Tesla filed two trademark applications for “Tesla Intelligence” in China last month, local media outlets reported on Friday citing the country’s National Intellectual Property Administration’s (CNIPA) database.
The application comes ahead of the US giant’s AI voice assistant launch in China, the company’s largest market with over 625,000 vehicles sold in 2025.
As revealed in the company’s documents last August, the voice assistant for its domestic Model S, 3, X, and Y vehicles will be powered by local AI tools ByteDance and DeepSeek.
The registrations encompass “scientific instruments and website services”, according to the CNIPA database.
Both trademark applications – registered under 89056746 and 89056741 numbers – are still pending review.
The two new filings joined the several ones submitted by Tesla in recent years.
Exactly a year ago, the company successfully trademarked “Tesla Cyber” in Chinese characters – “特斯拉赛博.”
A few months later, the Elon Musk-led company completed the trademark application for its humanoid robot Optimus in China.
AI Voice Assistant
Last August, Tesla‘s terms of service confirmed that the Texas-based EV maker would upgrade its in-car voice assistant for Chinese customers with the AI large language models from ByteDance and DeepSeek.
The first domestic brand’s Doubao large language model – also known as Skylark – is planned to be used for voice command functions, including navigation, media playback, and temperature control.
On the other hand, DeepSeek’s model is set to manage the interactive AI conversations.
The Chinese AI start-up was also integrated into the rival BYD’s advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) nearly a year ago.
Both models are hosted on ByteDance’s Volcano Engine cloud service, following Tesla’s partnership with Volcano Engine last August to support AI-powered in-cabin interaction, the Chinese media outlet Yicai last year.
Due to Tesla‘s inability to integrate xAI’s chatbot Grok into its Chinese vehicles, caused by the country’s strict data localization laws, the US giant had to opt for domestic AI technologies.
Grok – deemed “the smartest AI in the world on the toughest tests” by Elon Musk in its X account last August – was introduced to the Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck in the US in July 2025.
“You can now talk to Grok, your AI companion built by xAI, hands-free in your Tesla vehicle. You can choose Grok’s voice and personality, ranging from Storyteller to Unhinged, to enhance convenience while you’re on the go,” the EV maker mentioned on its website.
However, the company highlighted that the feature will possibly be applied to “additional Tesla vehicles with over-the-air software updates in the future”.
The launches highlight Musk’s dual AI strategy: relying on Chinese providers to comply with local regulations while pushing his own xAI products abroad.
Regarding its xAI company, Elon Musk assured last August that it would “soon be far beyond any company besides Google”, but cautioned that Chinese would be “the toughest competitors.”
“Companies in China will be the toughest competitors, because they have so much more electricity than America and are super strong at building hardware,” Tesla‘s CEO wrote on X on August 23, 2025.
As of Friday morning, Tesla has not announced an official launch date for the AI assistant in China.
Tesla China Sales
Earlier this week, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) reported that December sales of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) reached 940,000 units.
The figures increased 5.8% compared to a year ago despite falling by 9.4% from November.
Tesla‘s wholesale figures reached 97,171 fully electric vehicles in the last month of 2025.
Its Model Y became the highest-selling model across all powertrains, with 66,189 units sold.
This number includes more than 20,000 vehicles of its Model Y L, the three row version launched in August.
