Elon Musk In China: In a surprising move, Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sunday landed in China on a “surprise visit” to the country.
Elon Musk’s visit to China has caught many industry observers off guard, as the Musk Foundation’s president was expected to visit India in mid-April and meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to disclose his investment plans for the nation.
Musk’s visit to China has raised many eyebrows since the Asian giant is also the second biggest market for electric vehicles, reported news agency Reuters citing two people privy with knowledge of the matter.
The visit has come under scrutiny given the postponement of Musk’s visit to India about a week ago when Musk said that due to “Very Heavy Tesla Obligations” he had to postpone India’s visit amid “Crucial Company’s Quarterly Results”.
He was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announce plans to enter the Indian market.
Elon Musk posted on X, “Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla obligations require that the visit to India be delayed, but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year.”
Meanwhile, as of now, Musk is seeking to meet senior Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the rollout of Full-Self Driving (FSD) software in China and to obtain approval to transfer data collected in the country abroad to train algorithms for its autonomous driving technologies, reported news agency Reuters.
Musk, while responding to a question on X stated that Tesla may make FSD available to customers in China “very soon.”
Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Musk that he hopes the US will work more with China on “win-win” cooperation, citing Tesla’s operations in China as a successful example of economic cooperation reported news agency Associated Press adding that for China, Musk is a welcome antidote to the tough talk from US officials.
Tesla, since 2021, has stored all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai as required by Chinese regulators and has not transferred any, back to the United States, stated Reuters.
Tesla rolled out FSD, the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago but has yet to make it available in China despite customers urging it to do so.
Elon Musk was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his India visit and it was also confirmed by Musk as he stated that during his upcoming maiden visit to India, he looked forward to meeting PM Modi.
Elon Musk became an early investor in electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, Inc. (later Tesla, Inc.) in 2004 and became the company’s chairman and product architect, assuming the position of CEO in 2008.
(With Reuters/AP inputs)
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