The Register reported on April 23 that Elon Musk (일론 머스크) said on Tesla’s earnings conference call that he plans to produce in-house AI chips using Intel’s unfinished 14A process.

Musk said he was happy to work with Intel on core manufacturing technology and that Tesla would use Intel’s 14A process for Terafab, its plan to produce its own chips.

He acknowledged that 14A is a cutting-edge process and is not yet fully finished. He said that by the time Terafab scales up, 14A will be fairly mature or ready for deployment.

14A is a future process one generation ahead of Intel’s 18A, which has not yet entered mass production. It is seen as a card Intel is preparing to regain market leadership lost to rivals.

Musk explained that the reason for producing chips in-house was concern about supply shortages. He said he sees no way to secure enough AI chips in the future and expects to hit a wall if he does not make them directly.

Tesla is still selling many cars, but revenue fell from a year earlier and profit dropped more sharply. The Register said margins are being pressured as spending on AI and manufacturing increases.

Musk said he has an idea to make a dramatically better AI chip. He said it is a challenging idea at the research stage, but could deliver huge improvements if realised.