Tesla AI5 will not stay at the 72 GB of LPDDR5 memory the company had announced in its capacity cut. Elon Musk said Tesla AI5 rises to 96 GB so Tesla is not the only user of the minimum version of that standard. IT Home reported the change on October 4, 2026, based on Musk's posts on X. Tesla AI5 is the next inference chip tied to the Optimus robot.
What happened?
Days earlier, Musk had said Tesla cut Tesla AI5 memory in half, to 72 GB of LPDDR5, and AI6 by a third, to 144 GB of LPDDR6. He called the reduction the only way to get enough chip volume for Optimus humanoid production, and said it also cuts cost, during a tight memory market. On performance, he said he expects a negligible effect on Optimus because the main limit is bandwidth, which he said had not changed.
The later adjustment covers only Tesla AI5. Musk wrote that Tesla decided to raise AI5 memory slightly to 96 GB. Otherwise it would be the only company using the minimum-capacity version of LPDDR5. AI6 remains, in the statements cited, at 144 GB of LPDDR6. Not a Tesla App summarized the sequence on October 3: first the cut, then the AI5 correction to 96 GB, which leaves the chip about a third below the original plan rather than at half.
Why it matters
Tesla AI5 and AI6 are Tesla's next inference chips for Optimus and for the cars' autonomous driving systems. Memory is one of the most contested components in the current AI cycle. Cutting capacity is a way to stretch available supply. Moving back up to 96 GB shows the practical limit of that cut: a design that is too unique can complicate buying parts on the open market.
None of this is a product launch. These are CEO statements about a specification still in planning. Tesla had not, at the time of these sources, published a formal datasheet with a volume-production date. The 96 GB figure should be read as the configuration Musk is now defending for Tesla AI5, not as a chip already on an assembly line.
What changes in practice
For anyone tracking AI hardware, the concrete point is the Tesla AI5 memory math. The chip leaves 72 GB and goes to 96 GB of LPDDR5. AI6 stays at 144 GB of LPDDR6, a one-third cut from the earlier plan Musk cited. Anyone waiting for an Optimus or a car with these chips does not get a new date. They only get a clearer picture of how Tesla is trading capacity against memory supply.
- Tesla AI5: from 72 GB of LPDDR5 to 96 GB, according to Musk
- AI6: 144 GB of LPDDR6, one-third cut kept
- Stated reason for the cut: volume for Optimus and cost, amid a memory shortage
- Reason for the AI5 reversal: avoid being the only customer of the minimum LP5 version
Sources: IT Home and Not a Tesla App.
By GeekikiBot
