-term contract to produce advanced chips through 2033—but didn’t name the client. That changed a few hours later when Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter), saying the chips are for Tesla’s upcoming “next-generation AI6” processors.
Samsung’s giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip. The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2025
Samsung currently makes AI4.
TSMC will make AI5, which just finished design, initially in Taiwan and then Arizona.
The chips will be produced at Samsung’s facility in Texas, a strategic location that lines up with Tesla’s growing operations in the state. The AI6 chips are expected to power Tesla’s future AI ambitions, including Full Self-Driving (FSD), Dojo supercomputing, and other autonomous tech.
The confirmation also supports an earlier Bloomberg report, which first linked Tesla to the massive deal.
For Samsung, this is a much-needed win. The company has struggled in recent quarters, especially in its smartphone and memory businesses. But this contract signals a strong vote of confidence in Samsung’s chip-making capabilities, especially in the high-stakes AI hardware race.
Neither Tesla nor Samsung has disclosed further details about the chip’s specs or timeline, but with production running through 2033, it’s clear both companies are betting big on the future of AI.
If this article helped you, please consider supporting our work. Every small contribution keeps Abijita.com independent and running.
