Tesla FSD landed in China, one step at a time.

Tesla and relevant departments are clearing the obstacles for the landing of FSD in China one by one, realizing data safety compliance and data exit arrangement, and approaching the core of the problem-training the autopilot system with user data from China.

During the Beijing Auto Show, on April 28th, at the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Musk flashed in Beijing. The State Council Prime Minister Li Qiang met with Musk at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. On the same day, Tesla passed the authoritative standards and requirements for national vehicle data security.

Tesla became the first enterprise in China to pass vehicle safety inspection. This is conducive to comprehensively lifting the ban on smart cars such as Tesla (such as government agencies, airports, highways, etc.).

These are for Tesla to launch its FSD service in China. On April 6th, Musk announced that Robotaxi (self-driving taxi service) would be released on August 8th, which is of special significance to the China market. Since then, the policies of relevant departments of Tesla and China have appeared, which seems to be a coincidence and echo.

Although users in China can purchase FSD software, its function has not been approved for use in China. At present, China car owners can use Tesla’s assisted driving Autopilot function, which can be turned on on the highway. FSD is a more autonomous driving assistance function, which can be used in urban public roads, including automatic parking, automatic lane change and traffic navigation.

There are many obstacles for FSD to land in China. In response to this matter, we analyzed it in a previous article.Possible solutions for Tesla FSD.

Landing in China FSD, Musk facesA dilemma: either allow China users to drive data out of the country to the United States; Either Tesla tries to get its FSD model to be trained in China, but this requires the deployment of Tesla in China.Computational powerCluster.Musk once said that the number of H100 owned by Tesla is second only to Meta.

In the former, the personal data of millions of car users leaving the country is a very challenging problem at present. The latter, let the United States allow the most advanced AI chips and computing clusters to be deployed in China, train local data and build models for local use, but the United States will not release them. The United States has repeatedly imposed restrictions on the export of the most advanced AI chips to China. What should we do?

If the China government lets the data out of the country, or finds a compromise, it will be a moment of "game change" and have a far-reaching impact. It will open the most spacious avenue for Musk’s FSD technology to be promoted globally.

Can a special middle zone be opened between China and the United States, such as a special area in Shanghai, where China’s data and American computing power clusters can be placed, and a data management organization can be established between the two sides to ensure that they are not used for other purposes, and both sides can control their own technologies and data.

Now, it seems to be moving in the direction we expected. China released some Tesla data abroad, while Tesla set up a computing data center in China.

Tesla realized the localized storage of data in Shanghai as early as 2021, but did not further process the data. From the commercial and technical point of view, it is the most efficient way to export China’s user data to Tesla’s American cluster for training.

Everything depends on human effort. On May 17th, foreign media reported that Tesla decided to set up a data center in China to train its autonomous driving technology. This is a major strategic shift for Tesla. Musk insisted on sending the data to the United States for training and processing.

Tesla has sold 1.8 million cars in China, and a large amount of data generated in the complicated traffic conditions in China is of great strategic significance for Tesla to promote its FSD technology in China and around the world.

Tesla may need to establish a data center with a partner in China. According to foreign media reports, Tesla and NVIDIA discussed the establishment of a computing cluster in China, but American law prohibits British communication from exporting advanced GPU chips to China. One option is to use a scaled-down H20 chip licensed by NVIDIA for export to China, or use the most advanced domestic GPU in China.

Musk also proposed to license its FSD system to China automobile manufacturers, and has already negotiated with a major manufacturer in China for authorization cooperation. At present, the price of FSD in China is about 64,000 yuan.

While China is investing in building a data center, Musk hopes to allow it to transmit data to the United States.

On the same day, the general data list of data cross-border scene in Lingang New Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and its supporting operation guide were announced. The first batch of general data list includes intelligent networked automobile, Public Offering of Fund and biomedicine.

According to Xinhua News Agency, taking the field of intelligent networked vehicles as an example, the general data list specifically involves four scenarios, such as transnational manufacturing, global R&D testing, after-sales service and global trade of used cars, 23 data categories, such as R&D design data and after-sales service records, and 158 data fields, such as vehicle chassis drawings and product sludge models.

Liberation Daily also interviewed Tesla’s head of information technology in the Asia-Pacific region. He said that "the introduction of the list will bring more convenience to Tesla’s global business management, R&D testing and overseas market development."

These data do not include the personal information of Tesla owners, such as vehicle data, diagnostic data, infotainment system data and autopilot data, especially the video shared by users who are most valuable for autopilot system training. In the global after-sales service scenario of the general data list, there are data such as vehicle fault analysis, maintenance and after-sales records that really need cross-border flow during the after-sales process.

Shortly after Musk came to Beijing, on May 14th, the Biden administration of the United States announced that it would impose a 100% tariff on electric vehicles in China. As the future car networking is the general trend, the United States may completely block China’s (electric) cars from the United States on the grounds of safety.

The United States is trying to build a North American fortress of the automobile industry. The European Union is also launching a countervailing investigation on electric vehicles in China, but it will not completely break the chain with electric vehicles in China like the United States.

For China, the introduction of FSD is of great significance, which is just the beginning. Musk’s AI map also includes artificial intelligence company xAI, humanoid robot Optimus and so on.

There are only nearly two months left before Musk released his Robotaxi on August 8, and it seems that Tesla and relevant departments are moving towards that day step by step.