Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has stated that fully autonomous self-driving cars will be available 'later this year'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed Thursday that completely autonomous vehicles will be available "later this year," the billionaire's latest projection for the long-awaited milestone.

"In terms of where Tesla is at this stage, I think we are very close to achieving full self-driving without human supervision," Musk said via video connection at the opening ceremony of a conference on artificial intelligence in Shanghai.

"This is just speculation, but I believe we'll achieve full self-driving, maybe four or five, later this year," the billionaire continued, referring to two of the most sophisticated levels of autonomous driving technology.

The mercurial entrepreneur and Twitter founder recognised that prior projections on this timescale had been incorrect, but said, "I feel like we're closer to it than we've ever been."

Musk has missed his own targets for developing a fully driverless car, and Tesla's driver-assistance technology has sparked regulatory investigations in the United States.

China is the world's largest market for electric vehicles, and Tesla revealed in April that it will construct a second enormous facility in Shanghai.

Following a visit to China in May, his attendance at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai is his latest effort to establish tight ties with the country.

In China, the world's largest automotive market, electric cars account for a quarter of all sales, and dozens of new models from Chinese and Western manufacturers were presented in April at the country's first auto show since Covid restrictions were relaxed.

This year, Tesla reported a decline in first-quarter profitability, as the business implemented a series of price cuts in response to competition from rival manufacturers.