Tesla cuts AI5 and AI6 chip RAM to scale Optimus production
Memory reductions prioritize manufacturing volume while preserving performance through maintained bandwidth.
Tesla has reduced onboard RAM for its latest artificial intelligence chips destined for Optimus robots, according to Elon Musk. The AI5 chip now carries 72GB of LP5 memory—half the previous amount—while the AI6 will use 144GB of LP6, a one-third reduction.
"This was the only way to get enough volume for Optimus production and greatly reduces cost," Musk wrote on X. The move reflects a trade-off between raw memory capacity and manufacturing constraints as Tesla ramps humanoid robot production.
The company believes the cuts will have minimal impact on Optimus performance. "Memory bandwidth is a bigger limiting factor than total memory storage," Musk noted, and bandwidth was held constant across the redesigned chips. The distinction matters: a system limited by how fast data moves through memory can perform nearly identically whether total storage is larger, provided the throughput remains unchanged.
"We cut our RAM in half for the Tesla AI5 chip (now 72GB of LP5) and 1/3 for AI6 (now 144GB of LP6). This was the only way to get enough volume for Optimus production and greatly reduces cost. As it turns out, we think this will have a negligible effect on Optimus performance, as memory bandwidth is a bigger limiting factor than total memory storage (bandwidth was held constant)."— X · @elonmusk