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By Theo Burman
Live News Reporter
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Former President Donald Trump said he would ban Chinese-made self-driving cars in the U.S. on the same day that Elon Musk announced a new autonomous vehicle.
The Republican nominee said on Thursday that autonomous vehicles were "concerning", and that he wanted to stop self-driving vehicles made in other countries from being on U.S. roads. Newsweek contacted the Trump campaign for clarification on the proposal.
Also on Thursday, Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Cybercab, a fully autonomous self-driving car with no steering wheel, accelerator, or brake pedal. The billionaire, who also owns social-media platform X (formerly Twitter) also recommitted his technology to a full transition to driverless cars, claiming the jump would "save lives and prevent injuries".
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Trump previously campaigned with Musk on October 5, who has been a strong supporter of the Republican presidential nominee for some time. He formally endorsed Trump for president in the wake of former president's first assassination attempt in July.
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Speaking at an event on Thursday hosted by the Detroit Economic Club, Trump said, "I will continue my first-term efforts to protect America from the threat of Chinese automobiles. I will stop Chinese and other countries produced automobile and autonomous vehicles.
"Does anybody like an autonomous vehicle, you know what that is right? When you see a car driving along. Some people do, I don't know, a little concerning to me, but the autonomous vehicles - we're going to stop from operating on American roads."
If implemented, a ban on Chinese self-driving cars could be a boon to Musk, as his electric-car company Tesla would face significantly reduced competition in the expanding autonomous vehicles market.
Newsweek has contacted Tesla for comment.
According to the Department of Transportation, there are only a few thousand driverless cars currently in use in the U.S., with the majority of models still in the testing phase. More than 80 companies are currently trialing 1,400 self-driving cars and trucks, in over 36 states.
Barring foreign nations—especially industry leaders like China, Japan, and South Korea—from U.S. markets would give Tesla, which already has a significant space in the industry, more room to sell autonomous vehicles, such as the recently unveiled Cybercab.
Musk said that the Cybercab was a form of "individualized mass transit", saying that units are projected to be available for less than $30,000, at the announcement on Thursday.
At the expo, Musk also revealed a humanoid robot called Optimus, which displayed a variety of services, including serving drinks and posing for photos.
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