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Baidu CEO says EV arm’s autonomous driving tech will be a generation ahead of Tesla

JIDU concept robocar ROBO-01 (Credit: Baidu)

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Robin Li, Baidu’s founder, chairman, and CEO, recently shared some bold predictions about the ROBO-01, a vehicle specifically designed to operate using autonomous driving technologies. The ROBO-01 will be produced by Jidu Auto, an intelligent electric vehicle company backed by Chinese internet giant Baidu and automaker Geely. 

During its inaugural partner conference in Shanghai today, Jidu Auto noted that it will work to deliver 800,000 robot cars a year by 2028. The company is running on a tight timeframe, with Jidu aiming to launch a limited version of its first production model in the fall of 2022. A second model is also expected to be unveiled at the Guangzhou auto show in late 2022. 

Jidu is a young company, officially launched in March 2021. The automaker has some serious firepower behind it, however, as its vehicles are built on Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform and powered by Baidu’s autonomous driving technology. Robin Li, for his part, seems very confident about the capabilities of Baidu’s autonomous driving systems. 

During the conference, Li noted that in terms of autonomous driving technology, Jidu’s vehicles would be a generation ahead of Tesla. The CEO also noted that Baidu wants Jidu to become the standard for smart cars that is a generation ahead of the competition, according to a CNEV Post report. 

“For smart cars, our judgment is that electrification is the halftime game and intelligence is the endgame,” Li noted.

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Similar to other concept vehicles, the Jidu ROBO-01 features sleek futuristic elements such as a U-shaped folding steering wheel, a 3D borderless integrated screen, a 3D human-machine co-driving map, and an offline intelligent voice assistant. It also features butterfly doors and “zero-gravity seating.” 

But while these design elements and features echo many of veteran auto’s one-off concept cars that never really make it to production, Jidu noted that its ROBO-01 production vehicle would be around 90% similar to its concept counterpart. 

It should be noted that Tesla’s most advanced driver-assist system, Full Self-Driving Beta, is yet to be released in China. Thus, while Baidu’s autonomous driving tech may exceed Tesla’s Autopilot capabilities in China today, the internet giant may find itself facing a bigger challenge when the Full Self-Driving Beta is released in the country. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla is thriving in Japan and outpacing homegrown EVs

Imports, which include vehicles from Tesla and BYD, now claim about 75% of overall EV sales in the country.

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(Credit: Tesla China)

Tesla is seeing robust sales in Japan. This was hinted at in data from the Japan Automobile Importers Association’s “others” category, which indicated a 56% yearly increase to 2,120 units in Q1 2025.

Tesla constitutes most of the vehicles in the Japan Automobile Importers Association’s “others” category, as noted in a Nikkei Asia report.

Japan’s Tesla Boom

Car sales by “others” in Japan soared 89% to 1,249 units in March, a monthly high, Nikkei noted. Fueling this surge in vehicle demand seemed to be the rollout of the new Model Y, as well as incentives like a five-year free Supercharging offer for previous-generation Model Y units. 

Japan’s overall electric vehicle market, however, shrank 33% to 59,736 units in 2024, comprising under 2% of total auto sales, the lowest among major economies. Imports, which include Tesla and BYD, now claim about 75% of overall EV sales in the country.

Weak Local Competition

One of the reasons behind Tesla’s surge in Japan could be the subpar EVs offered by Japanese automakers. So far, only eight models are available from homegrown automakers, and none could really hold a candle to vehicles like the new Model Y in terms of features and performance.

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This was highlighted by the Nissan Leaf, which saw a 32% sales drop to 1,133 units, and the Toyota bZ4X, which saw a 76% drop in sales to just 85 units in the first quarter. Combined, Japanese brands sold a total of 2,063 EVs, less than Tesla’s estimated figures for the quarter.

Yoshiaki Kawano, an analyst at S&P Global, noted that the weak EVs from Japan’s homegrown automakers result in consumers opting for imported vehicles like Teslas. “There are few homegrown EV options, so in some cases people who want to buy EVs reluctantly choose imports,” Kawano stated.

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Elon Musk

xAI poised for funding surge as Musk seeks “proper value” for AI startup: report

The report was initially shared by CNBC’s David Faber during a segment on the Faber Report.

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Credit: xAI/X

During a recent investor call, Elon Musk reportedly hinted at a major valuation adjustment for his artificial intelligence startup, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO stating that he was looking to put a “proper value” on xAI.

The report was initially shared by CNBC’s David Faber during a segment on the Faber Report.

Investor Call Sparks Speculation

Citing sources who were reportedly involved in the call, Faber noted that while Musk did not specifically state that he was looking to initiate another funding round, his comments about a “proper valuation” for xAI were interpreted by Faber’s sources that xAI may be setting the stage for a notable capital raise in the near future.

“Let me give you some takeaways from the call itself. It was with a number of the companies, the investors in xAI going over a number of important things, that included the closing of the X transaction… Remember, xAI and X are now one company valuing X at $33 billion going in. xAI had a value of as much as $80 billion.

“What I’ve heard is the company is setting up for another capital raise of great significance… But on the call, Musk is quoted as having said, ‘We’re going to put a proper value on the company in reference to xAI,’ and people took that to mean, and again this is speculation, that they will have a large raise,” Faber stated

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xAI’s Growth and Ambitions

Launched in July 2023, xAI introduced its Grok chatbot to challenge Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In March, Musk merged xAI with X. “xAI and X’s futures are intertwined,” Musk wrote on X. “Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent.” 

The merger leverages X’s data to train Grok, boosting xAI’s competitive edge. xAI has also made a lot of headway in the artificial intelligence space, thanks in part to its speed, which allowed it to set up Colossus, a supercomputer cluster comprised of 100,000 GPUs, in just 122 days. Colossus has since been expanded to 200,000 GPUs, and plans are underway to expand the supercomputer even further.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla (TSLA) Q1 2025 earnings: What to expect

Tesla stock reached as high as $488.54 per share in 2024, though it is trading at around $240 per share as of writing.

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Credit: Tesla Asia/X

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is expected to release its first quarter 2025 results after markets close today, April 22, 2025.

At 4:30 p.m. Central Time / 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, executives such as CEO Elon Musk will also be holding a Company Update and the Q1 2025 earnings call.

Tesla Q1 Deliveries and Production

Tesla missed estimates in the first quarter, with the company delivering a total of 336,681 vehicles worldwide. A total of 362,615 vehicles were also produced during this period.

While the delivery results of Tesla’s electric vehicle business were subpar in Q1 2025, the company’s energy division exhibited strong performance during the quarter, deploying a total of 10.4 GWh worth of energy storage products.

Earnings Estimates

As noted in a Forbes report, expectations are high that Tesla will report a gain of $0.35/share on $21.85 billion in revenue. Whisper numbers, however, reportedly suggest that the electric vehicle maker will only post a gain of $0.31 per share.

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Analysts polled by the FactSet, however, expect Tesla to see an EPS of $0.41 per share on revenues of $21.27 billion, as noted in an Investors’ Business Daily report.

Tesla Stock So Far

Tesla stock reached as high as $488.54 per share in 2024, though it is trading at around $240 per share as of writing. Tesla stock has been naturally volatile, however, so it is prone to notable moves depending on its Q1 earnings.

If the numbers are good, Tesla stock could easily gap up, but if they are disappointing, it would not be surprising if TSLA shares gap down.

FSD, New Vehicle Updates

Tesla is expected to launch a dedicated robotaxi service this June in Austin, Texas. The company has also been hinting at more affordable models that will be launched in the first half of 2025. Expectations are high that CEO Elon Musk will share some updates on these projects, particularly the rollout of Tesla’s FSD Unsupervised system.

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