Tesla Wins China’s Backing for FSD

Welcome to the Ride AI Newsletter, your weekly digest of important events and new developments at the intersection of technology and transportation. 

New Podcast

The latest Ride AI podcast episode features Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, the former founder of Starsky Robotics and current founder and CEO of Polymath Robotics, discussing his experiences in the self-driving truck industry. Stefan reflects on the challenges faced by Starsky Robotics, particularly the overconfidence in machine learning and the belief in a one-size-fits-all solution for autonomy, and how this experience informs Polymath Robotics, his new venture focused on building a generalized navigation layer for off-road vehicles. Today Polymath’s technology is used in more vehicles than the company has employees. Listen in.

What You Need to Know Today

After meeting with top officials in Beijing, Elon Musk received the Chinese government’s blessing for Tesla to roll out its Full Self-Driving (FSD) autonomous software in the carmaker’s second-largest market. Prior to this, Tesla announced it will use mapping tech from Chinese tech giant Baidu to power FSD. Tesla’s stock soared after the news broke, but will FSD be able to compete with ADAS from Chinese tech giants like Xiaomi? We’re about to find out.

Meanwhile US regulators are scrutinizing Tesla’s self-driving software more harshly. A NHTSA investigation found that the carmaker’s Autopilot and FSD systems were linked to hundreds of collisions in recent years, concluding that Tesla’s technologies “were not sufficiently engaged in the driving task” and “did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the driving task.”

NHTSA is also investigating Ford’s BlueCruise after the driver-assist software was linked to fatal crashes.

In China, Didi and GAC say their joint venture will begin robotaxi production next year.

In other Chinese AV news, the autonomous-driving startup Haomo AI has raised $41M in Series B2 funding to fuel research and development.

Japanese AV startup Turing plans to begin testing fully self-driving vehicles in 2025.

In California, a hotbed of AV activity, the legislature is considering four major bills to regulate self-driving tech, including one that could transfer significant regulatory authority to cities.

While we’re talking about California, here is a data visualization of where people are riding Waymo robotaxis in San Francisco.

Relatedly, Waymo’s first vehicles from Geely-owned manufacturer Zeekr have arrived in San Francisco. 

Aurora trucks without drivers reached highway speeds of 75 mph on a test track in Ohio.

GM is considering taking on outside investment as it restarts its Cruise robotaxi business.

The first Autonomous Racing League race in Abu Dhabi left some spectators underwhelmed.

Detroit is deploying self-driving shuttles for seniors and people with disabilities in partnership with May Mobility.

Scotland has begun testing its first self-driving bus. It’s the first fully sized autonomous vehicle to hit the road in anywhere in the UK.

Does your work involve asset tracking for vehicles? Check out this whitepaper about how the latest advancements in an IoT technology called GNSS could revolutionize device management for everything from electric scooters to robot lawnmowers.

Psst have you seen the lineup for Micromobility Europe yet? We’re biased, but we think it’s very good. Arriving in Amsterdam in about 4 weeks, our sister show, focusing on small EVs, will bring together scintillating panels, keynotes, and workshops with 1,000+ industry luminaries - view the first 50 speakers here. Best of all tickets are 70% off until Friday, May 3rd. Book yours now.