Tesla Halts Driving-Assistance Software Trial in China, Pending Approval 

A Tesla Model 3 vehicle drives using FSD (Full Self-Driving) in Encinitas, California, US, October 18, 2023. (Reuters)
A Tesla Model 3 vehicle drives using FSD (Full Self-Driving) in Encinitas, California, US, October 18, 2023. (Reuters)
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Tesla Halts Driving-Assistance Software Trial in China, Pending Approval 

A Tesla Model 3 vehicle drives using FSD (Full Self-Driving) in Encinitas, California, US, October 18, 2023. (Reuters)
A Tesla Model 3 vehicle drives using FSD (Full Self-Driving) in Encinitas, California, US, October 18, 2023. (Reuters)

Tesla said on Monday it would release its smart driving-assistance feature in China after completing regulatory approval, following complaints that a limited-time free trial of its Full Self-Driving service had been temporarily paused.

"All parties are actively advancing the relevant process and we will push it to you as soon as it is ready. We are also looking forward to it, please wait patiently," Tesla's customer support said on social media platform Weibo.

The message was posted as a comment under a feed of Tesla vice president Grace Tao's Weibo account.

The company said last Monday that it would launch the free trial of its FSD service in China between March 17 and April 16.

FSD is a suite of driving-assistance technologies developed with generative artificial intelligence to cope with more complicated traffic conditions.

Tesla is aiming for a full roll out of FSD this year, and is working with Chinese tech giant Baidu to improve the performance of the system, Reuters previously reported.

Tesla has offered such trials in the United States, where its FSD system does not require navigation maps to be accurate or up-to-date because local training of the AI helps the technology drive better.

But in China, Tesla has been unable to train the system with data from its 2 million EVs because of the country's data laws.

In late February, China's industry ministry issued new rules requiring autonomous driving-related over-the-air software upgrades to be subject to regulatory approval.



ChatGPT Adds Shopping Help, Intensifying Google Rivalry

FILED - 18 April 2023, Berlin: On the monitor of a cell phone you can see the ChatGPT logo. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 18 April 2023, Berlin: On the monitor of a cell phone you can see the ChatGPT logo. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
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ChatGPT Adds Shopping Help, Intensifying Google Rivalry

FILED - 18 April 2023, Berlin: On the monitor of a cell phone you can see the ChatGPT logo. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 18 April 2023, Berlin: On the monitor of a cell phone you can see the ChatGPT logo. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa

OpenAI announced Monday that ChatGPT is now helping users find products online, enhancing its challenge to Google amid regulatory pressure on the search giant's market dominance.

The new shopping capability further blurs the line between AI chatbots and search engines, signaling OpenAI's ambition to compete with Google in a market the latter has controlled for decades.

"Search has become one of our most popular and fastest growing features, with over 1 billion web searches just in the past week," the San Francisco-based company said in a post on X.

Rolled out on Monday, the update allows shoppers to find and compare items through natural conversation, then connect directly to merchants for purchases.

"Instead of scrolling through pages of results, you can simply start a conversation," OpenAI's post said, adding that users could also ask follow-up questions or compare products.

ChatGPT's shopping feature initially focuses on fashion, beauty, and home electronics categories. Product recommendations are personalized and come from the web, not advertisements, OpenAI said.

To counter increasing competition from AI chatbots, Google has integrated its own Gemini assistant into search results, providing AI-generated answers above traditional website links.

The rivalry intensified last week when an OpenAI executive testified the company would consider purchasing Chrome if Google were forced to sell the browser as part of an ongoing US antitrust case.