Tesla isn’t looking at you any more than TikTok – or so Elon Musk tried to secure China and other countries over the weekend.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the Chinese government is banning military workers and employees of the state’s major property companies from driving Tesla TSLA,
vehicles over fears that cameras outside the cars – which always record – could collect fine images that were then sent to the U.S. government. Chinese authorities are also concerned that mobile phones attached to Tesla vehicles could damage sensitive contact lists.
Not so, Musk said while speaking via video link to the China Development Forum on Saturday.
“We are strongly encouraged to keep any information confidential,” he said. “If Tesla used cars to drive in China or anywhere, we would be shut down. ”
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“If Tesla used cars to drive in China or anywhere, we would be shut down. ”
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Musk was like those spiritual fears to President Donald Trump calling the TikTok, which was in China, a threat to U.S. national security last year.
“The United States wanted to close TikTok. Fortunately, it didn’t happen, ”said Musk. “A lot of people were worried about TikTok. But I think this kind of concern is useless, and we should learn lessons from it. ”
Tesla’s Chinese arms ban was lifted “a week or two ago,” an anonymous source told the South China Morning Post, after Chinese leaders were “deeply concerned” about the vehicles. A screenshot of an order banning Teslas at a military residence building was posted on Chinese social media just hours before Musk spoke on Saturday.
China is a huge market for Tesla. The electric vehicle maker sold 147,455 vehicles there last year, Reuters said, which made up 30% of Tesla’s global currency. It faces increased competition from Chinese carmakers Nio Inc. NIO,
and Geely 175,
however, and the same anonymous source told The South China Morning Post that Musk may visit the country next month.
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Musk has made memorable tours of China in the past – such as the self-described “NSFW” dance at Tesla’s new factory in Shanghai early last year, when he took off his jacket while doing shimmy in style. striptease on stage.