Tesla integrates ByteDance's Doubao AI model into its vehicles in China

US automaker Tesla has integrated Doubao, a large language model developed by technology company ByteDance, into its electric vehicles sold in mainland China, according to Tesla China.

The vehicle’s intelligent voice system, activated by long-pressing the voice button on the steering wheel, offers a range of features such as casual conversation, singing, debate comprehension, storytelling, English dialogue practice, and character role-play.

The system also allows users to switch randomly between four voice tones and five operating modes.

Equipped with an integrated real-time Doubao dialogue model and an end-to-end voice interaction framework, the vehicle’s infotainment system has moved beyond the conventional walkie-talkie style of question-and-answer interaction, delivering a more natural, fluid, and proactive interactive experience.

German automaker Mercedes-Benz expanded its partnership with ByteDance to integrate the Doubao large language model into its electric vehicles in September 2025.

Chinese technology companies have recently made significant progress in developing artificial intelligence models. Alibaba launched its large language model, Qwen3.8-Max, on 3 August, marking a major upgrade to its Qwen series with advanced capabilities in coding, real-world tasks, and research.

In July, AI start-up Moonshot AI released the Kimi K3 model, which has 2.8 trillion parameters, making it the world’s largest open-source AI model by parameter count, according to the company.

Experts say that a growing number of China’s open-source large models are shifting from individual breakthroughs towards collective progress, offering a new approach to global AI development.