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Tesla seals deal with Baidu for China maps, whether CEO Elon Musk wants them or not

  • To go to market with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, Elon Musk had no choice but to join a Chinese partner for a mapping licence on the mainland
  • Baidu is one of only around 20 entities in China that have been granted the top-level map-surveying qualification

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Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, right, is abiding with China’s regulation that requires carmakers to work with domestic mapping partners. Photo: AP
Bloomberg
Tesla’s pivotal partnership with Baidu in China may amount to a U-turn of sorts for Elon Musk, who has long claimed his company can eventually offer self-driving without high-definition maps.
The chief executive told investors five years ago that Tesla “briefly barked up the tree” of relying on traffic lane-level maps for its driver-assistance systems, before realising this was “a huge mistake”. Musk’s position is that adaptive artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can recognise in real time any changes to roadways are the superior approach.

“The two main crutches that should not be used, and will in retrospect be obviously false and foolish, are lidar and HD maps,” Musk said in April 2019, referring to light detection and ranging sensors, and high-definition maps. “Mark my words.”

That prediction may no longer apply, at least in China – and not because Musk has altered his view. To go to market with the system his company calls Full Self-Driving (FSD), he had no choice but to join with a local partner for a mapping licence.

A Tesla Model 3 vehicle warns the driver to keep their hands on the wheel and be prepared to take over at anytime, while driving using the carmaker’s Full Self-Driving system in Encinitas, California, on October 18, 2023. Photo: Reuters
A Tesla Model 3 vehicle warns the driver to keep their hands on the wheel and be prepared to take over at anytime, while driving using the carmaker’s Full Self-Driving system in Encinitas, California, on October 18, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Carmakers wishing to offer advanced driver-assistance systems in the country must meet what is called a map-surveying qualification, which applies to a broad range of mapping software. Even AI-driven systems that effectively build maps on the fly through their detection hardware may be subject to this classification.

Beijing-based Baidu is one of only around 20 entities in China that have been granted the top-level qualification, which requires an independent mapping and navigation system, a set of higher-end equipment and a certain number of qualified examiners. Geographic information is closely guarded in China for national security reasons.

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