Tesla’s Q1 2026 earnings call included a massive amount of news, including information a new FSD computer that will arrive before AI5. While Tesla doesn’t intend to deploy AI5 to its vehicle lineup anytime soon, it does intend to deploy an interim upgrade to the current AI4 (Hardware 4) FSD computer. That new chip will be dubbed “HW4.1” or “HW4+” and is officially in the design stages.
Doubling the Memory
The most significant upgrade coming to this new board is a massive bump in raw memory capacity. The HW4.1 computer will feature 32GB of RAM, doubling the 16GB found in the current generation of Hardware 4. This will be per system-on-a-chip (SOC), effectively making HW4 64GB instead of 32GB.
This increase is critical for the future of Tesla's autonomy program. As Full Self-Driving transitions into v15 and beyond, the end-to-end neural networks become significantly larger and more complex. We’ve known Tesla has been memory constraint for a while now so this upgrade makes a lot of sense. However, the request on everyone’s mind is whether FSD models will begin to diverge, just like they did with HW3 and HW4.
Providing the vehicle with 32GB of memory allows the system to cache more high-resolution video data and process larger AI models simultaneously, further improving FSD. However, during the call, Tesla also said that FSD v15 will also arrive on HW4 vehicles and won’t be limited to HW4+ or AI5.
Compute and Bandwidth Improvements
Alongside the doubling of memory, the new hardware revision will offer a 10 percent increase in overall compute power and a 10 percent increase in memory bandwidth.
While a 10 percent bump in raw compute may seem modest compared to full generational leaps, the increased memory bandwidth is highly impactful. It allows the vehicle to transfer the dense data coming from the high-resolution camera suite into the neural net processor much faster, reducing system latency and improving the vehicle's reaction times.
Release Date
To bring this updated silicon to life, Tesla is leaning on its existing manufacturing partners. Samsung is currently handling the physical modifications and design work required to accommodate the larger memory modules and increased bandwidth capabilities on the board.
What’s surprising is that Musk stated that production of the new HW4.1 upgraded computer will only happen in the middle of next year, around the same time frame Tesla has previously stated AI5 would be released. However, Tesla says that AI5 will first be for Optimus and data centers.
No News on Upgrades
For current owners, there is a familiar catch. Thus far, Musk gave absolutely no indication that an upgrade option will be available for vehicles currently equipped with the standard 16GB HW4 computers. Since the RAM is soldered to the board, a full board upgrade would be required.
Given Tesla's historical approach to mid-cycle hardware refreshes and the physical complexities of changing out core vehicle computers, buyers should expect HW4.1 to be a strict forward-looking production change rather than a retroactive retrofit.
