Asia Tech Wire (Oct 17) -- Tesla, Zeekr, Mobiley and others have denied any connection to allegations of illegal mapping in China by a foreign company.
China's Ministry of State Security issued an article on Wednesday, disclosing that a foreign enterprise had illegally carried out geographic information mapping activities in China under the cover of conducting research on smart driving for cars through cooperation with a domestic company with mapping qualifications.
The ministry said that many of the data collected by the foreign firm were state secrets.
The news sparked much speculation, rippling through companies such as Zeekr, the electric vehicle subsidiary of Chinese automotive group Geely, Tesla and Mobiley.
Later that night, Geely senior vice president Yang Xueliang responded on social media platform Weibo, saying that the matter "has nothing to do with Zeekr and is not the work of Zeekr's partners, and rumors stop with the wise."
Zeekr's legal department said in a statement on Weibo on Thursday that the company was concerned about rumors on online platforms that maliciously linked Zeekr to news about "an overseas company using automotive smart driving research as a cover for illegal mapping," misleading the public and damaging the company's image and reputation.
Zeekr said it "always adheres to the principles of lawfulness and compliance in the course of its business operations, and resolutely opposes all online rumors that discredit and injure the company's reputation. "
The company said it has fixed evidence and reserves the right to defend its legitimate rights and interests through all legal means.
On Wednesday night, Chinese digital mapping firm NavInfo posted a message on Weibo that said, "NavInfo has always adhered to the principle of lawfulness and compliance in running a company, and resolutely opposes all online rumors that discredit and seriously injure the company's reputation, and will take the necessary legal means to defend itself."
In addition, Tesla also responded to this.
Tesla's global vice president Grace Tao forwarded the news from the Ministry of State Security on Weibo, and posted a message saying, "Compliance is the bottom line of business operation! Tesla has always believed that compliant intelligence is the intelligence that grows sustainably."
In the early hours of Thursday morning, Mobileye, Intel-owned self-driving company, released a statement on Weibo, saying, "We have continuously invested in data compliance and regulatory adherence, including in China, where we operate under the supervision of licensed entities in full accordance with legal requirements."
"Our commitment to working within the framework of all applicable laws and regulations ensures that our operations meet the highest standards of compliance," the company said.
