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Watch Tesla’s FSD tackle water cup challenge, dirt roads in China
How does Tesla’s Full Self-Driving face off against competitors in China when it comes to smoothness and scalability?
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) started going out for testing in China last month, representing the first market outside of North America to get the software. Amidst competition in the automated driving space from a number of other Chinese companies, Tesla’s FSD seems to be impressing in early reviews, with recent reviews highlighting both the software’s smoothness and its ability to adapt and perform well on non-traditional roads.
In a Saturday video originally posted by user 王船船 on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, a driver utilizes the Supervised FSD system while performing what’s called the “water challenge,” in which a cup of water is balanced on the driver’s side window ledge to see if driving is smooth enough to avoid spilling.
The drive spans a little more than four minutes, and the system manages to make it through without the water spilling in any substantial quantities. The driver mostly remains on city streets, but you can see a handful of quick, unexpected stops, turns, and other maneuvers that one might expect to make the cup tip completely.
The video was also reposted on X by Tesla’s main account, with the company highlighting the system’s “maximum smoothness” as demonstrated in the video. Tesla VP of AI Ashok Elluswamy also reposted the video, saying in a separate follow-up post that “FSD’s been prepared for this one.”
Maximum smoothness https://t.co/p4aM3StgRk
— Tesla (@Tesla) March 15, 2025
Although Tesla’s FSD system didn’t have access to real-world driving data from the company’s vehicles at the time of its launch in China, Elon Musk recently explained that the company used publicly available video from the internet to help pre-train FSD for Chinese streets and traffic laws.
In addition to helping with city streets, Tesla has explained in the past that its camera- and video-based FSD neural network training makes the system easily scalable to multiple countries, fringe traffic cases, and even less traditional roads.
As another example of this in China, FSD testers also took to some dirt roads last week, showing just how well the software seems to handle some seemingly-deep and super-narrow back roads. You can see excerpts from this video below, or check out the full 25-minute version from user AE68 on Douyin.
Tesla FSD testers in China do seem to be built different. That’s some REALLY rural roads!
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 14, 2025
READ MORE ON TESLA CHINA: Cheaper Tesla Model Y may launch in China
Tesla’s FSD in China amidst local competition
Tesla officially launched a localized data privacy version of FSD Supervised in China last month, The launch came amidst a headstart from multiple competitors in the autonomous driving space, including from Chinese automakers Baidu, Huawei, and still others.
The Avatr 11 electric vehicle (EV), a jointly created project from Changan New Energy, CATL, and Huawei, was recently seen being tested by Out of Spec’s Kyle Conner. The system uses Huawei’s latest automated driving system technology, Qiankun ADS 3.2, which Conner recently said was “the best driver assistance he’s ever experienced” in a recent review on his trip to China.
You can see this video and an additional video from Conner and Out of Spec discussing the emerging autonomous vehicle industry in China below. It’s also worth noting that both of these were released just a few weeks before Tesla’s first version of FSD launched in the country.
The Best FSD System In China! 1 Hour Drive Using Huawei Qiankun ADS 3.2 Installed In Avatr 11 (2/1/25)
The EV Industry Isn’t Ready For China’s FSD Breakthrough (2/2/25)
Elon Musk clarifies the holdup with Tesla Full Self-Driving launch in Europe
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s xAI brings 1GW Colossus 2 AI training cluster online
Elon Musk shared his update in a recent post on social media platform X.
xAI has brought its Colossus 2 supercomputer online, making it the first gigawatt-scale AI training cluster in the world, and it’s about to get even bigger in a few months.
Elon Musk shared his update in a recent post on social media platform X.
Colossus 2 goes live
The Colossus 2 supercomputer, together with its predecessor, Colossus 1, are used by xAI to primarily train and refine the company’s Grok large language model. In a post on X, Musk stated that Colossus 2 is already operational, making it the first gigawatt training cluster in the world.
But what’s even more remarkable is that it would be upgraded to 1.5 GW of power in April. Even in its current iteration, however, the Colossus 2 supercomputer already exceeds the peak demand of San Francisco.
Commentary from users of the social media platform highlighted the speed of execution behind the project. Colossus 1 went from site preparation to full operation in 122 days, while Colossus 2 went live by crossing the 1-GW barrier and is targeting a total capacity of roughly 2 GW. This far exceeds the speed of xAI’s primary rivals.
Funding fuels rapid expansion
xAI’s Colossus 2 launch follows xAI’s recently closed, upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, which exceeded its initial $15 billion target. The company said the capital will be used to accelerate infrastructure scaling and AI product development.
The round attracted a broad group of investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group. Strategic partners NVIDIA and Cisco also continued their support, helping xAI build what it describes as the world’s largest GPU clusters.
xAI said the funding will accelerate its infrastructure buildout, enable rapid deployment of AI products to billions of users, and support research tied to its mission of understanding the universe. The company noted that its Colossus 1 and 2 systems now represent more than one million H100 GPU equivalents, alongside recent releases including the Grok 4 series, Grok Voice, and Grok Imagine. Training is also already underway for its next flagship model, Grok 5.
Elon Musk
Tesla AI5 chip nears completion, Elon Musk teases 9-month development cadence
The Tesla CEO shared his recent insights in a post on social media platform X.
Tesla’s next-generation AI5 chip is nearly complete, and work on its successor is already underway, as per a recent update from Elon Musk.
The Tesla CEO shared his recent insights in a post on social media platform X.
Musk details AI chip roadmap
In his post, Elon Musk stated that Tesla’s AI5 chip design is “almost done,” while AI6 has already entered early development. Musk added that Tesla plans to continue iterating rapidly, with AI7, AI8, AI9, and future generations targeting a nine-month design cycle.
He also noted that Tesla’s in-house chips could become the highest-volume AI processors in the world. Musk framed his update as a recruiting message, encouraging engineers to join Tesla’s AI and chip development teams.
Tesla community member Herbert Ong highlighted the strategic importance of the timeline, noting that faster chip cycles enable quicker learning, faster iteration, and a compounding advantage in AI and autonomy that becomes increasingly difficult for competitors to close.
AI5 manufacturing takes shape
Musk’s comments align with earlier reporting on AI5’s production plans. In December, it was reported that Samsung is preparing to manufacture Tesla’s AI5 chip, accelerating hiring for experienced engineers to support U.S. production and address complex foundry challenges.
Samsung is one of two suppliers selected for AI5, alongside TSMC. The companies are expected to produce different versions of the AI5 chip, with TSMC reportedly using a 3nm process and Samsung using a 2nm process.
Musk has previously stated that while different foundries translate chip designs into physical silicon in different ways, the goal is for both versions of the Tesla AI5 chip to operate identically. AI5 will succeed Tesla’s current AI4 hardware, formerly known as Hardware 4, and is expected to support the company’s Full Self-Driving system as well as other AI-driven efforts, including Optimus.
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Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.
The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.
The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring.

This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.
The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.
ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.
“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.
“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.