On Sunday, Elon Musk made an unannounced trip to Beijing where he is expected to meet with government officials to discuss the introduction of self-driving software for Tesla. According to Reuters, a source close to the matter stated that Musk will also seek permission to move data outside of China during his visit.
During a meeting with Premier Li Qiang, Musk was congratulated on Tesla’s growth in China, with the Premier noting that it could serve as a successful example of economic and trade cooperation between the US and China. The introduction of Full Self-Driving, or FSD, software in China would be a significant milestone for Tesla as they compete with local electric car manufacturers.
Tesla introduced an autonomous version of Autopilot technology four years ago but has yet to bring this technology to China. However, Musk recently stated on social media that Tesla may bring FSD to China in the near future. Data transfer outside of China is critical for training Tesla’s algorithms for self-driving capabilities, with Tesla having kept data collected in China on servers in Beijing and not sending it to the US since 2021 to comply with Chinese regulations.