'Watershed moment' for Tesla as Elon Musk's visit to China reaps quick reward

Elon Musk's visit to China has reportedly reaped immediate rewards with a deal for Tesla to use mapping data provided by web search company Baidu, a big step in introducing driver assistance technology in the world's largest car market. Musk made an unannounced visit to China over the weekend. The billionaire posted a picture of his meeting with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, on X, the social network he took over in 2022. Baidu, which dominates web search in China, will provide mapping and navigation functions to help Tesla operate its driver assistance technology, which it calls "full self-driving", or FSD, according to sources cited by Bloomberg News. Mapping services – crucial to driver assistance technologies – are strictly controlled by China's government.