Overview:
The first thing that comes up in our mind when
listening or reading the word Tesla is an electric vehicle, Nikola Tesla, or
Elon Musk. Tesla is an automotive company which has changed the dynamics of the
automotive sector by providing affordable electric vehicles. In the past years,
Tesla has also changed the dynamics in the semiconductor industry. Now you may
wonder how an electric vehicle company is associated with the semiconductor
company. Well the answer is simple automotive chips. Automotive chips are
silicon chips which are used by every automotive company. Silicon chip history has witnessed some significant innovation and
development, whenever a company has approached an unique strategy or technique.
Tesla is the best example of that.
The Best Chip in the World:
On April 22, 2019, Tesla held its autonomy day
investor event in which a number of announcements were made. Some of the key
announcements were the arrival of its Full Self-Driving Chip (FSC). It was
designed by Tesla, but manufactured by Samsung. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla,
proclaimed that it is “the best chip in the world”. The FSC is actually two chips specifically created to
prioritize the AI processing and decision making required to make full autonomy
safe and reliable. The chip costs 20 percent less than the NVIDIA version.
Before designing its own chip, Tesla used NVIDIA chips. NVIDIA, in a statement
mentioned that a full system based on their chip will outform Tesla's chip.
Although, they even appreciated Tesla, for raising the bar high in the
self-driving industry.
Developing New Nano Chips:
Last Month South Korean Media Reported that Tesla is
Partnering with Samsung Electronics to develop a 5 nanometer semiconductor for
fully autonomous vehicles. Samsung Electronics has thus far been supplying
14-nm chips produced using argon fluoride (ArF) photolithography to
Tesla. Yet the two companies are expanding their cooperation to in-vehicle
infotainment (IVI) products loaded with 5-nm semiconductors. The power of chips
in IVI products is expected to become more important as a 6G development race
has begun in the United States, China, and Europe.
Development of 5nm semiconductor chips could be revolutionary in the semiconductor industry. Currently only a handful of companies are developing 7nm chips, and in between all this development of 5nm chips can provide both the companies a competitive advantage. If Samsung and TSMC can pull this off, they will be able to change the dynamics of the semiconductor industry, and Samsung will outsmart TSMC, which unveiled the world’s first 7nm chip.
