Elon Musk Anticipates Approval for Tesla's FSD in Europe and China Soon

Tesla's Full Self-Driving System Approval

By Akash Sriram

Jan 22 (Reuters) - Tesla is likely to win regulatory approval in Europe and China for its Full Self-Driving system as early as next month, CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday, as the electric automaker looks to boost software revenue amid slowing vehicle sales.

The approvals would be crucial for Tesla, which is under pressure to generate revenue from software and services and is looking to monetize FSD outside the U.S.

Impact on Tesla's Revenue

"We hope to get Supervised Full Self-Driving approval in Europe, hopefully next month, and then maybe a similar timing for China," Musk said at his first appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Shares of the automaker rose about 1.5% after the comment.

Challenges in Regulatory Approval

Tesla has been seeking approval for the FSD system in Europe, where tougher vehicle safety rules and a fragmented regulatory framework have slowed deployment compared with the U.S.

The Dutch vehicle authority RDW said in November it expects to decide on FSD software in February. Tesla had said once it secures approval in the Netherlands, other EU countries can recognize the exemption and allow a rollout ahead of a formal EU approval.

Musk has been positioning Tesla as a self-driving and humanoid robotics company, even as most of its revenue still comes from its EV business, which faces rising competition.

Registration of Tesla's vehicles fell 11.4% in California last year, with its market share in the U.S. state slipping below 50%, according to a report by the California New Car Dealers Association.

The company reported a second consecutive drop in vehicle deliveries in 2025, ceding its position as the largest electric vehicle maker in the world to China's BYD.

FSD is classified as an advanced driver assistance feature that requires drivers to remain attentive, and regulators have scrutinized it amid concerns over the safety and oversight of automated driving technologies.

Future of Humanoid Robots

HUMANOID ROBOT AMBITIONS

Musk has repeatedly said much of the artificial intelligence developed for autonomous vehicles will also underpin Tesla's planned humanoid robots. Musk said on Thursday that he expects robots to outnumber humans.

On Thursday, he said Tesla expects to sell humanoid robots to the public by the end of next year, later than the timeline he had previously outlined.

Industry experts and executives have said scaling humanoid robots for real-world use is technically complex, in part because of a lack of data needed to train the AI models that underpin robot behavior.

"For Optimus, what they (the market) need is credible evidence of scalable manufacturing, a regulatory path, and unit economics if possible," said Ken Mahoney, CEO of Tesla shareholder Mahoney Asset Management.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)