Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla went up 15 percent on Monday after the electric carmaker reached a key milestone to roll out its advanced driver-assistance technology Full Self Driving (FSD) in China.
While Tesla has been offering its FSD feature — an “upgrade” to its dangerous Autopilot driver assistant — in China for years, it has been a restricted version of the feature.
But Tesla’s stock rose on Monday after the company told Chinese authorities on Sunday that it would remove the restrictions on its electric cars after passing China’s data security requirements, according to a report by CNBC News.
Elon Musk’s Halloween costume (Taylor Hill /Getty)
Elon Musk of Tesla dancing in China (Bloomberg/YouTube)
The communist regime had reportedly banned some of Tesla’s electric vehicles from certain government-related properties in China, citing data security concerns.
Now that Tesla passed China’s data security requirements, the company will be able to legally operate its FSD feature on Chinese roads, meaning Musk’s vehicles will be able to gather data about traffic, road signs, and routes in the communist country.
Tesla has also landed a deal with Chinese internet company Baidu, which would reportedly give Musk’s company access to the Chinese internet giant’s mapping and navigation technology.
The deal is also expected to let Tesla access Baidu’s mapping service license, which is a requirement for intelligence driving systems to operate on public roads in China, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Musk’s deal in China follows his recent visit to the country as reported by Breitbart News:
On Sunday, Musk posted a photo on X, the social media platform he owns, of himself meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, whom he described as an old friend.
Musk took a good deal of ribbing in the responses to his post for having such a chummy relationship with one of the most authoritarian and censorious regimes in the world when he styles himself as a defender of free speech. His purpose in visiting China was straightforward enough and had nothing to do with freedom of expression: he wanted Tesla to be among the first companies to secure official approval for its Internet-enabled autonomous driving functions.
China has an entity known as the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), a fusion of government regulators and industry leaders that holds an advisory and certification role with automobiles. CAAM, which has existed for decades, was most recently tasked with certifying Internet-connected automobiles for compliance with China’s data security laws.
Breitbart News will continue to report on Elon Musk and Tesla.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.