Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
A few days after Tesla started its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in China, Chief Executive Elon Musk said the company is “waiting for regulatory approval” to release it in Europe.
Tesla started on Tuesday rolling out the software in China. A few hours later, Musk wrote on X that Tesla “just used publicly available video on the Internet of roads and signs in China and used that to train in sim[ulator].”
The update allows vehicles to navigate intersections and make lane changes based on traffic signals, speed, and road conditions — a major step forward in the path to the company’s goal of achieving fully autonomous driving.
Last September, Tesla posted an update to its AI roadmap revealing that it expected to launch its supervised FSD software both in Europe and China in the first quarter of this year.
By then, the company noted at the time the confirmation of the rollout was still pending regulatory approval.
On Friday, Musk wrote on X that the European launch of the software is “waiting for regulatory approval” without disclosing any details.
The chief executive said last September that Right Hand Drive markets (such as the UK) will follow in the late first quarter or early second quarter of this year — once the approval is achieved. “Hopefully, RHD markets in late Q1, early Q2, pending regulatory approval,” Musk wrote.
In 2024, China surpassed the U.S. and became Tesla’s largest market, with 659,282 vehicles sold. Sales in the U.S. fell from 657,626 to 623,152 units, according to the data analyst and X user ‘Troy Teslike’.
