Tesla's AI chip design team to be based in South Korea
Tesla just kicked off a big hiring push in South Korea, searching for AI chip design engineers to help build what the company describes as the "world's highest-level mass-produced AI chips."
Elon Musk announced it on X, inviting Korean tech talent to join Tesla; Tesla Korea's job posting asked applicants to share the three most challenging technical problems they'd solved.
Tesla's ambitious $16.4 billion plan for AI chips
This move is part of Tesla's $16.4 billion plan to design new AI chips about every 12 months.
They've also signed a foundry agreement with Samsung Foundry, and aim to achieve a faster chip design cadence than rivals such as NVIDIA.
By tapping into South Korea's engineering talent, especially from Hwaseong fabs, Tesla wants to power up its self-driving cars and robotics.
Tesla's broader hiring spree and investment in xAI
Tesla isn't stopping at South Korea—they're also hiring silicon engineers in Austin and Palo Alto.
Plus, they've put $2 billion into xAI, Elon Musk's own AI startup.
All this points to Tesla seriously ramping up its global efforts in AI chip development.