5 as it’s being labeled internally. 5” or “AP45” in their cars. The sightings match a part number (2261336-02-A) that was previously spotted in Tesla’s Electronic Parts Catalog for a new FSD computer.
As usual, Tesla made no announcement about the change. One of the first public confirmations came from Model Y owner @Eric5un on X , who shared details of a Fremont-built 2026 Model Y AWD Premium delivered this January. ” The owner confirmed the part number by briefly pulling down the upper carpet liner below the Model Y’s glovebox – the same area where Tesla’s FSD computer is housed.
Other owners quickly reported similar findings. The sightings have caught the attention of the Tesla hacking community, particularly well-known firmware sleuth @greentheonly , who had first spotted an upcoming onboard computer update through Tesla’s software. 5 computer may feature a three-SoC (System-on-Chip) design, a significant change from the dual-SoC architecture we’ve seen since Tesla’s HW4 computer first leaked back in February 2023 .
If confirmed, this would be a notable change from the current HW4/AI4 computer, which uses a dual-SoC design. Tesla’s FSD computers have historically used two identical chips processing data simultaneously for redundancy, if one fails, the other can take over. A third chip could serve several purposes: improving reliability without a major announcement, or allowing for more advanced AI capabilities.
5 years ago, which added a secondary processor and improved reliability without a major announcement. 5 to HW3 for FSD buyers, a program that seems like ancient history now given how Tesla has handled subsequent hardware transitions. 5 also include Tesla’s updated 16-inch center display, something Tesla released on new “premium” Model Ys as part of a small “2026 model year” update , and revised windshield camera housing.
5 is particularly interesting, and telling. Tesla has been hyping its next-generation AI5 chip for over a year. Musk originally promised it would be “applied to autos in the second half of 2025” and claimed it would deliver “10x” the power of current hardware.
That timeline has slipped significantly. As we reported in November, Tesla delayed the AI5 chip to mid-2027 , with only “a small number of units” arriving in late 2026. ” I noted at the time how the semiconductor industry typically doesn’t see 9-month design cycles for major chips, so take Musk’s latest timelines with the usual grain of salt.
” For him, who runs 6 different companies, it’s a flex, but for most people it sounds strange that the CEO of a company would spend only a day a week on what they claim is a life-or-death product for a trillion-dollar company. He compared the chip’s performance to NVIDIA’s $30,000 H100 data center GPU, impressive specs for something that needs to fit behind a glovebox and run off a car’s low-voltage battery, but as usual, take everything Musk says with a grain of salt. Also, here’s the problem: there’s now a gap of at least 18 months between when Tesla needs more compute power and when AI5 will actually be ready in volume.
5 appears to be Tesla’s answer to that gap. By introducing a slightly more capable iteration of current technology now, Tesla ensures that vehicles rolling off the line won’t be immediately obsolete when AI5 finally arrives. This isn’t the first time Tesla has created an intermediate hardware revision.
5 unit. Tesla’s naming conventions don’t exactly help here. 5 raises some uncomfortable questions.
Musk has repeatedly stated that current-generation AI4 hardware will be capable of handling Unsupervised FSD once it’s ready. But Tesla said the same thing about HW3, and that wasn’t true. The doubts grow larger with every new iteration.
The truth is that Tesla made those claims before knowing exactly what it takes to solve autonomy. Tesla’s neural networks are growing larger than anticipated. FSD v14 and the models powering it require more memory and compute than earlier versions.
A three-SoC setup would allow Tesla to run larger, more intelligent neural networks that might otherwise strain the standard HW4 unit. As we noted in our comparison of Tesla’s AI4 vs. NVIDIA’s Drive Thor , Tesla switched from LPDDR4 to GDDR6 memory in HW4 specifically because memory bandwidth was the bottleneck, and AI5 is expected to have 5x the memory bandwidth of AI4.
5 version is unclear. Tesla has long been vague about how HW3 vehicles need upgrades to access future FSD features. In fact, Musk finally admitted in January 2025 that Tesla would have to replace HW3 computers, a promise that, as of today, still has no concrete plan behind it.
5 raises new questions about whether HW4 vehicles might eventually face similar limitations.
The introduction of AI4.5 represents a strategic move by Tesla to bridge the gap between current and next-generation hardware capabilities. By providing a more capable iteration of existing technology, Tesla ensures that its vehicles remain competitive in the market while awaiting the availability of its highly anticipated AI5 chip.
