Tesla’s TTPoE at Hot Chips 2024

Tesla has developed a new protocol called TTPoE to overcome the limitations of the internet for their AI training. They realized that existing data transfer methods were not fast enough to keep up with the massive amounts of video data their AI models require. TTPoE is designed for raw speed and is like a dedicated courier service compared to the slower but reliable TCP protocol. Tesla is using existing Ethernet infrastructure but with specialized hardware called Mojo NICs to achieve faster speeds. This innovation could lead to a trend of companies creating their own custom internet solutions optimized for their specific needs. While this may not directly impact the average person yet, it could potentially make the internet faster for everyone in the future. The development of TTPoE highlights the potential to completely change how we think about the internet itself. All right, so picture this. You're Tesla, right? You've poured tons of resources into building this, like, revolutionary supercomputer, Dojo. It's going to change everything about self-driving AI, but, uh ... There's a but. Big time. The internet, the thing it needs to gobble up all that data, it's holding Dojo back. Kind of like having a race car with a busted engine, isn't it? All that power, but it can't really go anywhere. Exactly. And for Tesla, this isn't just some abstract problem either. They found this bottleneck was, like, slamming the brakes when they were trying to train their AI with video data. Like, massive amounts of it. Well, yeah. I mean, we're not just talking about moving some files around here, are we? It's huge amounts of data, video data, that needs to be fed constantly to these AI models. Every millisecond counts. Absolutely. So, they actually presented on this at Hot Chips 2024, and the article we're diving into today from Chips and Cheese breaks it all down. And get this. Even when they used the fastest data transfer methods possible ... Still wasn't enough. Not even close. The host machines, they just couldn't keep up with how much data Dojo needed. Yeah. That's a common problem you see in high-performance computing these days. As AI models get more and more complex, that thirst for data just keeps growing. Right. It's like trying to quench the thirst of, I don't know, a thousand thirsty camels with a garden hose. Something like that. So, what'd they do? They decided, you know what? Screw it. Let's just stick to the internet's standard protocol. Yeah. TCP, that's out. They're making their own thing. Bold move. I mean, that's kind of like deciding the rules everyone else plays by just aren't good enough for you. Yeah. They're basically saying, we're playing by our own rules now. Exactly. And that's where this whole TTPoE thing comes in, right? Tesla Transport Protocol over Ethernet. Catchy. Right. Super catchy. But before we get into the nuts and bolts of it, can you give us the why? What's the internet missing here? What problem does this custom solution actually solve? Well, think of it this way. TCP is like the postal service of the internet. Reliable, sure. It gets your data where it needs to go eventually. But it can be slow, especially when you're talking about these massive data transfers. TTPoE, on the other hand, is more like a dedicated courier service. Streamlined, direct, built for speed. Tesla's saying, we need raw speed more than we need everything to be compatible with your grandma's emails. Yeah. So they're building their own private internet superhighway. Pretty much. And TTPoE is the vehicle that's designed to handle those speeds. Okay. I'm with you so far. But what makes it so different? How does it actually achieve those faster speeds? Well, one of the key differences is how TTPoE handles something called the congestion window. Now, imagine you're driving down the highway, right? TCP is constantly adjusting your speed based on traffic, being cautious, making sure no data gets lost. TTPoE, because it's operating on this closed controlled network, it assumes the road is clear. This puts the pedal to the metal. So TTPoE is basically like having a dedicated lane on the autobahn, no speed limit. But that kind of makes me wonder, if it's all on a closed network, why even bother with Ethernet? Why not just build it all from scratch, you know? That's where Tesla's approach gets even more interesting, right? They realized, okay, we need a new protocol, but we can still use the existing infrastructure of Ethernet. Imagine building a high-speed rail line, but you're using the existing tracks wherever you can, saves you a ton of time and money. So they're not reinventing the wheel, just designing a way faster car, essentially. But to handle a protocol like TTPoE, you need specialized hardware for that, right? That's where those dumb NICs and Mojo come in. And honestly, I've got to say, that name always throws me off a little. Dumb NICs. Yeah, it sounds a bit, well... Right, right. It's a bit of a head-scratcher, but let me explain. A network interface card, an NIC, it's basically how your computer talks to a network, right? Now traditional NICs are pretty complex because they've got to deal with all kinds of different Internet traffic, but what Tesla realized is, for TTPoE, they could strip out a lot of that complexity. So they went with dumb over smart. Exactly. In this context, dumb just means streamlined and hyper-specialized. With Mojo NICs, they're designed to do one thing really, really well. Transmit data as fast as possible using TTPoE. They're like the pit crew of this whole operation, all about speed and efficiency. And I'm guessing because they're simpler, they're probably cheaper to produce, which matters when? Oh, absolutely. Especially when you consider Tesla's aim here, they want to equip each machine in their dojo system with multiple Mojo NICs. Wow. So cost really matters. Yeah. It's huge. It's huge, I think. Designing a super powerful protocol, but also keeping in mind the practical stuff like cost and being able to scale it up. All right. So let's see if I've got this straight. Tesla hits this roadblock, this bottleneck, in training their AI. So they build a whole new protocol, right? It's faster, way more efficient for what they're doing. And they pull this off by getting rid of all the unnecessary complexity, using existing tech wherever they can, kind of like the Marie Kondo, their entire data transfer system. You got it. They definitely sparked joy with that one. But what I think is so cool about this whole thing, it goes way beyond Tesla. It shows us this big trend that's happening in high-performance computing in general. As AI models, machine learning, all of that gets more and more demanding, the old ways of doing things. Even something as fundamental as internet protocol. Especially those. They're being challenged now. Okay. Now we're getting into it. What does this mean in the big picture? You mean with the implications here? We've got Tesla out here, rewriting the rule book on internet protocols, all in the name of faster AI. What's the bigger picture here? What does this tell us about the future of the internet as a whole? I think it really gives us a glimpse into a future where the internet, the way we know it now, it's not like this one-size-fits-all solution anymore. It might not be up to the task. You're saying we might see more of this specialization. Exactly. As other industries start facing those same demands for speed, efficiency, they might just take a page out of Tesla's book. We could see companies, even whole industries, creating their own custom internet solutions, optimized for exactly what they need to do. Instead of one internet, it's more like we've got different lanes running at different speeds for different purposes. Exactly. Imagine streaming services with their own super high-speed protocols, or financial institutions with their own closed network for blazing fast transactions. Okay. That's kind of blowing my mind right now. Let's bring it back down to earth for a second. What about the average person? How might this actually trickle down to our everyday lives? Are we going to need to install dumb NIs in our homes just to watch Netflix without buffering? Ha ha. I don't think we're quite there yet, at least not in the near term. But here's the thing. If Tesla's bet pays off and this TTPOE thing really gives them a leg up in the AI race- Other companies are going to want a piece of that action. Exactly. It could be this domino effect. Ultimately, everyone's going to be rethinking the limitations of how we do networking. That includes things like streaming, gaming, you name it. You're saying Tesla's need for speed could end up making the internet faster for everyone, even though they're building this separate private network. It's definitely possible. Think about it. How many times have we seen some innovation start in one area and then suddenly it's everywhere? Yeah, good point. What starts as this niche thing can quickly become the gold standard. That's how innovation works sometimes. It's not just about faster AI or even self-driving cars, really. It's about the potential to completely change how we think about the internet itself. Maybe the internet of the future looks a whole lot different than what we're used to. No doubt. It's a bold experiment, this whole TTPOE thing. Will it be the spark that ignites a wave of these customized internet solutions? Or will it just be a footnote in history, a cool idea that didn't quite take off? Who knows? Time will tell. But one thing's for sure. This deep dive has been a wild ride. Tesla's really given us something to think about, haven't they? It's amazing to me how this almost simple problem, needing to move data faster, has led to this groundbreaking innovation. It makes you wonder, what other limits are we going to be pushing on next? What other parts of our technological world are ready for a shakeup? Something to ponder, right? Absolutely. And on that note, we'll leave you all to do just that. Keep exploring, keep asking those big questions, and as always, keep diving deep.