Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Software will soon be available in China after that the company gave in to the Chinese Government after years of regulatory obstacles that have prevented it from activating the feature of its vehicles in the Asian country.
As reported Reuters, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, met with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang to reach an agreement and finally launch the FSD system in the country. Tesla, however, has had to accept an important request from the Government: that of storing the data of its clients in China. It is, in fact, something that the Chinese Government imposed on Tesla in 2021 as a condition for launching FSD in the Asian market, since the electric mobility company stores this data in the United States with the aim of training this autonomous driving model.
In China, however, they have been claiming for years Safety Concerns Related to Tesla EV Cameras and the fact that the recordings are stored on servers in the United States. The Government has even gone so far as to prohibit the presence of Tesla vehicles at political events for that same reason, the aforementioned media highlights.
Tesla’s goal: transfer data from China to the United States
Now, and after accepting the Chinese Government’s request to store its customers’ data in China, Tesla would be negotiating with the country’s Government to be able to transfer this information to the United Statess. This, we reiterate, would allow the company to train its autonomous driving model in a much more precise way than in practically any other country. Mainly, due to the traffic conditions in the Asian country—they are more complicated than in many countries where Tesla is present. Also, due to the greater presence of pedestrians and cyclists compared to other markets.
Tesla too would have reached an agreement with Baidu for the use of a mapping license that allows Elon Musk’s company to collect data on roads and traffic in China.
Tesla’s autonomous driving system, also called Autopilot, remember, is not completely autonomous, but requires the presence and attention of the pilot for it to work. When activated, the vehicle can navigate on autopilot, change lanes or park itself, among other functions.
