Tesla’s willing to spend the big bucks to create its supercomputer Dojo
The supercomputer will be built in New York
Tesla plans to invest $500 million to construct a “Dojo” supercomputer at its Buffalo, New York factory, according to the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul. This announcement follows Elon Musk’s recent acknowledgment that the project is considered one of his most challenging endeavors so far. The company chose New York for the project because of the state’s dependable power supply, a skilled workforce, and the availability of suitable space, as stated by Governor Hochul’s office.
Tesla introduced Dojo at its “AI Day” event in 2021 as a supercomputer intended to support the development of their self-driving car goal. The plan is to use Dojo for processing large amounts of video data from Tesla’s electric vehicles to train the AI behind its advanced driver assistance software, known as Full Self-Driving Beta. Elon Musk mentioned last year that Tesla intends to invest “well over $1 billion” in the Dojo project.
The decision to bring the Dojo project to Buffalo represents Tesla’s latest change in priorities for the location, which has posed challenges for New York state. Originally named “Gigafactory 2,” the factory was acquired by Tesla from SolarCity in 2016, with the state committing $750 million to the plant. Initially intended for producing Solar Roof tiles, Tesla faced difficulties in scaling up production. In 2020, Tesla’s partner, Panasonic, withdrew from the plant, leading Tesla to shift its focus to employing individuals for labeling training data for its less-advanced Autopilot software.
In April of last year, Musk expressed that he viewed the Dojo supercomputer project as a risky endeavor with the potential for significant returns, possibly in the multi-hundred-billion-dollar range. He reiterated this viewpoint during a recent call with analysts, emphasizing the high-risk, high-reward nature of the program. Musk mentioned plans for scaling it up with versions like Dojo 1.5, Dojo 2, Dojo 3, acknowledging its potential but also highlighting the substantial risk involved in the venture.
