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China Transportation Technology

China Bans 'Smart' and 'Autonomous' Driving Terms From Vehicle Ads (reuters.com) 21

China is banning automakers from using the terms "smart driving" and "autonomous driving" when they advertise driving assistance features, and it will tighten scrutiny of such technology upgrades. From a report: The mandate on vehicle advertising was delivered by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in its meeting with nearly 60 representatives from automakers on Wednesday, according to a transcript seen by Reuters and confirmed by one of the attendees. The move follows a fatal accident involving Xiaomi's best-selling SU7 sedan in March that triggered widespread concerns over vehicle safety.

China Bans 'Smart' and 'Autonomous' Driving Terms From Vehicle Ads

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  • by Inglix the Mad ( 576601 ) on Thursday April 17, 2025 @09:06AM (#65312437)
    I know everyone wants a self-driving car next week... but right now the tech is not near ready.
  • Pretty amazing (Score:3, Insightful)

    by stabiesoft ( 733417 ) on Thursday April 17, 2025 @09:11AM (#65312465) Homepage
    China is much more interested in truth in advertising than the west. How long has musk been allowed to advertise FSD/autopilot in the US unrestricted? Anyone know, has the new rule in China caused tesla to rename and come clean about their driving assist option?
    • by skam240 ( 789197 )

      How long has musk been allowed to advertise FSD/autopilot in the US unrestricted?

      One day longer than in China? Wait, the law probably hasn't come into effect yet since they just announced it so the exact same amount of time.

    • Not much different from the German ruling.

  • It isn't like the cars are either particularly "smart" or truly "self-driving" anyway. More importantly, the drivers should know driving is their responsibility while in that seat.

  • Cruise control (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dan East ( 318230 ) on Thursday April 17, 2025 @10:53AM (#65312645) Journal

    Makes me wonder how we managed to live with cruise control since 1948, considering the car will just smash itself recklessly into anything while maintaining a very fast and dangerous rate of speed. It's just a good thing it wasn't named "Smart speed control" or "Autonomous speed control" because those words cause accidents.

    • This is what gets me with people who confuse "autopilot" with "full self-driving". I've had so many people tell me that they consider "autopilot" to be a deceptive term because it isn't capable of full hands-off driving.
      Me, I always consider that even if autopilot is engaged, you normally still have not just one, but TWO pilots in the cockpit of a plane ready to handle stuff.
      Of course, I'm retired USAF and while I don't have my pilot's license, I had started training for it.
      Anyways, the first autopilots on

      • Well, until acquiring a driving licence requires the same amount of training as acquiring a pilot licence - with type rating and so on - you will have to live with that.

      • Expecting people to understand how airplanes work in order to buy a car is a step too far. Very few people know how autopilot works in airplanes (myself included, I only know broad outlines).
    • I'm not sure why you think that is relevant. Cruise control is objectively not sold as a self driving system and at no point did it even advertise by itself to have the ability to steer or brake. The driver had to be present at all times.

      The courts have ruled on this by the way because stupid people exist: https://chapmanlawpllc.com/202... [chapmanlawpllc.com] If it were labelled as "autonomous speed control" that lawsuit would have very much gone the other way.

      Incidentally cruise control which can apply the brake is called "ad

      • Tesla has faced numerous lawsuits over Autopilot, https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/0... [cnbc.com]

        It seems they've settled most of them before trial. Elon likes the name so much, he'd rather pay here and there rather than change it to something less misleading.
        • Elon likes the name so much, he'd rather pay here and there rather than change it to something less misleading.

          I suspect Elon is a sociopath. He isn't worried about the people killed or injured. He thinks the marketing results are worth the cost of settling. And he may be right.

    • I'm sure when cruise control was sold people were talking about how the car drove itself. On top of that I'm sure they made videos pretending the car was driving itself to a random location, completely unassisted.

      Your attempt at deflection is hilariously bad.
  • China never liked free speech. That's an attempt at a joke, BYTW.

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