Tesla to partner with Baidu for self-driving rollout in China- Bloomberg

Investing.com-- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) struck a deal with Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) to implement its advanced full self-driving features in China through the internet giant’s mapping and navigation functions, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The world’s biggest electric vehicle maker plans to deploy its FSD services- which CEO Elon Musk has touted as a major focus point- using lane-level navigation and mapping provided by Baidu, the report said.

The report comes just a week after Baidu said that Tesla vehicles will integrate Baidu maps next month. It also comes after Musk visited China over the weekend.

Partnering with Baidu allows Tesla to clear a major regulatory hurdle in gaining access to data collection on China's public roads, now allowing it to potentially offer its full self-driving (FSD) technology in the country.

Musk recently flagged a greater push into FSD this year, as Tesla grapples with weak demand and increased competition over vehicle sales.

Musk claimed that Tesla's first robotaxi- a fully autonomous vehicle- will be unveiled in August this year.

For Baidu, the deal with Tesla represents more software usage and data collection for the internet giant. It already has EV partnerships in place with Xiaomi (OTC:XIACF) Corp (HK:1810) and Huawei, and is reportedly developing an EV with the latter.