In an unexpected twist, Tesla has made a remarkable declaration of investing a staggering $500 million towards constructing a Dojo supercomputer cluster at its Gigafactory New York situated in Buffalo. This Dojo supercomputer, ingeniously crafted by Tesla, is uniquely tailored for the purpose of honing artificial intelligence (AI) skills by means of processing video data. Although faced with considerable setbacks, the previous year witnessed the commencement of the maiden functional Dojo cluster.
The project took an unforeseen path when Tesla separated from some of the program’s prominent leaders last month. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, recognized the difficulties during the company’s recent earnings call, referring to Dojo as a “long shot” with a “low likelihood” of success. Musk portrayed it as a risky endeavor with enormous possibilities, albeit not without significant risks.
This declaration seemed to dampen the enthusiasm of some Tesla shareholders, making the subsequent $500 million investment announcement in the Dojo project all the more surprising. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul revealed the development, highlighting the commitment to the venture in Buffalo.
Musk confirmed the news promptly but added an intriguing twist – Tesla is not only allocating $500 million to the Dojo Supercomputer but is also significantly increasing its investment in NVIDIA hardware. Musk clarified that while $500 million is a substantial amount, it only equates to a 10k H100 system from Nvidia, emphasizing that Tesla’s expenditure on Nvidia hardware this year will surpass this figure. He further mentioned Tesla’s foray into procuring hardware from AMD, diversifying the company’s investments to secure processing power for its AI initiatives.
Musk expressed doubts about Dojo’s chances of success, but the $500 million investment shows how committed Tesla is to advancing AI and machine learning. This tactical decision is in line with the company’s larger goals, which include the advancement of Optimus and Full Self-Driving technology. As long as Tesla is making significant investments in cutting-edge technology, more innovation and disruption in the fields of autonomous vehicles and AI-powered systems are likely.