Tesla Acquires AI Startup DeepScale to Boost Robotaxi Ambitions
Tesla purchases computer vision startup DeepScale to strengthen its Autopilot team and advance its goal of launching a robotaxi fleet. The acquisition brings specialized, power-efficient deep learning talent to the automaker.
Tesla acquires DeepScale, a small Bay Area-based artificial intelligence startup, to accelerate its development of self-driving technology and its goal of deploying a massive robotaxi fleet. DeepScale CEO Forrest Iandola confirms his new role as a senior staff machine learning scientist on the Tesla Autopilot team, and additional sources verify that the entire small team joins the automaker.
DeepScale builds power-efficient computer vision AI software for vehicles known as Carver21. This focus on efficient deep neural networks aligns perfectly with Tesla's strategy of designing its own custom computer chips to process self-driving software without relying on massive computing power.
The acquisition provides Tesla with crucial AI talent in a highly competitive hiring market where the automaker recently loses several top Autopilot engineers to rivals like Nvidia, GM Cruise, and Google. Iandola and his team bolster the computer vision department under Tesla's head of AI, Andrej Karpathy, as the company pushes to bring its full self-driving software to market.