Shares in EV maker Tesla (TSLA) were flat today despite becoming one of the first foreign car makers to get AI approval in China.
Meet Your ETF AI Analyst
- Discover how TipRanks' ETF AI Analyst can help you make smarter investment decisions
- Explore ETFs TipRanks' users love and see what insights the ETF AI Analyst reveals about the ones you follow.
In total three manufacturers – Tesla, Volvo (VLVLY) and Mercedes-Benz – have won approval to deploy AI chatbots in their vehicles in China.
AI Approval
The Cyberspace Administration of Beijing said it had registered the “Mercedes-Benz virtual assistant” as a generative AI service. This followed the Shanghai Cyberspace Administration, which approved Tesla Shanghai’s xBot service and Volvo’s local chatbot Xiao Wo.
The “Tesla xBot Customer Service” model is designed to deliver intelligent Q&A support for Tesla owners and prospective customers. Through the service, users can obtain pre-sale, in-sale, and after-sale consultations on Tesla products, including inquiries about vehicle pricing, test-drive bookings, vehicle logistics updates, usage guidance, and charging station locations.
This is significant news for Tesla, whose sales in China have been under pressure this year as a result of more intense competition from the likes of XPeng (XPEV) and BYD (BYDDY). They have introduced cars that they say cost less and have longer battery ranges than Tesla motors.
That’s hard for Tesla as China is a key market in terms of revenues – see below:
It also has a wider significance for the growth of AI in China as it could mark an acceleration of Beijing’s vetting process for AI products and services.
China implemented a registration-based system for generative AI services in April 2024, requiring all such services to be officially registered before they can be offered to consumers.
FSD Boost
As part of this, tech titan Apple (AAPL) has still yet to be given the green light to roll out its Apple Intelligence into iPhones in mainland China, while Tesla is waiting for the go-ahead to deploy its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software locally.
According to the Cyberspace Administration of China, 611 generative AI services had been registered as of November 1.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week that he expected its FSD to be fully approved in China by early next year.
“We have partial approval in China, and hopefully we’ll have full approval around February or March,” Musk said.
What are the Best EV Stocks to Buy Now?
We have rounded up the best EV stocks to buy now using our TipRanks comparison tool.
