Tesla has decided to shut down its Dojo supercomputer project, which was created to develop self-driving car technology. This means the company will no longer work on its own AI chips for this purpose.
The Dojo team’s leader, Ganesh Venkataramanan, along with about 20 other engineers, has left Tesla to start a new AI company called DensityAI. The new startup will make chips, hardware, and software for AI-powered data centers used in robotics, self-driving cars, and AI assistants. They want to create high-performance, energy-efficient systems for future AI needs.
The closure of Dojo is a big change for Tesla. CEO Elon Musk had promoted Dojo since 2019 as a key tool for achieving full self-driving. It was supposed to process massive amounts of video data using Tesla’s in-house D1 chip, with an improved D2 chip planned. At one point, analysts predicted Dojo could boost Tesla’s value by $500 billion.
However, Tesla has recently shifted focus to a new AI system called Cortex, located at its Austin headquarters. This shift came after the limited launch of Tesla’s robotaxi service in June 2025 faced criticism due to reports of unsafe driving behavior.
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Now, Tesla will rely more on external partners for AI technology. The company recently signed a $16.5 billion deal with Samsung to produce AI chips for its self-driving software and humanoid robots. Tesla is also working closely with Nvidia and AMD for computing power and chip solutions.
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DensityAI, the new company formed by former Dojo engineers, could become an important competitor in the AI hardware market. With their experience from Tesla, they plan to challenge big players like Nvidia by offering new, scalable AI computing solutions.
