Tesla Secures Multibillion-Dollar Deal With Samsung To Acquire New Cameras For Self-Driving

According to reports, Tesla has struck a multibillion-dollar deal with Samsung to acquire new cameras for its self-driving sensor suite.

Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) programme uses cameras to feed imagery into neural nets.

The automaker does not use radar or lidar, unlike most other self-driving programmes. However, for the time being, Tesla relies on cameras, specifically a suite of eight cameras in the current version of its Autopilot sensors.

Now According to the Korea Economic Daily, Samsung has won a contract worth between 4 trillion won and 5 trillion won ($3.2 billion-$4 billion) to supply Tesla with new cameras.

This time, the components will be Samsung's version 4.0 camera modules with 5 million pixels, which produce images that are five times clearer than the company's previous 3.0 modules.

This would be a significant improvement over the cameras used in Tesla's current Autopilot sensor suite, which are thought to have a resolution of only about 1.2 megapixels.

According to sources, the cameras will be used in all Tesla vehicles for the next few years.

According to the sources, Samsung will supply its latest camera modules to Tesla's Model 3 sedan, Model S sedan, Model X SUV, and Model Y crossover, as well as electric trucks such as the Cybertruck and the Tesla Semi, over the next few years.

Interestingly, Samsung reportedly won another contract last year to supply cameras for Tesla's Cybertruck.

The new cameras are expected to go into mass production as early as next month by the Korean electronics behemoth.

Tesla began a retrofit programme for cameras on older vehicles with "Full Self-Driving" last year.