Featured Image Credit: 2020 WAIC

Tesla CEO Elon Musk made an appearance at the 2020 World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai again. Musk revealed a lot of information during his appearance, including how close Tesla is to achieving level 5 autonomy. He also stated that Tesla China will get a chance to do original designs and engineering in the future. 

Elon Musk answered a few questions about Tesla Autopilot and revealed some information about Tesla China and Giga Shanghai's present condition and future projects. 

Original Design And Engineering In China

Musk started his live webcast answering a question about Autopilot and its progress in China. He said that Tesla Autopilot worked “reasonably well” in China. Just last month Tesla China vehicles received the company's 2020.24 OTA software update, which included features and improvements like Backup Camera Improvements and On-Route Battery Warmup. 

Tesla China Vehicles Get Massive 2020.24 OTA Software Update https://t.co/UHh4jgtxrb pic.twitter.com/Ng0tHdxvMo

— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) June 26, 2020

Tesla’s CEO elaborated that Autopilot in China still needed work and he invited local engineers to join the Tesla China team to help it progress. “…But we are building up our engineering team in China. And so if you’re interested in working at Tesla China as an engineer, we would love to have you work there. That will be great,” said Elon Musk. 

“I really want to emphasize this a lot, that we are going to be doing original engineering in China. So, It’s not just converting stuff from America to work in China. We will be doing original design and engineering in China,” he said.

Tesla Autopilot And Achieving Level 5 Autonomy 

“I’m extremely confident that level five or essentially complete autonomy will happen, and I think, will happen very quickly,” said Musk, answering another question. 

“I think at Tesla, I feel like we are very close to level five autonomy. I think—I remain confident that we will have the basic functionality for level five autonomy complete this year,” he elaborated. 

Elon Musk Shares Updates On Tesla's Autopilot Rewrite & Upcoming Features Like Reverse Summon https://t.co/HL7DaS9tJO pic.twitter.com/qMxyEePhIi

— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) July 2, 2020

Musk’s words at the 2020 WAIC were similar to his recent Autopilot rewrite update on Twitter earlier this month. He had shared with the Tesla community that the Autopilot rewrite was going well and a lot of functionality would be ready for release in 2 to 4 months, but would still need to be proven safe for owners to enable. 

"So yes, I think there are no fundamental challenges remaining to level five autonomy…,” Musk said, explaining all the little details Tesla will still need to focus on to reach Level 5 autonomy. “ So we are really deeply enmeshed in dealing with the tiny details of level five autonomy. But I’m absolutely confident that this can be accomplished with the hardware that is in Teslas today and simply by making software improvements.”

Tesla Giga Shanghai Model 3 Production Surpassed 4,000 Per Week With Two Shifts https://t.co/L4ko68orJn

— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) July 8, 2020

Tesla Giga Shanghai Update

For his last question, Elon Musk was asked if Giga Shanghai would apply AI to its manufacturing operations. Before answering the questions, Musk noted how well operations were proceeding at Giga Shanghai. “…It’s really impressive work that’s been done. I really can’t say enough good things. Thank you to the Tesla China team,” he said.

After he praised the Tesla China team for its good work at Giga Shanghai, Musk gave his answer to the question. “We expect over time to use more AI and essentially smarter software in our factory. But I think it will take a while to really employ AI effectively in a factory situation,” he said.

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