Tesla makes the world's best-selling electric vehicles (Model Y is the world's top-selling car), plus energy storage (Megapack), solar panels, and the Full Self-Driving software stack. Its Supercharger network has become the US standard for EV charging - Ford and GM both adopted it. Its AI ambitions (Optimus robot, robotaxi) are Elon Musks most audacious bets. Every major automaker is trying to catch up to Tesla's software-defined vehicle architecture.
Key relationships in depth
Tesla uses NVIDIA GPUs in its Dojo supercomputer for AI training of Full Self-Driving neural networks, even as it develops its own Dojo D1 chip. NVIDIA H100s remain central to FSD model development due to CUDA's deep integration in Tesla's AI workflow, while Dojo serves as the longer-term in-house alternative.
Why it matters: Tesla's FSD software is both a critical product feature and a potential future robotaxi revenue stream. Training FSD requires processing hundreds of millions of video frames through convolutional neural networks, demanding enormous GPU compute. NVIDIA provides the fastest path to training iterations.
Samsung supplies Tesla with DRAM memory chips, NAND flash storage, and application processors used in Tesla's in-vehicle infotainment systems and computer hardware across Model 3, S, X, Y, and Cybertruck platforms. Samsung's chips power the displays, storage systems, and secondary computing functions in every Tesla sold.
Why it matters: Tesla's vehicles contain extensive semiconductor content for infotainment, over-the-air updates, and sensor processing. Samsung is the world's largest memory chip maker, and its components are embedded in Tesla's hardware stack alongside NVIDIA chips for AI processing. As vehicles become more software-defined, the memory and storage requirements in each car increase.
Tesla uses Qualcomm cellular modem chips in its vehicles for 4G LTE and 5G connectivity, enabling over-the-air software updates, navigation data, streaming services, and Tesla's remote diagnostics capabilities. Despite Tesla manufacturing its own FSD AI computer chips in-house, it continues to rely on Qualcomm for the radio frequency and cellular components that connect its vehicles to the internet and Tesla's cloud infrastructure.
Why it matters: Cellular connectivity is foundational to Tesla's software-as-a-service business model, enabling OTA updates that add features and fix bugs without requiring dealer service visits. Qualcomm's dominant position in automotive cellular modems with Snapdragon Automotive connectivity products gives Tesla access to 5G and Wi-Fi 6E capabilities optimized for in-vehicle use cases, reducing the engineering cost of developing custom cellular silicon that would have a far smaller scale advantage than Qualcomm's multi-billion-unit modem production.
NextEra Energy is one of the largest buyers of Tesla's Megapack utility-scale battery storage systems, deploying them alongside wind and solar generation assets to provide grid-stabilizing energy storage. Megapack units are integrated into NextEra's renewable projects to store excess generation and discharge during peak demand, earning grid ancillary services revenue.
Why it matters: NextEra finished 2025 with a 30 GW renewable and storage backlog after adding 13.5 GW in the year, its fourth consecutive record origination year. Battery storage is essential to NextEra's business model: solar and wind generate power intermittently, and storage converts them into dispatchable baseload-competitive assets. Tesla's Megapack 3 (5.0 MWh per unit, unveiled Sept 2025) offers higher density at lower cost per MWh.
Relationships are compiled by VexMap from company filings, announcements and reporting, and last reviewed September 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us. Not investment advice.