Tesla Integrates Chinese AI Models in Vehicles for China Market

Tesla Will Use A Powerful New Weapon in AI Race

Tesla Inc. will partner up with AI darlings DeepSeek and Bytedance Ltd.’s Doubao on new tools in its cars in China, according to a document uploaded to Tesla’s official website. Bloomberg reports that Doubao will work on voice command-related tools like the temperature in a Tesla, navigation and in-car entertainment, while DeepSeek will handle the AI side of things. The move may be a way for Tesla to boost its Chinese deliveries, which dropped 8.4% from December to June compared to the same time period last year. DeepSeek is currently used in several Chinese Tesla rivals, including carmakers Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and YD Co. Representatives from Tesla and Bytedance did not respond to requests for comment. The scramble for Chinese buyers has meant that companies not based in the country, like BMW and Tesla, have had to find new ways to tempt drivers with more tech. That has lead them to ink deals with local providers like DeepSeek and Alibaba, which has teamed up with BMW to offer its QWen large language model in cars. DeepSeek's most recent AI model has also had market watchers sit up and take notice. “While many recognize DeepSeek’s achievements, this represents just the beginning of China’s AI innovation wave,†Louis Liang, an AI sector investor with Ameba Capital, told Bloomberg. “We are witnessing the advent of AI mass adoption, this goes beyond national competition.†This may be good news for many AI enthusiasts who were wowed by DeepSeek's release of its V3.1 model earlier this week, a debut which showed a surprising amount of power and range from the Chinese company compared to Western competitors. “Deepseek v3.1 scores 71.6% on aiderâ€"non-reasoning SOTA,†tweeted AI researcher Andrew Christianson at the time, adding that it is “1% more than Claude Opus 4 while being 68 times cheaper.†That speed matched performance levels previously reserved for the most expensive proprietary systems, lifting DeepSeek into a whole new level of prestige. Tesla cars in the U.S. currently use an AI model created by xAI dubbed Grok. Bloomberg theorizes that rolling out Grok in China has hit some legal hurdles abroad, which are likely a speed bump for CEO Elon Musk's ambitions in the AI race.

Tesla integrates Deepseek and Doubao AIs inside cars in China

Tesla is starting to integrate Deepseek and Doubao, two AIs competing with Elon Musk's Grok, inside its cars in China. Unlike Grok in cars in North America, AIs in China are going to be able to interact with car functions. In the US, Tesla recently launched Grok, the large language model (LLM) developed by Elon Musk's xAI, on its vehicles. However, it is equivalent to having Grok on your phone, as it can't interact with any of the vehicle's functions. Now, Tesla is also adding LLMs to its vehicles in China, but it is utilizing local AI models rather than xAI's. According to new documents released on its website, Tesla is adding DeepSeek and ByteDance's Doubao to its vehicles in China, starting with the new Model YL. Tesla is partnering with ByteDance's Volcano Engine cloud service to host both AI models. DeepSeek will be used as a chatbot/voice assistant inside the vehicle, similar to how Tesla owners in the US can currently use Grok in their cars. However, unlike Grok, Doubao will be able to interact with Tesla vehicles and replace voice commands with a new 'Hey, Tesla' wake-up word. In China, AI models are increasingly common as standard voice command systems in electric vehicles, and Tesla is now catching up to the competition in this regard with this release.

Tesla to integrate Deepseek, Doubao AI voice controls in China - The Economic Times

Voice commands will be mostly processed by Doubao, while Deepseek chat will be responsible for AI interaction, the document showed. Both these models are hosted by Bytedance's Volcano Engine cloud service, it said.Tesla plans to introduce in-car voice assistant functions powered by Deepseek and Bytedance's Doubao artificial intelligence as it aims to catch local rivals who offer similar features. The technology allows drivers to use voice commands to control navigation apps, in-car entertainment and cabin temperature, as well as receive news updates, according to a terms and service document uploaded to Tesla's official website. Voice commands will be mostly processed by Doubao, while Deepseek chat will be responsible for AI interaction, the document showed. Both these models are hosted by Bytedance's Volcano Engine cloud service, it said. Foreign carmakers are increasingly turning to domestic suppliers to provide AI models to offer a more localized experience for Chinese drivers, who have grown accustomed to tech-filled cars. BMW AG said in March that it has deepened a partnership with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and will introduce the QWen large language model to an upcoming line-up tailor-made for the China market. Tesla vehicles in the US use Grok, a model developed by Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup, xAI. The move shows that legal requirements in China likely made it difficult to introduce Grok to the market, and underscore the competition Tesla faces from domestic brands such as BYD Co. and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., who have turned to Deepseek to improve their in-car user interaction. Shipments from Tesla's Shanghai factory have fallen in six of the first seven months of 2025, with July deliveries down 8.4% from a year earlier. It's not clear if the AI models have already been integrated into Tesla's Chinese cars. Several owners contacted by Bloomberg News said they hadn't yet been notified of the new terms and service document. The most recent over-the-air update listed on Tesla's official Wechat app was dated Aug. 18. Representatives from Tesla and Bytedance didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tesla Is Eschewing xAI's Grok LLM In Favor Of DeepSeek's AI Model In Its Vehicles In China

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy. In an aberrant move that likely takes into account Chinese sensitivities vis-à-vis Western tech, Tesla is now equipping its EVs in China with AI models from DeepSeek, eschewing xAI's Grok Large Language Model (LLM). To wit, the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) registrations of Tesla EVs in China now clearly mention DeepSeek under the AI subcategory. This sharply contrasts with Tesla's approach in almost every other market, where xAI's Grok LLM handles AI-related tasks. This development comes as China's politburo has become increasingly sensitive to perceptions of becoming "addicted to [the] American technology stack," an ancillary aim of the Trump administration as recently espoused by the US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick. As an illustration of this emerging paradigm shift, consider the fact that China is now actively discouraging its tech companies from purchasing NVIDIA's H20 GPUs amid fears of backdoor spyware, threatening to impose sweeping bans on the use of the chip. Of course, with China's homegrown AI chips continuing to offer subpar performance, with DeepSeek reportedly forced to delay the launch of its R2 model recently due to the inferior training capability of AI chips from Huawei, it remains to be seen how successful Beijing would be in imposing its will on China's otherwise vibrant tech sector. Meanwhile, Elon Musk announced earlier today that Tesla FSD version 14 will launch in September. The next month will also see xAI start training the next version of the Grok LLM, which has a "shot at being true AGI," as per a hyperbole-laden X post from Musk. Finally, do note that the NHTSA has now opened a preliminary investigation into Tesla's crash reporting delays, where the agency was sometimes notified months after an event when rules mandate prompt notification. Given the increasing number of headwinds around Tesla these days, it is hardly a surprise that puts on the stock remain high in demand and pricey.

Elon Musk's Tesla To Offer Grok, ChatGPT Rival DeepSeek, ByteDance's Doubao With Its Cars In China - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Tesla Inc. TSLA will offer Grok and ChatGPT's Chinese rival DeepSeek AI, as well as ByteDance Ltd's Doubao AI, on its lineup in the country amid Elon Musk's row against OpenAI. Tesla Will Offer DeepSeek, Doubao Documents uploaded to the company's website on Thursday showcased that the company was incorporating the two models into its vehicles in China. ByteDance's Doubao would handle functions like voice commands, temperature controls, music playback and more. On the other hand, DeepSeek will handle the AI interaction in the car, the documents suggest. The documents also show that both models will be running via ByteDance's Volcano Engine, which is the company's cloud computing technology. Source: Tesla (Original source in Chinese) Elon Musk's OpenAI Takeover, Apple Favoritism, And Tesla's Grok Partnership The news comes as Musk has accused Apple Inc. AAPL of allegedly favoring OpenAI's model ChatGPT on its app store, over his artificial intelligence company xAI's model Grok, which is being offered on all Tesla vehicles in the U.S. with an Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD chip. Apple's alleged favoritism is an "unequivocal antitrust violation," Musk said and threatened legal action against the company. Interestingly, Musk also sought Meta Technologies Inc. META CEO Mark Zuckerberg's help in funding an unsolicited $97 billion OpenAI takeover bid. xAI's Memphis Data Center, Tesla Pulls Dojo Program Amid FSD Scrutiny xAI's data center in Memphis, which hosts the company's supercomputer Colossus 1, recently announced it was looking at alternative power solutions, with 208 Tesla Megapack batteries powering the site alongside two power substations. The data center was under fire from rights groups, who alleged that the site was disproportionately targeting the majority-black community in Memphis and increasing air pollution through gas-powered turbines for cooling the data center. Elsewhere, Tesla pulled the plug on its Dojo program, responsible for developing the company's AI Chips for self-driving cars amid FSD woes, as the NHTSA announced it was investigating delays in reporting self-driving crashes by Tesla. Tesla is also facing a class action lawsuit filed by customers in California over allegedly misleading drivers about the FSD system's capabilities. Tesla had unsuccessfully tried to dismiss the lawsuit. Tesla scores well on Momentum and Growth metrics, while offering satisfactory Quality, but poor Value. For more such insights, sign up for Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings today! Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link. Read Next: Tesla Announces Surprise Price Hike Of Quickest Cybertruck Trim Amid $7,500 EV Credit Deadline, Declining Sales Photo courtesy: mundissima on Shutterstock.com TSLATesla Inc$321.620.47%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum76.02Growth73.86Quality54.65Value9.93Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewAAPLApple Inc$225.830.41%AMDAdvanced Micro Devices Inc$162.30-0.86%METAMeta Platforms Inc$740.770.23%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs