White House Dinner: A Clue to China's FSD Approval?

The guest list included leaders of major IT companies such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai, and Tim Cook.

This list of attendees is interpreted as an important indicator for predicting the main agenda items to be discussed at the U.S.-China summit. Elon Musk's presence, in particular, has led to various speculations regarding Tesla's business in China.

Issues related to semiconductor export controls and rare earth minerals are also included, with complex bilateral issues expected to be discussed.

In particular, as the November 10 deadline for the U.S.-China tariff truce approaches, intensive discussions on economic issues are anticipated.

Elon Musk is closely associated with three topics in this summit: artificial intelligence, semiconductor export controls, and U.S. manufacturing with production bases in China. This is because Tesla develops AI-based autonomous driving technology, is affected by semiconductor supply chains, and operates a large-scale production factory in China.

Therefore, Musk's attendance at the dinner can be interpreted not only as related to Tesla's China FSD approval issue but also as representing Tesla's position within a broader context of U.S.-China economic cooperation and competition.

Immediately after Musk accompanied President Trump on his visit to China, Tesla added China to its list of FSD-eligible countries via its social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

Indeed, economic achievements, such as a contract for the purchase of 200 Boeing aircraft, were realized during that U.S.-China summit. Against this backdrop, it is speculated that this dinner could be a catalyst for Tesla's China FSD approval.

With Q3 ending on September 30, and this White House dinner scheduled for the 24th, related expectations are growing even stronger.

As the dinner takes place just before the end of Q3, there is an analysis that discussions between Tesla and Chinese authorities regarding FSD could make progress.

This is approximately 44% more expensive than the price sold in Korea until early August (9,043,000 won), calculated at the current exchange rate (1,306 won).

As a result, Tesla is struggling to respond to the expansion of driving assistance systems by local competitors such as Xiaomi and Huawei in the Chinese market.

Without full approval in China, Tesla FSD is in a situation where its potential cannot be fully realized.

This led to a three-month consecutive decline in sales, recording the weakest August sales performance since 2022.

The sales slump in the Chinese market is analyzed as one of the reasons Tesla is seeking a breakthrough through FSD approval.

Buyers receive a 10,000 yuan (approx. 2,040,000 won) discount on the final payment for a Model Y, and 5,000 yuan for a Model 3.

This is the first direct cash discount policy implemented since December 2024. It is interpreted as a strategy to boost sales through direct discounts, moving away from indirect benefits like interest-free installment plans.

This exhibition is for promoting technological and design concepts.

Tesla appears to have expressed a clear stance to prevent misunderstandings about commercial robotaxi operations.

China is not expected to establish autonomous driving standards for Level 3-4 until after 2027.

Therefore, there is a limitation that Tesla's unsupervised robotaxis cannot be introduced under the current Chinese autonomous driving system.

To generate revenue with robotaxis, separate operating licenses must be obtained for each city, and safety records accumulated during driving on Chinese roads must be submitted and verified by Chinese authorities.

With existing autonomous driving companies like WeRide and Pony.ai already facing difficulties in securing operating licenses and generating revenue, Tesla is also expected to encounter significant challenges even after FSD technology approval.

Consequently, FSD approval is expected to contribute to increasing Tesla's vehicle sales and software adoption rate in the Chinese market.