Tesla revives Dojo3 project for space-based AI compute

Elon Musk announced over the long weekend that Tesla aims to restart work on Dojo3, which is Tesla’s third-generation AI chip project. Only this time, the project will not focus on training self-driving models on Earth. Instead, Musk asserted that Dojo3 will be dedicated to space-based AI compute. The decision to revive the project is tied to Tesla’s in-house chip roadmap. Musk stated that Tesla’s AI5 chip design—the generation designed for automated driving and Optimus, manufactured by TSMC—is in good shape. Under the updated plans, Musk stated that the AI7/Dojo3 generation will be used for space-based AI compute.

This strategic shift comes five months after Tesla shut down its Dojo effort and disbanded the supercomputer team. Following the shutdown, around 20 Dojo workers left to join DensityAI, an AI infrastructure startup founded by former Dojo head Ganesh Venkataramanan and former Tesla employees Bill Chang and Ben Floering. At the time, Bloomberg reported that Tesla planned to increase its reliance on Nvidia and other partners for compute, alongside Samsung for chip manufacturing. Last summer, Tesla signed a $16.5 billion deal with Samsung to build its AI6 chips, which are designed for vehicles, Optimus, and data centers.

To rebuild the dismantled team, Musk is recruiting engineers directly. In a post on X, the billionaire executive and Republican megadonor wrote: “If you’re interested in working on what will be the highest volume chips in the world, send a note to [email protected] with 3 bullet points on the toughest technical problems you’ve solved.” The announcement follows CES 2026, where competitor Nvidia unveiled Alpamayo, an open-source AI model for autonomous driving. Musk commented that solving rare edge cases is super hard, adding that he honestly hopes they succeed.

To bypass Earth’s power constraints, Musk is looking off-planet, a concept that Axios reported also excites OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. However, Musk holds an advantage through SpaceX. According to Axios, Tesla plans to use SpaceX’s upcoming IPO to help finance his vision of using Starship, SpaceX’s launch vehicle, to launch a constellation of compute satellites.

Why it matters

Tesla’s pivot back to its own silicon suggests a strategic move to control its AI infrastructure rather than relying on external partners like Nvidia, with a long-term bet on space-based data centers.