Gate News message, April 17 — Tesla's expansion of in-house AI chip production is expected to boost demand for low-power DRAM (LPDDR) from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Tesla's next-generation AI chips are set to feature the latest LPDDR6 standard.
Tesla has been developing AI semiconductors in-house to advance autonomous driving and humanoid robot technology. The company has successfully taped out AI5, based on a 2-nanometer process. In the second half of 2025, Tesla signed a foundry contract with Samsung worth approximately 22.76 trillion Korean won for AI6 production. On April 16, Tesla unveiled plans for AI6.5, an improved version built on TSMC's 2-nanometer process. This dual-foundry strategy allows Tesla to leverage both Samsung's Texas fab and TSMC's Arizona fab to increase chip production capacity.
SK Hynix has emerged as the primary LPDDR vendor for AI5, with Tesla's recently unveiled AI5 samples incorporating SK Hynix LPDDR products. Samsung Electronics is expected to join Tesla's LPDDR supply chain beginning with AI6. Both AI6 and AI6.5 will feature LPDDR6, which offers bandwidth of 10.6–14.4 Gbps, approximately 1.5 times higher than the previous LPDDR5X standard (8.5–10.7 Gbps). LPDDR6 commercial deployment is expected as early as the second half of 2026.
