Episode Overview

Title: How BYD Overtook Tesla in the EV Sales Race
Date: January 23, 2026
Podcast: WSJ Tech News Briefing
Host: Peter Ciampelli
Guests: Nicole Nguyen (WSJ Personal Tech Columnist), Stephen Wilmot (WSJ Reporter)

This episode explores two major topics in the tech and auto industries. First, it reviews Google’s latest AI features for Gmail and their impact on user productivity. Second, it dives into how Chinese automaker BYD surpassed Tesla as the world's top seller of electric vehicles, looking at the global strategy, challenges, and implications for the auto industry, with insights from WSJ’s Stephen Wilmot.

Part 1: Google’s New AI Tools for Gmail

[00:19–05:01]

Key Points & Insights

• AI Features Rolling Out in Gmail

  • New features in Gmail include:
    • Ghostwriter/Proofreader: AI helps compose emails faster by mimicking user writing style.
    • Suggested Replies: Unlike canned auto responses, these are more tailored and can reflect the user's “voice.”
    • AI Inbox: A separate inbox highlighting important action items, summarized and prioritized by AI.
    • Advanced Search: Allows for contextual search, like looking up specific past order details, with AI surfacing direct answers.
  • "People spend something like 20% of their time actually writing emails and the other 80% is just sort of managing the mess."
    — Nicole Nguyen [01:34]

• How Are These Tools Different?

  • Older auto-reply features are basic and canned.
  • The new suggested replies are personalized using generative AI trained on years of user data, generating responses that sound like the user and drawing context from the conversation thread.
  • Help Me Write feature: Users can type a short prompt and have AI generate a formal, context-aware email.
    • “It can include relevant information from previous emails.”
      — Nicole Nguyen [03:23]

• Concerns About AI “Hallucinations”

  • AI-generated content can produce errors or make up information.
  • Google is rolling out these tools cautiously, initially to a limited group, due to Gmail’s massive user base (3 billion people).
    • "They definitely don't want to break a fundamental communication tool for 3 billion people.”
      — Nicole Nguyen [04:09]

• Competition in AI Email

  • Gmail dominates, but Outlook is a strong competitor, and new AI-focused inboxes (e.g., Superhuman, Fixer AI) exist but are expensive and aimed at professionals.
  • Gmail’s wide rollout makes these features more accessible for everyday users.
    • "It's really compelling because more likely that your mom and your cousin and your colleagues will all start to use these kinds of tools."
      — Nicole Nguyen [04:45]

Part 2: How BYD Overtook Tesla in the EV Sales Race

[06:02–11:03]

Discussion Breakdown

• How Did BYD Rise Globally?

  • Two waves of Chinese car exports:
    • First: Focused on emerging markets and combustion engines (e.g., Russia).
    • Second: EVs and plug-in hybrids, with BYD leading, targeting Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and more.
    • “They’ve pitched them at quite affordable prices and consumers are lapping them up where they can.”
      — Stephen Wilmot [07:06]

• BYD’s Popularity in Europe

  • Initial European entry (2021) targeted luxury segments but later pivoted to smaller, popular car categories.
  • Now competing with market leaders like Toyota and Volkswagen.
    • “They brought out newer vehicles in kind of small car categories that Europeans buy a lot of.”
      — Stephen Wilmot [07:33]

• China’s Need to Export

  • Overcapacity in China’s car industry due to heavy investment and competition in the EV sector.
  • BYD performs better abroad than at home, so exports are crucial.
  • In 2023, China became the world’s largest car exporter, exporting over 7 million vehicles.
    • "EVs have been a kind of priority sector, strategic sector in Beijing, and that’s led to a lot of EV startups and a lot of competition within China."
      — Stephen Wilmot [08:06]

• Political and Regulatory Barriers

  • Tariffs in the US and EU complicate Chinese EV imports.
    • EU tariffs target electric vehicles specifically, prompting BYD to sell more plug-in hybrids.
    • US policies (e.g., Connected Vehicle Rule) essentially keep Chinese cars—and software—out, making US market entry very challenging.
    • “The US is the one country that really has so far kept them out. ... There’s a rule ... called the Connected Vehicle Rule, which essentially bans Chinese software from cars.”
      — Stephen Wilmot [09:18]

• Potential Pathways Into the US Market

  • Trump’s recent remarks opened the door to Chinese automakers if they build in the US, but this strategy is risky and capital-intensive.
    • "It’s much easier for them to build a brand presence through exports initially and then build a factory... trying to set up initially by building a factory, that’s a very high risk kind of investment."
      — Stephen Wilmot [09:56]

• How Are Established EV Companies Responding?

  • Intense focus on competing with Chinese EV advancements, especially in Europe.
  • Legacy automakers seek to replicate “China speed”—shorter development times, reduced costs.
  • US automakers, like Ford, are adapting in anticipation of eventual direct competition.
    • “There’s partly a sense that it’s inevitable eventually that they’ll have to compete head to head, even if the time frame isn’t entirely clear.”
      — Stephen Wilmot [10:52]

Notable Quotes

• On AI in Gmail:
  “They are one upping this technology by using generative AI. Also training on your years and years of Gmail data to mimic your voice.”
  — Nicole Nguyen, [01:57]

• On Chinese EV Export Growth:
  "Overall vehicle exports from China, which is already, since 2023, the world's largest car exporter, rose to over 7 million vehicles."
  — Stephen Wilmot, [08:26]

• On US Regulatory Barriers:
  "There’s a rule that was enacted in the final years of the Biden administration called the Connected Vehicle Rule, which essentially bans Chinese software from cars. That makes it very hard for them to gear up for a market entry."
  — Stephen Wilmot, [09:26]

• On Western Automakers' Response:
  “They’re trying to match what they call China speed—to shorten their development cycles, to lower their costs, to essentially try and match the advances that the Chinese have made.”
  — Stephen Wilmot, [10:33]

Key Timestamps

• 00:19 — Introduction & overview of Google’s new Gmail AI tools
• 01:27 — Nicole Nguyen explains the buckets of Gmail’s AI-powered features
• 03:16 — Differences between traditional and new AI-generated replies
• 04:03 — AI hallucinations and Google’s cautious approach
• 04:24 — Competitive landscape for AI email
• 06:02 — Stephen Wilmot on BYD’s global expansion
• 07:16 — BYD’s strategy and success in Europe
• 08:00 — China’s export push explained
• 08:45 — Political challenges in the EU and US
• 09:53 — US market possibilities for BYD
• 10:28 — How legacy automakers are adapting to the threat
• 11:03 — Episode closes

Engaging Summary

This episode of WSJ Tech News Briefing blends timely discussions on two major shifts in global tech and auto: Google’s increasingly personalized AI for email, and BYD’s overtaking of Tesla in the EV sales race. Nicole Nguyen details the nuanced, user-specific upgrades coming to Gmail, while Stephen Wilmot unpacks the seismic changes in the auto industry as Chinese automakers challenge Western dominance, facing both market enthusiasm and mounting political pushback. Listeners are left with a clear sense of rapid technological change—and the global tensions that come with it.