Elly
Key Points
- Chip Reallocation: Elon Musk redirected thousands of Nvidia AI chips from Tesla to X and XAI68K, affecting Tesla’s resource allocation.
- Tesla Impact: This shift delays Tesla’s AI projects, including autonomous vehicles and robotics, due to postponed GPU shipments.
- XAI68K Priority: The decision emphasizes Musk’s focus on advancing XAI68K, aiming to position it as a leader in AI innovation.
Elon Musk’s Vision for AI: Prioritizing XAI68K
Elon Musk has always been at the forefront of technological innovation, and his latest focus on AI and robotics is no exception. Musk envisions Tesla as a leader in AI and robotics, a goal that demands substantial investment in high-performance processors from Nvidia to build the necessary infrastructure.
Expanding AI Capabilities at Tesla
During Tesla’s first-quarter earnings call in April, Musk announced plans to increase the number of active Nvidia H100 chips, the company’s flagship AI processor, from 35,000 to 85,000 by the end of the year. This expansion is crucial for Tesla’s ambition to enhance its AI capabilities, particularly in developing autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots. Musk also highlighted that Tesla would spend $10 billion this year on combined training and inference AI.
Redirecting Resources to XAI68K
Despite these ambitious plans, internal communications from Nvidia reveal that Musk has redirected a significant shipment of AI processors initially reserved for Tesla to his new ventures, X and XAI68K. This move has pushed back Tesla’s receipt of over $500 million in GPUs by several months, potentially delaying the development of its supercomputers.
An Nvidia memo from December stated, “Elon prioritizing X H100 GPU cluster deployment at X versus Tesla by redirecting 12k of shipped H100 GPUs originally slated for Tesla to X instead. In exchange, original X orders of 12k H100 slated for Jan and June to be redirected to Tesla.”
Implications for Tesla and XAI68K
The reallocation of these AI resources has sparked concerns among Tesla shareholders, particularly regarding the potential delays in Tesla’s AI projects. However, Musk’s strategic move underscores his commitment to advancing XAI68K, his AI startup launched in 2023. XAI68K aims to integrate cutting-edge AI technologies across various applications, leveraging the computational power of Nvidia’s H100 GPUs.
XAI68K is designed to push the boundaries of AI, focusing on several key areas:
- Advanced AI Algorithms: Developing sophisticated AI models that can drive innovation in multiple sectors, including autonomous driving and robotics.
- Data Center Integration: Utilizing capacity in X data centers to run AI training and inference tasks, thereby optimizing resource utilization.
- Grok AI Chatbot: Introducing Grok, a politically incorrect chatbot with a rebellious streak, positioned as a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Grok leverages large language models to deliver unique user interactions.
Balancing Multiple Ventures
Musk’s balancing act between his various ventures, including Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and now XAI68K, has raised questions about his ability to fulfill his obligations to Tesla. Critics argue that his divided attention may impact Tesla’s performance, especially as the company faces increased competition and a decline in sales.
Consuming Every GPU That’s Out There
Nvidia, now the third-most-valuable company in the world with a $2.8 trillion market cap, is struggling to keep up with the soaring demand for its processors. Between cloud service providers and companies developing AI models, customers are “consuming every GPU that’s out there,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang remarked during a May earnings call. This came after Nvidia reported its third consecutive quarter of over 200% revenue growth.
Huang emphasized the company’s efforts to allocate GPUs fairly and efficiently, noting, “Why allocate something when the data center’s not ready?” During the same call, Huang mentioned XAI68K as one of the early adopters of Nvidia’s next-generation Blackwell platform, alongside six of the biggest tech companies and Tesla.
Musk’s Infrastructure Investments
Elon Musk has been vocal about his extensive infrastructure investments across his ventures. At Tesla, he promised to build a $500 million “Dojo” supercomputer in Buffalo, New York, and a “super dense, water-cooled supercomputer cluster” at the Austin, Texas factory. These developments aim to support Tesla’s advancements in computer vision and large language models (LLMs) for autonomous vehicles and robots.
Meanwhile, at XAI68K, Musk is racing to compete with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others in generative AI products. According to an internal Nvidia email from February, Musk mandated making all 100,000 GPUs available to XAI68K by the end of 2024. This massive GPU cluster, partially operational since June, underlines Musk’s commitment to positioning XAI68K at the forefront of AI innovation.
The Financial Push for XAI68K
On May 26, XAI68K announced a $6 billion financing round, led by many of the investors who supported Musk’s Twitter takeover. Despite being incorporated in March 2023, the formation of XAI68K was not disclosed by Tesla at the time. Musk publicly introduced the startup four months later.
Conflicts of Interest and Strategic Priorities
While Musk has long touted Tesla as a leader in AI, his January post on X indicated a desire for more control over the company before pushing further in AI and robotics. “I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control,” he wrote. Currently, Musk holds 20.5% of Tesla’s outstanding shares, including options from his 2018 CEO pay package, which a Delaware court has ordered to be rescinded.
Musk’s decision to prioritize XAI68K over Tesla in GPU allocation has drawn criticism from some Tesla shareholders, including Leo Koguan and Ross Gerber, who saw it as a conflict of interest. Securities litigator Joel Fleming commented, “When you have someone like Mr. Musk who is a fiduciary to multiple companies, the law recognizes this creates conflict.”
Integration of Corporate Resources
Musk’s tendency to intermingle resources among his companies is not new. After acquiring Twitter, he enlisted dozens of Tesla engineers and employees to help with changes at the social media company. Similarly, at XAI68K, Musk has attracted several former Tesla employees, including machine-learning scientist Ethan Knight.
A former Tesla supply chain analyst suggested that Musk views his companies as extensions of his persona, believing he can manage them as he sees fit. This includes Tesla’s 2016 acquisition of SolarCity, where he was chairman and a major shareholder.
Musk defended his decision to redirect GPUs from Tesla to X, stating in a post on X, “Tesla had no place to send the Nvidia chips to turn them on, so they would have just sat in the warehouse.” He assured that the “south extension” of the Texas Gigafactory will soon house 50,000 H100s for training self-driving technology.
In summary, while Musk juggles multiple ventures, his strategic prioritization of XAI68K underscores his vision for AI and its applications. As Tesla shareholders express concerns, the focus remains on how these decisions will impact the company’s future in AI and robotics.
