Inside Tesla’s Dojo: How the Supercomputer Drives FSD and Robotics
I’m sure you heard of Tesla’s “Full Self Driving (FSD) 12.3.5. update” featuring AI-powered self-driving capabilities. It replaces 300+k lines of code with an Automotive Neural Network (yep, that’s right) a first in the industry! We will break it all down for you, just do me a favour though. Get a cup of coffee and enjoy 5 minutes of reading stuff, huh? ☕
First, wanna check out what Tesla’s FSD saw on the road three years back versus what it sees now?
Now, on to the good stuff… To train Tesla’s machine learning models to improve its advanced driver-assistance system, Tesla created Dojo, a supercomputer.
Why Dojo
The main idea behind creating Dojo was to set up a system that can grow as AI models get more complex and need more resources. It’s like upgrading from an older GPU to a newer one to play the latest games without having to change everything in your system.
How Dojo Works
Imagine a supercomputer whose only mission is to make artificial intelligence smarter. That’s Tesla’s Dojo — a tool specifically designed to train next-gen AI.
The core of Dojo is its custom D1 chip, a custom processor optimized for training neural networks. These D1 chips are grouped together into puzzle pieces called “tiles” for even more power. The tiles are then organized into an interconnected structure called an “Exapod”, which represents a complete Dojo supercomputer unit. All this makes Dojo incredibly fast. In fact, it can do a crazy number of calculations (1 quintillion calculations per second)!
Why does this matter? Well, training AI models takes an incredible amount of computing. Using a traditional computer is slow, and in today’s time and age, speed is everything. For Tesla, this allows their engineers to test new ideas, refine the model, and make breakthroughs at a much faster pace.
In fact, it only took 18 months to release the new version of FSD, which if you’ve ever worked in tech, is fast — very fast 🏎️💨
(Shout out to Ganesh Venkataramanan … for making it happen)
Beyond Cars
FSD is actually just one piece of the puzzle. What Dojo enabled is far beyond autonomous cars…
Because Tesla gathered tons of video and audio data with their vehicles, they were able to leverage this unique data pool to train friends like Optimus.
This implies that their AI training mode revolves around video. They input vast amounts of video data, and the AI system learns to recognize patterns and encode them into a system capable of controlling the robots.
At a high level, both a humanoid robot and an autonomous car train similarly, using sensors to make decisions and navigate. Tesla primarily uses video data for training and has full control over its hardware and software. Money kept in the house, you get me? 🤑
If you wanna know more about T’s finances and ’24 tech roadmap, you should find our detailed article at the end 🗝️
Tesla Highlights So Far
- In-house hardware and software development
- They OWN the AI development
- The third biggest customer for NVIDIA after Meta and Microsoft
Wrapping It Up 🦾
Tesla isn’t just building cars; they’re forging a future where AI and robotics intertwine, transforming industries far beyond the automotive world. By developing their hardware and software in-house and fully owning their AI advancements, Tesla is able to innovate and adapt quickly. This autonomy, coupled with their massive technology investment, signals a radical shift in focus.
So, what’s Tesla’s true endgame? A car company leading the AI revolution sounds like something out of a science fiction film. But crazier things have happened…
Well… We kinda know their game. Check out our comprehensive article for free here 👇🏻
For more bite-sized Tech News coverage, don’t forget to follow Tech Giants for free!
We’ll see you there soon! 🦁
References 🔗
Carscoops. (2020, January 31). [Tesla’s Dojo Supercomputer]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKXztwtXaGo
CNBC. (2023, July 30). Tesla Reveals The New DOJO Supercomputer! [Video]. The Tesla Space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[video_id]
CNBC. (2024, March 21). Elon Musk companies are gobbling up Nvidia hardware even as Tesla aims to build rival supercomputer. L. Kolodny. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/elon-musk-companies-are-gobbling-up-nvidia-hardware-even-as-tesla-aims-to-build-rival-supercomputer.html
CNBC. (2024, April 24). Tesla plans to beat Google and Amazon as one of the biggest Nvidia customers. P. Yadav. https://www.cnbctv18.com/technology/tesla-nvidia-h100-biggest-buyer-google-amazon-microsoft-meta-19401278.htm
Sarwar, N. (2024, February 16). Everything To Know About Tesla’s Dojo Supercomputer. Slash Gear. https://www.slashgear.com/1516714/what-to-know-about-tesla-dojo-supercomputer/
Tesla. (n.d.). AI. Retrieved from https://www.tesla.com/AI
Tesla. (n.d.). 2024.3.20 Release Notes. Retrieved from https://www.notateslaapp.com/software-updates/version/2024.3.20/release-notes
Tesla. (n.d.). Tesla Dojo Technology A Guide to Tesla’s Configurable Floating Point Formats & Arithmetic. Retrieved from https://digitalassets.tesla.com/tesla-contents/image/upload/tesla-dojo-technology.pdf
Tesla Official Youtube Channel. (2024). Tesla Q1 2024 Financial Results and Q&A Webcast [Video]. Live stream.
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