[DigitalToday intern reporter Kyung-min Hong] Tesla has completed the design of AI5, its next-generation self-driving chip, and has entered the tape-out stage of requesting foundry production, marking a technological milestone.

Electrek, an electric-vehicle outlet, reported on Tuesday that Tesla CEO Elon Musk (일론 머스크) showed a physical sample of the AI5 chip on his X account and congratulated the design team on its achievement.

Tape-out is a key process in which the final semiconductor design is handed to a foundry. Tesla plans to use TSMC for AI5 production and apply Samsung's 2-nanometre process to the next-generation AI6. Even after the final design is delivered, it typically takes an additional 12 to 18 months for manufacturing, testing and validation before the chip is installed in vehicles.

Because of the physical time required in the process, the commercial rollout of AI5 is being delayed from what was originally promised. Musk said in 2024 that AI5 would be installed in the second half of 2025, but the mass production schedule has now been pushed back to mid-2027. To fill the gap, Tesla introduced AI4.5 as a temporary measure in late last year in the 2026 Model Y, with a slight performance improvement.

The Cybercab robotaxi, expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2026, has also been affected by the delay. Tesla says it needs to secure hundreds of thousands of AI5 boards to switch to mass production lines, but it will not be able to secure that volume until mid-2027. As a result, the Cybercab may have no choice but to come to market with the existing AI4 hardware used in the current Model 3 or Model Y, instead of the AI5 that Musk said would be 10 times more powerful.

Repeated hardware changes and launch delays are leaving Tesla with the task of declining customer trust behind the achievement of technological progress. Tesla has sold millions of vehicles while promising to deliver Full Self-Driving (FSD), but each time a next-generation chip is announced, the performance limits of existing hardware have been indirectly exposed.

In the end, the tape-out of AI5 symbolises the evolution of self-driving technology, while also suggesting that the timing of delivering promised functions has once again been pushed into the distant future for customers who own existing hardware.

Congrats to the @Tesla_AI chip design team on taping out AI5! AI6, Dojo3 & other exciting chips in work. pic.twitter.com/hm54TdIzBx