Tao Lin, vice-president of Tesla, said during a recent media briefing in Beijing that the company has already set up a local training center in China, News.Az reports, citing China Daily.
The facility focuses on the localization and optimization of Tesla’s intelligent driving assistance systems, reinforcing its long-term technological ambitions in the country.
Tao noted that Tesla is evolving beyond its traditional role as an electric vehicle manufacturer and repositioning itself as a technology-driven enterprise built around AI, robotics, and energy solutions.
“Vehicles remain an extremely important AI carrier, but our vision has expanded to humanoid robots and a global energy network,” Tao said. “This transformation is based on the judgment that the future world will be powered by electricity, with AI managing these hardware systems.”
On a global scale, Tesla’s capital expenditure is projected to exceed $20 billion in 2026. The spending will primarily target AI computing infrastructure, robotic manufacturing facilities, mass production of the Cybercab, and energy storage solutions.
Tao also highlighted that the launch of the Shanghai energy storage Gigafactory will enable Tesla to supply competitive Megapack products to markets in China, the Asia-Pacific region, and Europe. She stressed that as AI development fuels the rapid expansion of data and computing centers, energy storage systems will play a vital role in maintaining grid stability.
Tesla’s intensified focus on China comes at a time when the country’s AI industry is expanding rapidly.
China currently holds the largest share of global AI patents, accounting for approximately 60 percent of the worldwide total. At the same time, cumulative downloads of domestically developed open-source large AI models have exceeded 10 billion.
This strong growth trajectory has led international investors to reassess the Chinese market.
Jerry Wu, a fund manager at London-based Polar Capital, said that Chinese innovation assets are undergoing a “re-rating” following breakthroughs by Chinese AI model DeepSeek. Wu added that the positive momentum is not limited to AI but also extends to sectors such as biotechnology and robotics. His firm, which oversees $20 billion in assets, revised its stance on Chinese equities from “underweight” to “bullish” late last year.
German media outlet Wirtschaftswoche previously reported that technological advances by Chinese developers are prompting investors to take a fresh look at the market.
Zheng Yuchen, chief investment officer at Allianz Global Investors, pointed to a notable shift in investor sentiment. “A year ago, they wanted to exclude China from indexes. Today, China is viewed as an independent investment category that cannot be ignored,” Zheng said.
Wang Ying, chief equity strategist for China at Morgan Stanley, said global investors are increasingly redefining China from a market once perceived as lacking clear growth prospects to one offering substantial opportunities in AI, automation, and high-end manufacturing.
Looking ahead, Xiong Wei, an analyst at UBS Securities, expects China’s domestic large AI models to rapidly iterate and narrow the gap with US counterparts this year.
Xiong added that China and the United States are following similar paths in AI monetization, with cloud computing and advertising emerging as the most visible and commercially viable segments.
Wang Zonghao, head of China equity strategy research at UBS, said foreign capital is likely to continue increasing its exposure to the Chinese market.
“We have seen a significant improvement in overseas investors’ recognition of Chinese innovation,” Wang said, noting that the firm remains particularly optimistic about AI-related hardware and internet application sectors.
