The Post

Elon Musk wants investors to know Tesla is an AI chip company too.

"Most people don't know that Tesla has had an advanced AI chip and board engineering team for many years," the CEO posted on X Sunday. Tesla "has already designed and deployed several million AI chips" in its vehicles and data centers.

Tesla's stock surged over 6% in recent trading following the post. That made it one of the biggest gainers in the S&P 500.

The Chip Plans

"These chips are what enable Tesla to be the leader in real-world AI," Musk said. The company is close to upgrading its current chip, AI4, to AI5. It's starting work on a newer model AI6.

Musk said Tesla now plans to get a new AI chip design into production every 12 months. It expects "to build chips at higher volumes ultimately than all other AI chips combined."

That furthers Tesla's self-driving and robotics goals.

Musk also used his post to solicit applications from engineers who want to work on Tesla's AI chip program.

The Broader Boost

Rising expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month likely also helped boost sentiment. Rate cuts could benefit the electric vehicle maker by stimulating demand for big-ticket purchases.

Broader markets also rose Monday.

Back to Positive

With Monday's gains, Tesla shares are back in positive territory for the year. But they've still lost more than 10% from their highs at the start of the month.

The stock took a big hit during the broader pullback in tech stocks in recent weeks amid worries about an AI bubble.

The Bottom Line

Tesla surged 6% after Musk revealed plans to produce AI chips at higher volumes than all rivals combined with new designs every 12 months, bringing the stock back to positive for the year after AI bubble fears knocked it down 10% from early-month highs.