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How Elon Musk hopes his new supercomputers will boost his businesses
GOOGLAlphabet(GOOGL) CNBC·2024-09-21 13:00

Core Insights - Elon Musk is focusing on building new supercomputers to enhance artificial intelligence capabilities for Tesla and his AI startup xAI [1][3] - Tesla's custom-built supercomputer, Dojo, is central to its strategy of being viewed as an AI/robotics company rather than just a car manufacturer [1][2] - The company plans to invest 500millionintheDojosupercomputerlocatedinBuffalo,NewYork,andisalsodevelopinganothersupercomputerclustercalledCortexinAustin,Texas[1][3]Tesla′sAIandAutonomousDrivingEfforts−DojowillprocessvastamountsofvideoanddatafromTeslavehiclestoimprovedriverassistancefeatureslikeAutopilotandFullSelf−Driving(FSD)[2][3]−Teslahassoldover5millioncars,eachequippedwithmultiplecameras,generatingsignificantdatafortrainingAImodels[2][3]−Despitetheadvancements,neitherAutopilotnorFSDcurrentlyallowsforfullyautonomousdrivingandrequiredriversupervision[2][3]CompetitiveLandscape−Tesla′srecentearningsreportshoweddisappointingresults,andthecompanyislaggingbehindcompetitorslikeWaymo,GM′sCruise,andAmazon′sZooxinautonomousvehicletechnology[3]−TheanticipatedrobotaxieventhasbeenpostponedtoearlyOctober,indicatingpotentialdelaysinTesla′sautonomousvehiclerollout[3]InvestmentinAI−Teslaplanstospend500 million in the Dojo supercomputer located in Buffalo, New York, and is also developing another supercomputer cluster called Cortex in Austin, Texas [1][3] Tesla's AI and Autonomous Driving Efforts - Dojo will process vast amounts of video and data from Tesla vehicles to improve driver assistance features like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) [2][3] - Tesla has sold over 5 million cars, each equipped with multiple cameras, generating significant data for training AI models [2][3] - Despite the advancements, neither Autopilot nor FSD currently allows for fully autonomous driving and require driver supervision [2][3] Competitive Landscape - Tesla's recent earnings report showed disappointing results, and the company is lagging behind competitors like Waymo, GM's Cruise, and Amazon's Zoox in autonomous vehicle technology [3] - The anticipated robotaxi event has been postponed to early October, indicating potential delays in Tesla's autonomous vehicle rollout [3] Investment in AI - Tesla plans to spend 10 billion on AI initiatives this year, including the development of its humanoid robot, Optimus, which will be utilized in factories starting next year [3] - Musk's new AI venture, xAI, aims to create large language models and AI products, positioning itself as an alternative to existing tools from OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google [3][4] xAI Supercomputer Development - xAI is building a supercomputer in Memphis, Tennessee, to train its chatbot Grok, with a portion of this supercomputer, named Colossus, already operational [4]