NewsElon Musk in China. Navigating autonomy and data diplomacy amid Tesla layoffs
Elon Musk in China. Navigating autonomy and data diplomacy amid Tesla layoffs
9:28 AM EDT, April 28, 2024
Reuters reports on Elon Musk's unexpected visit to China. On Sunday, the Tesla CEO arrived in Beijing to discuss the possibility of implementing autonomous driving technologies in his vehicles with officials.
Introduced four years ago, the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system is not currently available to Tesla owners in China, the second-largest market globally.
A source told Reuters that in Beijing, Musk is meeting with key state officials. His agenda includes discussions about the FSD system and efforts to obtain permission for Tesla vehicles to send data abroad. This data transmission is crucial for training autonomous driving algorithms.
Despite agreements in 2021 allowing Tesla to collect data within cars, the company is restricted from sending this information to the United States.
Reuters initially reported on this significant visit by Musk, but it was not made official. As of their last report, Tesla had not commented on these developments.
Tesla announces layoffs
The news of Musk's visit comes shortly after he canceled a planned trip to India for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tesla has recently announced that it will reduce its global workforce by 10 percent in April due to declining sales and an escalating electric vehicle price competition, mainly driven by Chinese brands.
On the X service, Musk hinted that Tesla might soon make the FSD feature available to its customers in China.
