According to local reports in China, Tesla is setting up a local operations team to bring Full Self-Driving (FSD) to China.
Per 36kr and the China Evening Post, Tesla China is now forming a Chinese operations team of around twenty people to get FSD up and running. These new employees will be trained by a group of Tesla engineers from the US who are already on the ground. In addition, the company is also setting up a data labelling team in the hundreds to train the algorithm for driving in China.
Many of the issues stopping FSD from coming to China were not software related but rather around handling and storing Chinese data. In August, Tesla announced they were opening up data centres in China to provide the storage necessary to handle FSD. With the date question sorted, Tesla got to work.
The next step in the process is for Tesla to apply for a temporary licence to test FSD in Shanghai. After the initial two-week trial, authorities can grant Tesla a longer three-month testing period before full approval.
It is a process, but it looks like by late 2023 or sometime in 2024, we could see FSD in full swing in China.
