Tesla Partners with Baidu for Full Self-Driving Rollout in China
Tesla shares jumped in premarket trading in New York after Bloomberg reported that Beijing had given Tesla the 'greenlight' to roll out its driver-assistance system, known as "Full Self-Driving," or FSD, in the world's largest car market.
Sources say Tesla will partner with Chinese tech giant Baidu for mapping and navigation software to support FSD. Tesla also has multiple data security and privacy requirements that satisfy the country's regulators.
In a separate report, The Wall Street Journal said, "Beijing has tentatively approved the company's plan to launch FSD." The approval comes one day after Elon Musk unexpectedly visited Beijing on Sunday and met with Premier Li Qiang, who was previously the Communist Party chief in Shanghai when Tesla was setting up its automobile manufacturing plant there.
