Tesla signed a series of deals with regulators and Chinese artificial intelligence companies during the automaker’s CEO Elon Musk’s impromptu visit to Beijing on Sunday and Monday to ensure the company is cutting-edge. This could pave the way for autonomous driving. Chinese automotive software.
Tesla faced several hurdles in offering the latest level of self-driving, called supervised full self-driving. It required approval from Chinese regulators, who questioned whether the company was taking sufficient precautions to protect data. And we needed access to very high-resolution maps of the entire country.
The timing of Musk’s visit was significant. He arrived in China days after recognizing that self-driving technology and artificial intelligence were important to Tesla’s future. Musk told investors last week that Tesla is more than just a car company: “You should think of us as an AI robot company.”
China’s approval of the technology is a long-awaited victory for Musk after U.S. regulators issued a scathing assessment of the system’s safety and performance in a report released Friday.
Musk flew to Beijing on a private jet on Sunday morning and almost immediately met with Premier Li Qiang, China’s No. 2 official after Xi Jinping. Mr. Li is a longtime ally of Mr. Musk who helped pave the way for Tesla to build what is now the company’s largest car assembly plant in Shanghai when Mr. Musk was Communist Party secretary there.
Later, the government-affiliated China Automobile Manufacturers Association announced that Tesla and five other Chinese automakers had received approval from authorities and the association for data security measures for dozens of vehicles. The rules prohibit Chinese automakers from using software that identifies people’s faces outside cars and include a number of other restrictions. Autonomous driving systems use cameras to guide the vehicle.
These cars included Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y. The five Chinese manufacturers included BYD, China’s leading electric car company and Tesla’s main global rival, and Nio, a long-time player in China’s auto sector.
For the past three years, Tesla has operated a data center in Shanghai that processes extensive information collected as cars sold in China drive on the country’s roads. In recent years, China has tightened data security regulations and strictly restricts information leaking outside the country.
Tesla has entered into a separate deal with Baidu, one of China’s biggest tech companies, to obtain high-resolution maps of road lanes, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the deal. For four years, Tesla cars in China have used Baidu Maps for basic navigation, telling drivers where to turn, but until now they had no access to high-resolution maps.
Baidu is one of about 20 Chinese companies that have obtained the necessary credentials from the Chinese government to access high-resolution map data. Automakers will be forced to partner with one of these companies or rely heavily on cameras in their vehicles to create their own maps, as Tesla has done in the past.
Details were not immediately available Monday about what Tesla agreed to do in exchange for the approval. China has a long history of asking multinational companies to share significant technology in exchange for market access. But Beijing insists it will not force foreign companies to give up commercial secrets and promised the Trump administration it would not do so.
Tesla stock soared Monday on news of the Chinese approval. The company reported last week that profits fell 55% and sales fell 9% in the first three months of this year. A few days earlier, Tesla announced it would lay off 10% of its global workforce, or about 14,000 people.
As Chinese automakers introduce a slew of their electric vehicle models this year, Tesla is doubling down on self-driving capabilities and adding to other It is the first automaker to equip its cars with self-driving functions.
Tesla already offers what it calls “supervised full self-driving” in the United States. The company charges $99 a month to upgrade Tesla cars to new levels from Autopilot or the Enhanced Autopilot driver assistance system.
The main U.S. road safety regulator on Friday recalled Tesla’s Autopilot autonomous driving assistance system, citing concerns that it is not doing enough to ensure drivers remain alert while using the technology. announced that they are conducting an investigation.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the regulator, announced that from January 2018 to August 2023, there were at least 29 fatal crashes related to Autopilot and fully autonomous driving. The analysis did not assess whether the number of deaths would be higher or lower than in humans. I was driving without these systems. The National Highway Safety Administration says technology used by other automakers is more effective at ensuring driver alertness.
Tesla’s use of the term Autopilot “could lead drivers to believe that the automation has better capabilities than it actually does, leading drivers to place undue trust in the automation,” the agency said. Stated.
The agency is also investigating two fatal crashes related to Ford Motor Co.’s Blue Cruise system, which allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel on many U.S. highways.
In China, there have been fatal accidents due to mistakes caused by self-driving cars, and self-driving cars are currently being offered by many Chinese companies, not just Tesla. However, in China, crashes involving mistakes by human drivers have become a frequent topic of discussion, and there is a growing public perception that self-driving cars may be safer.
Joy Don contributed to research.
