Samsung's Texas Fab Begins Mass Production of Tesla AI5 Chip

According to industry insiders, Samsung Electronics has finalized the foundry version of Tesla's AI5 Full Self-Driving (FSD) chip design and will begin mass production in 2026 at its Taylor, Texas wafer fab — using the company's latest 2-nanometer (2nm) process technology.

This move marks AI5 as the first confirmed Tesla-developed AI chip to enter mass production on a 2nm node — contrary to prior industry expectations that this advanced process would debut with the next-generation AI6 chip, not the current AI5 iteration.

The news stems from a LinkedIn post by James Kim, Chief Engineer of Samsung Foundry, who stated: "The AI5 chip co-developed with Tesla has successfully completed tape-out and will be manufactured using our latest 2nm process at the Taylor facility, then integrated into Tesla's newest products." Though the post was later deleted, it has been widely cited by multiple South Korean media outlets.

Tape-out is a critical milestone in chip development, signifying finalization of the design and handoff to manufacturing. Subsequent steps include pre-validation, mask fabrication, wafer fabrication, and engineering sample production — followed by customer qualification before ramping to high-volume manufacturing.

Notably, Elon Musk previously showcased an AI5 prototype chip manufactured by Samsung on X (formerly Twitter), bearing the marking "KR 2613" — indicating production in Korea during Week 13 of 2026. This confirms Samsung had already delivered early engineering samples via its Korean lines ahead of Taylor-based production.

Of greater interest is the unexpected process-node upgrade. Industry consensus — and earlier reports — had held that AI5 would rely primarily on TSMC's more mature nodes, while Samsung's 2nm capacity was slated for AI6. The direct adoption of 2nm for AI5 strongly suggests Samsung has achieved meaningful progress in 2nm yield — a threshold widely viewed as ~60% to support high-volume customer ramp. AI6, previously delayed by ~six months due to 2nm yield challenges, is now expected to enter mass production no earlier than Q4 2027.

Samsung held an equipment installation ceremony at its Taylor facility in April 2026 and announced plans to achieve scalable production of Tesla AI chips in the second half of 2027. Securing the AI5 order is not only a technical endorsement for Samsung but also a vital "anchor customer" for its multi-billion-dollar Taylor fab. Recent reports also suggest AI firm Anthropic may entrust Samsung with foundry services for its own AI chips — further signaling acceleration in the commercialization of Samsung's advanced process technologies.