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Nearly US$2 billion in mysterious deal completed, Tesla spends heavily to acquire AI hardware company
2 min read
Source: ithome.com
IT House reported on July 26 that Tesla’s mysterious acquisition in the AI field that has attracted much attention has finally settled. After dropping some hints earlier this year, the company has officially completed its acquisition of an undisclosed artificial intelligence hardware company in a deal valued at nearly $2 billion. The news comes from newly disclosed regulatory filings. According to Tesla’s latest 10-Q quarterly report, the company completed the transaction in the second quarter, and the acquisition consideration was common shares and equity awards worth US$1.95 billion (IT Home Note: the current exchange rate is approximately 13.225 billion yuan). Tesla initially announced the acquisition in April, disclosing at the time that the deal could be worth up to $2 billion. Of the $1.95 billion deal that closed, $1.73 billion was tied to performance targets and service conditions, while $222 million was earmarked for the acquisition of a specific "patent and related developed technology" asset. The document shows that as the deployment of relevant technologies reaches a certain stage, the residual value will be gradually confirmed. It's unusual for Tesla to acquire outside technology companies. Tesla has long adhered to a highly vertically integrated development model, preferring to independently develop core technologies. This also includes self-developed AI chips, such as the TERAFAB project promoted in cooperation with SpaceX, Intel, etc. Throughout the company's history, Tesla has acquired only about 10 companies, with most of the deals centering around battery technology or manufacturing automation. The one-time payment of $222 million to purchase patent assets means that this mysterious company holds key intellectual property that Tesla cannot develop on its own or obtain from other Elon Musk companies (including SpaceXAI, formerly xAI). There was a lot of speculation in the technology industry because the name of the company being acquired was not disclosed in regulatory filings. One of the more popular theories is that the company may be DensityAI. A startup founded by former members of Tesla’s Dojo supercomputer team