Elon Musk Aims To Deploy Tesla Robotaxis In China: Report

The Chinese government also offered partial backing to Musk's proposal to integrate Tesla's FSD technology into the country's taxi services.

Last month, the Tesla CEO made an unexpected trip to China.

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Tech billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, aims to implement his company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology into robotaxi services in China, according to a report by staterun China Daily. Last month, the Tesla CEO made an unexpected trip to China, where he had a meeting with Premier Li Qiang, the country's second-highest-ranking politician.

According to news agency Bloomberg, Musk, whose company is facing sluggish sales, received a significant boost when Chinese officials gave their initial approval for Tesla to introduce its FSD technology in the country. However, according to the report from China Daily, that wasn't the sole topic of discussion.

The report, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the Chinese government also offered partial backing to Musk's proposal to integrate Tesla's FSD technology into the country's taxi services.

Musk's wager on fully autonomous vehicles isn't particularly unexpected, given the recent shifts he's made to reorient the automaker as a software company.

The tech billionaire had announced in an X post on April 5 that Tesla would reveal its highly anticipated robotaxi on August 8. He later mentioned in another X post on April 29 that the date was selected due to the auspicious significance of the number eight in Chinese culture.

Reports suggest that securing approval for Full Self-Driving (FSD) and finalising a significant data agreement with Chinese Internet giant Baidu represent major victories for the tech billionaire. It should be noted that Baidu, the Internet search giant in China, has struck a deal with Musk-owned EV maker Tesla, granting the car manufacturer access to its mapping license for gathering data on public roads.

The announcement sparked excitement among his millions of followers. To recall, back in 2019, the company had hinted at operating robotaxis by 2020, but the plan didn't come to fruition. 

Musk aims to activate the Full Self Driving (FSD) feature in China, a market second only to the United States for the electric carmaker, according to a BBC report from April 28.