Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk dropped some interesting numbers on Monday about the company's massive AI hardware spending. According to Musk, Tesla would have needed to shell out twice as much cash to Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) for AI training hardware if it weren't for Tesla's own AI4 chipset doing some heavy lifting.

The $10 Billion Question

Here's the breakdown: Tesla is churning out close to two million cars annually, and that number keeps climbing. Every single one of those vehicles comes equipped with Tesla's dual SoC AI4 system, eight cameras, redundant steering actuation, backup systems, high bandwidth communication, and more.

"By the end of this year, Tesla will have spent ~$10B cumulatively just on Nvidia hardware for training," Musk stated.

That's billion with a B. But according to Musk, without Tesla's proprietary AI4 technology handling part of the computational load, that figure would have ballooned to $20 billion. So essentially, building their own chips saved Tesla half the budget on their AI ambitions.

Where's Everyone Else?

Musk didn't stop at sharing Tesla's spending habits. He took aim at the broader automotive industry for what he sees as a disappointing lack of initiative. While Nvidia is providing "helpful tools" to automakers, Musk argues the industry as a whole is "doing very little" when it comes to actually developing self-driving technology.

It's a fair criticism in some ways. Tesla has bet the farm on autonomous driving while most traditional automakers have taken a more cautious, incremental approach. Whether that's wise conservatism or missed opportunity depends on who you ask.

Can Nvidia Compete With Tesla's FSD?

On Tuesday, an analyst weighed in on whether Nvidia's technology could challenge Tesla's Full Self-Driving system. User @jamesdouma offered an in-depth analysis concluding it's not really feasible.

"There is no scenario in which a company building on top of this new development kit will even slightly dent Tesla's Robotaxi market opportunity," the user argued.

Musk himself suggested that Nvidia's Alpamayo system might become competitive with Tesla's FSD in about five or six years, though he noted that timeline could stretch even longer. He pointed out that "actual time from when FSD sort of works to where it is much safer than a human is several years."

The Tesla CEO previously mentioned that Nvidia's technology could face distribution challenges, a concern echoed by Tesla's AI Chief, Ashok Elluswamy. Still, Musk ultimately expressed support for Nvidia's self-driving efforts.

Price Action: TSLA declined 4.14% to $432.96 at market close, but gained 0.46% during after-hours trading, according to market data.