Following on February 10's "BYD to add autopilot system in EVs to gain edge amid China’s price war".
From Yahoo Finance, February 11:
Chinese automaker BYD (1211.HK) has inked a deal with DeepSeek to co-develop new autonomous technology, which could be bad news for automakers like Tesla (TSLA).
DeepSeek, the China-based generative AI company, has been in the spotlight recently, largely because it offers AI technology comparable with OpenAI's but reportedly at less expense while requiring fewer resources.
BYD, China's largest automaker, has taken a more cautious approach to its autonomous technology compared to Tesla. But the company is now rolling out its “God’s Eye” advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) to all of its cars, from its expensive YangWang models to entry-level autos costing just under 100,000 yuan (or $13,700), per China EV site CarNewsChina.
The God’s Eye system comes in three different offerings based on functionality, all of which use BYD’s Xuanji architecture to power its self-driving technology. This involves a combination of onboard chips, cloud computing, and sensors, as well as cloud AI and vehicle AI.
The Xuanji setup will be connected to DeepSeek’s R1 AI model to improve the vehicle's AI capabilities, as well as those in the cloud.
Tesla has placed a big bet on its own autonomous technology, at least according to analysts on Wall Street and CEO Elon Musk himself. However, the company has not received regulatory approval to roll out FSD (full self-driving) features in China.
Said Musk during Tesla’s Q1 earnings call when asked about the FSD rollout in China, "We do have some challenges because ... they currently don’t allow us to transfer training video outside of China. And then the US government won’t let us do training in China. So, we’re in a bit of a bind there. It’s like a quandary.”
Outside of China, Tesla’s FSD and robotaxi plans have kept up with Tesla’s latest schedule as outlined in its Q1 earnings update. Musk said that its robotaxi service — powered by paid, unsupervised FSD — was coming to Austin, Texas, in June. This service would use current Tesla vehicles owned by the company.
Musk also said that Tesla’s purpose-built robotaxi, the Cybercab, was on track for a 2026 release.
BYD’s threat to Tesla's autonomous and AI prowess comes as the Chinese company draws close to beating Tesla in pure EV sales....
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Tesla was down $22.23 (-6.34%) during the regular session and is down another $1.30 (-0.40%) in late after-hours trade. $327.20.
As to a potential bottom? Long time readers know where the gaps are:
