"All cars will be electric in future": Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that all cars would be electric in the future. Musk made the announcement after meeting Chinese officials in Beijing. He met with his senior executives to discuss the rollout of full self-driving software and permission to transfer data abroad. Chinese state media reported that he met with Prime Minister Li Qiang in Beijing, during which Li Qiang told Elon Musk that Tesla's development in China can be considered a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation.

Elon Musk confirmed his meeting with the Prime Minister through a post on social media platform X on Sunday. Sharing a photo with the Chinese Prime Minister, he wrote, "Honored to meet Prime Minister Li Qiang. We have known each other for many years, since the early days of Shanghai."

Tesla signed a deal with Chinese authorities in 2018 for a plant in Shanghai, its first deal outside the US. The US electric vehicle maker launched Full Self-Driving, or FSD, the most autonomous version of its autopilot software four years ago but has not yet made it available in China, the world's second-largest market.

Answering a question on social media platform X, Elon Musk said that Tesla can probably launch FSD for Chinese customers from this month. He wrote in his reply, "Very soon". Rival Chinese automakers like Xpeng are trying to gain an edge over Tesla by introducing similar software.

One person said that Elon Musk is looking to get approval to transfer data collected in the country abroad to train algorithms for his autonomous driving technologies. Tesla has stored all data collected in China since 2021 in Shanghai as required by Chinese regulators and not transferred back to the United States.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, in its report on Elon Musk's meeting with Li Qiang, did not say whether the two discussed FSD or data. Earlier in the day, a separate report by state radio said Li Qiang had visited the ongoing auto show in Beijing and commented on how China's smart new energy vehicle (NEV) sector has taken off the market. The first position has been achieved and the country will have to work hard to maintain its gains.

"It's good to see electric vehicles making progress in China. In the future, all cars will be electric," Elon Musk said in a video posted on social media by a user linked to state media.