Donald Trump's Pressures Behind Tesla's Shift: AI6.5 Chips Could End Up at Intel

In April, Elon Musk outlined plans for Tesla's next-generation AI dedicated processors. On that occasion, he explained that the AI6 chip would be manufactured using Samsung's 2-nanometer production process at its facilities in Arizona, while the more advanced AI6.5 version would be entrusted to TSMC, also in the United States.

According to new rumors, this plan may change. A report relayed by well-known informant Jukan, based on a source appearing on Weibo, claims that Tesla is considering transferring the production of the AI6.5 chip to Intel. Intel, which is also the production partner of the TeraFab project. This choice is said to have matured following strong pressure and insistence from the Trump administration, particularly focused on supporting the revival of the American group.

The AI6 chip is expected to complete the tape-out in December 2026, while AI6.5 would arrive a few months later. Both projects would utilize a large amount of integrated SRAM memory, a solution that, according to Musk, allows for a significantly higher effective bandwidth compared to that offered by DRAM for cached operations. The two processors are also expected to adopt the new LPDDR6 memory and guarantee performance about twice that of the current AI5, while maintaining similar die sizes.

Interestingly, Tesla's current AI5 chip, codenamed Helios, is reportedly being foundried by TSMC and Samsung, and the next-generation AI6 was also originally expected to be split between those two foundries. However, under strong pressure and encouragement from the Trump administration, the scenario may be changing.

Further details on the Tesla and AI5 chip issue: Currently, Tesla produces the AI5 chip, codename Helios, mainly through TSMC, with Samsung employed as support at times of peak production capacity. For this reason, the possibility of shifting some production to Intel is still considered uncertain, especially since the American group's most advanced production nodes have not yet reached the same maturity and reliability as the solutions offered by TSMC.

The Chinese source claims that both Apple and Tesla could become symbolic examples of the Trump administration's industrial strategy, aimed at favoring the return of advanced chip production to the United States in view of the midterm elections. Recently, the hypothesis of an agreement between Apple and Intel for processor production had already emerged. As of now, there are no official confirmations from Tesla, Intel, or TSMC.