Elon Musk Expresses Anger Towards Comparing Tesla to China’s BYD

Elon Musk, CEO of American electric car company Tesla reacted somewhat strongly when compared to Chinese electric vehicle company BYD stating that Tesla is not a regular automobile company but an artificial intelligence (AI) company.

On the 4th (local time), Tesla specialty magazine Teslarati reported that Musk wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Tesla may appear to many as an automobile company, but in reality, it’s an AI and robotics company.”

This was a response to a social media post questioning whether BYD had overtaken Tesla.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, BYD sold 526,409 pure electric vehicles (BEVs), which is 41,902 more than Tesla.

This is the first time a company has surpassed Tesla’s quarterly sales.

In response, many media outlets have reported that BYD may have overtaken Tesla. The social media post to which Musk responded was in the same context.

Musk’s reaction is interpreted as a stance that Tesla’s value cannot simply be compared to the number of electric cars sold.

Teslarati explained, “Tesla has been involved in AI and robotics engineering for several years,” and “Musk’s remarks become clear when you look at Tesla’s self-driving (FSD) and humanoid robot, Optimus.”

By. Geun-Ho Lee