Deutsche Bank stated in a letter following a meeting with the company’s head of investor relations that Tesla intends to launch its robotaxi service with a company-owned fleet supported by human teleoperators for safety.
TakeAway Points:
- Tesla aims to start its robotaxi service with a company-owned fleet backed up by human teleoperators for safety, Deutsche Bank said in a note after a meeting with the company’s head of investor relations.
- Cyril Han, president of Ant Group and head of finance, will succeed Eric Jing as CEO starting next year.
- During the company’s twentieth anniversary celebrations, which also included a speech by Alibaba and Ant Group founder Jack Ma, the management changes were revealed.
- Ma predicted that the 20-year artificial intelligence era would “exceed everyone’s imagination.”
Robotxi with teleoperator backup
The electric vehicle maker is still shooting for a launch of its cheaper vehicle in the first half of next year and other models later in the year, the bank said after the meeting with investor relations chief Travis Axelrod. It published the note on Friday.
Tesla plans to launch robotaxi service in California and Texas next year, Deutsche Bank said. Tesla had set that goal earlier this year.
“Tesla believes it would be reasonable to assume some type of teleoperator would be needed at least initially for safety/redundancy purposes,” the bank said in the note. “Management intends to start off entirely with the company-owned fleet” and to use an internally developed ride-hail app, it said.
Deutsche Bank also raised its price target for Tesla shares to $370 from $295. Tesla shares were trading down nearly 1% at $386.04 on Monday.
Ant Group gets new CEO
Ant Group president and finance chief Cyril Han will take over as chief executive officer from next year, the financial technology giant announced Sunday as it looks to reignite growth after Beijing’s crackdown on the tech sector.
Han will take over the role from Eric Jing, who will remain as chairman, according to an email announcing the changes. Han will report to Jing and the changes will take effect on Mar. 1, 2025.
Ant Group, which runs the massive payments app Alipay, is one of China’s biggest technology firms. The management changes were announced as part of the company’s twentieth anniversary celebrations, which also featured a speech from Alibaba and Ant Group founder Jack Ma.
Ma said that his generation was lucky to seize the opportunities that the internet brought. However, the artificial-intelligence era over the next 20 years would “exceed everyone’s imagination,” Ma said, according to a transcript published by Chinese media.
It’s a rare public appearance from Ma, who was impacted by the Chinese government’s regulatory tightening of the domestic tech sector. Ant Group’s public listing, which would have been record-breaking, was cancelled abruptly by Chinese authorities at the end of 2020. Since then, Ant Group has been overhauling its business to be compliant with regulators.
Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company Ma co-founded, was also the subject of Beijing’s scrutiny.
The crackdown hurt the growth of many of China’s biggest technology companies but regulators have recently softened their stance as the Chinese economy remains under pressure.
