Samsung and Tesla are likely to come together to work on a new project of next-gen self-driving cars. According to sources, the talks are being held in the two parties for the automated chips of Samsung’s 7-nanometer chip production process. The prototypes of chips for the HW 4.0 self-driving system from the automotive giant.
“Tesla and Samsung’s foundry division have been working on the design and samples of the chip from the start of this year. Recently, Tesla decided to outsource the HW 4.0 self-driving chip to Samsung. It’s virtually a done deal,” an industry insider stated on the news.
Earlier airports had suggested the project be given to Taiwan Semiconductor Company, the market foe of Samsung in the international Chip production industry. However, with the recent talks between Tesla and Samsung, the latter has grabbed the project and may start working on it in the coming months.
Although the world is facing a shortage of semiconductor chips in manufacturing industries, Tesla is said to be benefitting from the project disproportionately. However, the company still has had an impact due to supply chain problems.
At present, Samsung holds the second position in market domination with 17.3% market share. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company takes a huge lead with more than 50% contribution to the industry. However, according to sources, Samsung may invest in another semiconductor plant in Texas, taking them to the top position.
On the other hand, the automotive market dominator, Tesla, is likely to reach 1.3 million deliveries by next year. The company was expecting to produce self-driving cars with complete hardware solutions, only expecting software updates. However, the company had to upgrade the hardware suite twice.
Tesla has recently added its latest hardware version, the FSD Computer, consisting of a homegrown chip design produced by Samsung. The company expects this hardware version to have reached full self-driving capabilities.
Notwithstanding, Tesla announced that the firm would continue to develop the next-gen hardware suite. The new version will have the much-talked chip produced by Samsung.
In an interview with the media, Elon Musk, the automaker, spoke about his latest hardware suite. “I am confident that Hardware 3, or the Full Self-Driving computer 1, will be able to full self-driving at a safety level much greater than humans. I don’t know, probably 200 or 300% better than a human,” Musk stated.
He further added, “Obviously, there will be a Hardware 4 or Self Driving Computer 2, which we will probably introduce with the Cybertruck maybe in about a year or so. That will be about 4 times more capable. Roughly.”
Samsung has refused to comment on the topic. However, the collaboration news may officially come out soon.
