Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun publicly praised Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities over the weekend, saying the U.S. electric vehicle maker continues to set industry benchmarks in autonomous technology. The comment followed a milestone by Tesla in which a Model Y SUV completed a 24-km driverless delivery in Austin, Texas.
“For the first time, the car delivered to the owner on its own. No driver, no remote control, reaching up to 115 km/h before arriving safely at the customer’s doorstep,” Tesla Vice President Tao Lin said in a social media post Saturday. Lei Jun later reshared the post, writing: “Tesla is indeed amazing. It has led industry trends in many areas, especially FSD (Full Self-Driving). We still have a lot to learn.”
The show of respect from Lei comes as Xiaomi ramps up its presence in the electric vehicle sector with the launch of the YU7, a mid-size SUV positioned to compete with Tesla’s best-selling Model Y. Unveiled in late June, the YU7 received 289,000 orders within the first hour and secured 240,000 lock-in orders in less than a day, underscoring growing consumer interest.
Tesla’s Model Y remains its top-selling vehicle in China, accounting for nearly three-quarters of its domestic deliveries in 2024, with 480,309 units sold. However, sales have softened in recent months, down 24% year-on-year from January to May 2025, amid intensified competition from local players such as BYD, Xpeng, Zeekr, and Nio’s budget brand Onvo.
Despite Xiaomi’s momentum, industry observers remain cautious about its autonomous driving performance. Its advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), known as Xiaomi Assisted Driving Pro, is powered by Nvidia’s Drive AGX Thor chip delivering 700 trillion operations per second. While standard across all YU7 models, reviewers have described the system’s behavior as “conservative” compared to Tesla’s FSD.
In China’s EV industry, it is common for CEOs to engage in public exchanges—part camaraderie, part marketing. Lei Jun has made a habit of praising rival brands, previously applauding Nio’s battery-swap tech and sending well-wishes to Great Wall Motor and Li Auto on milestone anniversaries.
As the EV market continues to expand and intensify, Xiaomi’s strategy of open admiration and technical development signals its intent to gain both market share and industry respect.