Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, says that the company’s custom AI chip for enhanced self-driving performance is around six-months away from release.
The new hardware is a free upgrade for anyone who bought their Tesla with the ‘Full self-driving capability’ trim option. It’s yet to be unannounced how much it will cost Tesla owners that didn’t splurge on the package at the time of purchase.
Tesla revealed the chip in December 2017. The processor is a custom solution being designed from the ground up to make Tesla’s vehicles autonomous. Currently, Tesla uses Nvidia’s graphics cards to power its Autopilot functions.
Improving Tesla’s Autopilot and self-driving capabilities is a long-term goal for the company. Tesla’s software version 9 is reportedly bringing Autopilot features, such as an on-ramp to off-ramp self-driving mode and a ‘Shadow Mode’ that learns in the background based on real-world driving.
Overall this announcement should be taken lightly. Musk has a habit of announcing things early and not meeting the deadlines he sets for the company. Software version 9 hit delays, and the Model 3 production goal took a few months to hit after Musk’s initial announcement.
Source: The Verge
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