BEIJING, CHINA — Tesla has announced its intention to launch its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driving-assistance feature in China, pending regulatory approval, following a temporary pause of its limited-time free trial.
The company’s customer support team addressed user concerns on the social media platform Weibo, stating, “All parties are actively advancing the relevant process and we will push it to you as soon as it is ready. We are also looking forward to it, please wait patiently.”
This message was posted in response to inquiries on Tesla Vice President Grace Tao’s Weibo account. The company had previously announced a free trial period for its FSD service in China, scheduled to run from March 17 to April 16.
FSD is a comprehensive suite of advanced driving-assistance technologies, leveraging generative artificial intelligence to navigate complex traffic scenarios.
Tesla aims to achieve a full-scale rollout of FSD this year and is collaborating with Chinese technology giant Baidu to enhance the system’s performance, as reported by Reuters.
In the United States, Tesla has conducted similar trials, where the FSD system’s reliance on localized AI training mitigates the need for precise and current navigation maps.
However, in China, Tesla has faced challenges due to data regulations, which restrict the company’s ability to train the system using data from its extensive fleet of 2 million electric vehicles.
Furthermore, recent regulations from China’s industry ministry, issued in late February, mandate that all autonomous driving-related over-the-air software upgrades undergo regulatory approval.
This development underscores the regulatory hurdles Tesla must overcome to introduce its advanced driving-assistance technology to the Chinese market.
