Tesla reportedly received support from the Chinese government to test its robotaxi concept with Full Self-Driving (FSD) in China. The company plans to deploy its vehicles as taxis in the country, and CEO Elon Musk also suggested rolling out the software to Chinese taxi services. Musk has described Tesla’s robotaxi service as a combination of Airbnb and Uber. The fleet will be operated by Tesla, with some cars owned by the company and others by end users.
End users may have the option to add or subtract their vehicle from the robotaxi service at any time, and they can also limit the number of customers who use their Tesla as a robotaxi service. Chinese officials reportedly welcomed Tesla’s robotaxi tests and expressed hope that it would set a good example. Industry experts have noted that China has continued to welcome global companies to test their technologies for mutual gain. At the time, Musk stated that with country-specific training, the FSD should work anywhere in the world.
He expressed confidence that, with approval from regulators, the system could be released as a supervised autonomy system in any market, including China. Musk further emphasized the adaptability of the technology, noting that, with country-specific training, the cars could drive better in other countries, but they could already perform well almost anywhere.