SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Elon Musk will be one of the keynote speakers at the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence (AI) Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on Thursday, according to an agenda released ahead of the event.
The agenda did not specify whether Musk would attend in person or by video, but a person familiar with the matter said he has no plans to attend in person.
WAIC organizers did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Musk’s attendance or keynote speech.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang is also scheduled to attend and deliver a speech at the opening ceremony.
Musk and Li met during the Tesla CEO’s surprise visit to Beijing in April.
Sources at the time said the visit was an opportunity for Musk to discuss the rollout of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and data transfer permissions.
Musk is no stranger to WAIC, having delivered video messages at the past two events, having last attended the event in person in 2019.
Musk’s speech will come on the same day that the EU is expected to impose temporary tariffs on electric vehicle imports from China.
Tesla, the largest exporter of electric cars from China to Europe, has asked the European Commission to calculate a separate tariff rate for itself. The company currently faces an additional 21% tariff as part of a group of companies that cooperated in the investigation.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Casey Hall and Kim Coghill Editing)