Elon Musk confirmed over the weekend that Tesla has disbanded the team working on its Dojo AI training supercomputer, just weeks after announcing he expected to have Tesla’s second cluster operating at scale by 2026. Musk stated that once it became clear all paths converged to AI6, he had to shut down Dojo and make tough personnel choices, as Dojo 2 was now an evolutionary dead end. He added that Dojo 3 arguably lives on in the form of multiple AI6 systems-on-a-chip on a single board.
After launching its first Dojo supercomputer, powered by a mix of Nvidia GPUs and in-house D1 chips, Tesla had planned to build a second Dojo facility, referred to as Dojo 2, which would have used a second-generation D2 chip. However, development of the D2 chip has been shelved alongside the broader Dojo project as Tesla shifts focus to its AI5 and AI6 chips, manufactured by TSMC and Samsung, respectively.
The AI5 chip is primarily designed for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, while AI6 is intended for onboard inference—powering self-driving cars and autonomous humanoid robots—as well as large-scale AI training. Musk explained that dividing resources between two different AI chip designs no longer made sense, emphasizing that Tesla’s AI5, AI6, and future chips will excel at inference while being sufficiently capable for training.
Musk also noted that for a supercomputer cluster, it makes more sense to integrate multiple AI5 or AI6 chips on a single board to reduce network cabling complexity and cost. He suggested this approach could be considered Dojo 3.
Musk has discussed Dojo since 2019, positioning it as a key component in Tesla’s pursuit of full self-driving and humanoid robotics. However, mentions of Dojo faded around August 2024 when Musk began promoting Cortex, a new AI training supercluster under development at Tesla’s Austin headquarters. It remains unclear whether Cortex is still in progress.
The shift in strategy coincides with Tesla’s declining EV sales and brand challenges following Musk’s political engagements. Despite a slow and limited robotaxi launch in Austin in June, which reportedly involved multiple incidents of erratic driving behavior, Musk continues to emphasize Tesla’s commitment to autonomy.
Tesla had invested $500 million in a Dojo facility in Buffalo, New York, but the fate of this project is now uncertain. TechCrunch has reached out to Tesla for further details.