Tesla gets ready to launch FSD in China

Elon Musk has paid a visit to China. He had spent less than a day in the country, but had an opportunity to talk with Prime Minister Li Qiang and work out an agreement with Baidu to introduce Full Self-Driving technology on the local market, CarNewsChina reports.

The country’s legislation expressly prohibits foreign car manufacturers from implementing their semi-autonomous driving solutions in the country without at least some kind of cooperation with a local business. Among other things, they are obligated to source their map data from an authorized partner in China. Only around a dozen such authorized companies exist, IT giant Baidu being one of them. It’s often called “China’s Google” for its sheer scale and technological advancement.

Rumor has it that Tesla will be able to gain access to the Baidu maps before the end of the month. As a result, the company will finally be able to start offering its “Autopilot” tech (as well as the FSD) on official terms. CarNewsChina adds that Tesla has already created datacenters in the country where it will be storing and processing real-time usage data received from EVs. This data will stay in the country and will not be uploaded to the Tesla HQ in the United States.