Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, recently visited China and proposed to locally test robotaxis. According to China Daily, the Chinese government responded positively to this proposal on the 8th.
The media outlet reported that Musk not only requested approval for the release of Full Self-Driving (FSD) software during his visit to China last month but also proposed implementing robotaxi technology in the country. Chinese officials are welcoming Tesla’s robotaxis tests and they hope robotaxis could set to be a good example. However, they did not immediately approve the full use of the FSD feature domestically.
Industry experts believe that the Chinese government’s favorable attitude towards Tesla, despite escalating sanctions between the US and China due to national security concerns, is to convey an open stance to foreign companies. Earlier this year, Musk announced plans to launch robotaxis by August 8. robotaxis is a concept of running Tesla’s electric cars equipped with autonomous driving features without a driver. At the time, Musk said, “There are no serious regulatory barriers as long as we prove that autonomous vehicles are safer than humans” and “Tesla will eventually operate millions of Robotaxis, and car owners will be able to rent them out like Airbnb.” China is Tesla’s second-largest market and its Shanghai Gigafactory has the largest production capacity in the world, capable of producing more than 950,000 vehicles per year. China Daily reported, “Robotaxis could be a breakthrough for Tesla to regain market share in China amid slowing demand.”
However, Musk did not have an in-depth discussion about the approval for data collection and transmission related to the FSD feature. China has strictly supervised foreign companies, including Tesla, from exporting data collected within the country. For Tesla, whether they can use the data collected from China would be an important factor for the development of autonomous driving technology as China is a country with a population of 1.4 billion and with abundant information pool. Previously, it was reported through foreign media such as Reuters that Tesla had agreed to cooperate with Baidu, a Chinese portal company, in map creation and navigation necessary for the release of FSD. However, a source said, “No new deal related to the FSD feature has been concluded between Tesla and Baidu.” Tesla has partnered with Baidu since 2020 and has already integrated navigation maps into its vehicles. The source added, “This cooperation means that the accuracy of the Baidu maps provided to Tesla has somewhat improved, but it is not directly related to the FSD feature.”
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