Tesla denies rumors it’s abandoning ‘Full Self-Driving’ push in China

This is a story about Tesla's car software, not something that touches home energy upgrades, but here's the gist: Tesla is pushing back on rumors that it shut down its "Full Self-Driving" effort in China. Chinese social media claimed Tesla had vacated a Shanghai data center set up for the driver-assist system and pulled its team out. Tesla says the data center is running normally, hiring is actually picking up, and it has reported the rumors to police.

The bigger issue is that China still isn't on Tesla's list of markets where people can subscribe to FSD, even though Tesla's US website oddly still lists China as a place where the system is "available for use." Tesla announced FSD for China back in May 2026 and renamed it "Tesla Assisted Driving" there, but it has never given pricing or a rollout timeline. Regulatory approval from Beijing appears to be the holdup, not a lack of technical readiness.

Meanwhile, Chinese automakers like Xiaomi, Huawei, and Xpeng are already rolling out their own driver-assist features for city streets, the same capability Tesla is still waiting to launch. None of this affects home energy programs or rebates — it's purely about the status of Tesla's car software in the Chinese market.