Tesla IncLoses senior AI hardware engineer to DensityAI, adding execution risk to custom silicon strategy.

Tesla has lost another senior artificial-intelligence hardware engineer to DensityAI, adding fresh execution risk to Elon Musk's push to make custom silicon a critical part of Tesla's autonomous-driving and robotics strategy. Shishuang Sun, most recently Tesla's senior director of AI hardware design, has joined the startup built largely by former members of Tesla's Dojo team. Sun worked on hardware for both Dojo and Autopilot and specializes in advanced packaging and system integration, an increasingly important bottleneck as AI chips consume more power and generate more heat. His departure is particularly notable because DensityAI was founded by former Dojo chief Ganesh Venkataramanan and other Tesla veterans, and roughly 20 Dojo employees left for the startup before Tesla dismantled the original Dojo organization in August 2025. Tesla subsequently shifted its chip strategy toward AI5 and AI6, which are intended to support autonomy and potentially broader training workloads, with AI5 production planned for 2027 and AI6 for 2028.
Tesla IncLoses senior AI hardware engineer to DensityAI, adding execution risk to custom silicon strategy.
Gains senior AI hardware engineer from Tesla, strengthening its team.