Elon Musk diverted thousands of AI chips from Tesla to X

Emails show Musk prioritized AI chip deployment for his social media company over Tesla's autonomous vehicle efforts

Apr. 11, 2026 at 8:33am

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A highly detailed, glowing 3D illustration of a cluster of Nvidia H100 AI chips, their surfaces illuminated by vibrant neon cyan and magenta lights, representing the complex technological infrastructure behind the battle for AI supremacy.The diversion of Nvidia's powerful AI chips from Tesla's self-driving ambitions to Elon Musk's social media company X raises concerns about the future of autonomous vehicle technology.Austin Today

According to emails obtained by CNBC, Elon Musk ordered thousands of Nvidia-made AI chips destined for Tesla to be diverted to his social media company X. This move has the potential to delay Tesla's acquisition of $500 million worth of processors by months, potentially impacting the company's plans to become a leader in AI and robotics.

Why it matters

This decision by Musk could rankle Tesla investors who are betting on the company delivering on its promise of fully autonomous vehicles. Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features have faced scrutiny for crashes and fatalities, and the diversion of AI chips could further delay the company's autonomy efforts.

The details

Emails by Nvidia employees suggest that Musk is exaggerating Tesla's purchase of AI chips, and many of those processors are now en route to X — and primarily its AI subsidiary, xAI. An Nvidia memo from December stated that Musk was '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 an Tesla earnings call earlier this year, Musk said the company would increase its acquisition of H100s from 35,000 to 85,000 by the end of this year.
  • Musk later posted on X that Tesla would spend $3-4 billion on AI chips from Nvidia in 2024.

The players

Elon Musk

The CEO of Tesla and the founder of X, Musk has been vocal about Tesla's plans to become a leader in AI and robotics.

Nvidia

An American multinational technology company that designs graphics processing units (GPUs) for the gaming and professional markets, as well as system on a chip units (SoCs) for the mobile computing and automotive market.

xAI

Musk's AI startup that is racing against OpenAI, Google, and others to produce useful applications for generative AI and their underlying large language models.

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What they’re saying

“Tesla lacked the capacity to accept the Nvidia GPUs because the company's factory in Austin, Texas, is incomplete.”

— Elon Musk

What’s next

Tesla plans to unveil its first robotaxi vehicle at an event in August, which could be impacted by the delay in acquiring the necessary AI chips.

The takeaway

Musk's decision to divert AI chips from Tesla to his social media company X raises concerns about Tesla's ability to deliver on its autonomous vehicle promises and could further strain the relationship between Musk and Tesla investors.