Elon Musk praises Micron twice during Tesla’s earnings call, signaling deeper AI chip supply crunch

When a CEO uses precious earnings call airtime to thank a supplier by name, not once but twice, something unusual is happening in the supply chain. That’s exactly what Elon Musk did during Tesla’s Q2 2026 earnings call on July 23, singling out Micron Technology for what he called a “very significant allocation” of memory chips. Musk described current memory chip pricing as “pretty insane,” a characterization that should catch the attention of anyone operating in AI, data centers, or crypto mining, all sectors competing for the same constrained pool of advanced semiconductors. Why a thank-you note matters more than it sounds Musk’s shoutout to Micron wasn’t just polite. By publicly acknowledging the partnership and its “reasonable terms,” he was simultaneously telling investors that Tesla has locked in supply while competitors might not be so lucky. Micron wasn’t the only supplier to get the spotlight treatment. Musk also thanked TSMC and Samsung during the call, painting a picture of a company that views its semiconductor relationships as existential, not transactional. Tesla’s AI ambitions span custom chip development, the Optimus humanoid robot program, and an expanding Robotaxi ...