Tesla working with Baidu to improve assisted driving system in China, sources say

Baidu reportedly dispatched a group of engineers from its mapping team to Tesla’s Beijing office in recent weeks.

Tesla is working with Chinese tech giant Baidu to improve the performance of its advanced driving assistance (ADAS) system in China, two people with knowledge of the matter said, after a recent update drew customer criticism.

Baidu dispatched a group of engineers from its mapping team to Tesla's Beijing office in recent weeks to work on better integrating Baidu's navigation map information, such as lane marking and traffic light signals, with Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) Version 13 software, the sources said.

The sources did not say how many engineers were sent to Tesla or whether they were still there. They said the aim was to improve FSD V13's knowledge of Chinese roads with more accurate and updated mapping information.

The sources declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media. They did not disclose a financial value to the collaboration.

The deepening relationship with Baidu comes as Tesla navigates data and regulatory restrictions imposed by Beijing and Washington, which have made it tricky for the carmaker to bring full Autopilot and FSD systems to its second largest market.

U.S.-listed shares of Baidu were up about 2%, while Tesla's stock, which gained about 12% in the last two sessions, was down nearly 1% in premarket trading.

In the United States, Tesla's FSD system does not require navigation maps to be accurate or up-to-date, because local training of the AI helps the technology drive better.