Elon Musk travels to China as Tesla looks to implement self-driving technology

According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), made an unexpected trip to Beijing on Sunday. There, he is anticipated to meet with top authorities to discuss the release of Full Self-Driving software and authorization to send data outside.

According to Chinese official media, Musk visited Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, who informed Musk that Tesla’s growth in China may be seen as a model of effective US-China trade and economic cooperation.

The US manufacturer of electric vehicles introduced Full Self-Driving, or FSD, the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago. However, in spite of consumer pressure, the company has not yet made FSD available in China, its second-largest market worldwide.

In answer to a question on social media site X this month, Musk stated that Tesla would make FSD accessible to consumers in China “very soon”.

rival Chinese automakers have begun releasing comparable software in an attempt to outperform Tesla, including Xpeng (9868.HK).

According to the source, Musk is trying to get permission to send data gathered domestically to another nation in order to train algorithms for its autonomous driving capabilities.

As mandated by Chinese laws, Tesla has been storing all data gathered by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai since 2021 and has not sent any data back to the United States.

Musk’s trip to China, which was initially made public by Reuters, was not announced publicly, and the speaker only agreed to remain anonymous as they lacked the proper authorization to interact with the media. An instant response was not received from Tesla about a statement.

The Chinese official broadcaster CCTV did not specify if FSD or data was addressed by the two during Musk and Li’s discussion.

In a different story that aired on official radio earlier in the day, it was stated that Li had attended the ongoing Beijing auto show and made remarks on how China’s smart new energy vehicle (NEV) sector had become the market leader and that the nation needed to keep up its advantages.

According to state media, Musk also had a meeting with Ren Hongbin, a government official who is in charge of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, which is in charge of organizing the Beijing car show.

It’s encouraging to see China advancing with electric cars. In a video that was shared on social media by a someone connected to state media, Musk declared that “all cars will be electric in the future.”

Just over a week has passed since Musk postponed his intended travel to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi due to “very heavy Tesla obligations.”

This month, the firm said that it will fire 10% of its worldwide workforce due to declining sales and a growing pricing war for electric vehicles (EVs) that is being driven by Chinese companies.

Following a string of accidents, US auto safety officials stated on Friday that they had launched an inquiry to determine if Tesla’s December announcement to install new Autopilot protections on over 2 million US vehicles was sufficient.

According to Chinese flight monitoring software Flight Manager, a Gulfstream private jet registered to Falcon Landing, a business associated with SpaceX and Tesla, touched down at Beijing Capital Airport on Sunday at 06:03 GMT. The aircraft’s tail number is N272BG.

Musk’s primary aircraft, N628TS, is registered under Falcon Landing and was utilized during his most recent journey to China about a year ago. During that trip, he visited Tesla’s Shanghai factory and had meetings with Chinese government officials in Beijing.

Since entering the market a decade ago, Tesla has sold more than 1.7 million cars in China, and its Shanghai plant is the largest in the world.

Musk’s visit falls on the same week as the Beijing car show, which runs through May 4. The largest car show in China is not home to a Tesla stand, as the company last participated in 2021.

Two persons with knowledge of GM’s schedule said that CEO Mary Barra (GM.N) paid an unexpected visit to the event on Friday in the largest auto market in the world. GM did not answer a request for comment right away.

Additionally on Friday, Grace Tao, vice president of Tesla responsible for external relations in China, posted a statement on People’s Daily’s social media account, stating that autonomous driving technology will be the next big thing driving the electric vehicle (EV) industry’s growth.

According to Tao’s post, Tesla is at the forefront of autonomous driving research and development, utilizing data gathered from millions of on-road cars and its “end-to-end neural network” technology.

According to industry analysts, China’s complex traffic circumstances, which include a higher number of pedestrians and bicycles than in many other countries, offer more scenarios that are essential for training autonomous driving algorithms more quickly.

Elon Musk said last week that Tesla will launch new, less expensive models utilizing its present EV platforms and manufacturing lines in addition to providing a new “robotaxi” equipped with self-driving technology. This month, he said on X that on August 8, he will reveal the robotaxi.

Since the year began, Tesla’s stock price has dropped by about a third as investors’ fears regarding the EV manufacturer’s growth trajectory have risen. Following the COVID-19 pandemic-related delays in manufacturing and delivery in 2020, Tesla revealed this week that its quarterly sales had decreased for the first time.