A US coalition of companies in the autonomous vehicle industry fear surveillance by Chinese vehicle sensors.
Known as the “Lidar Coalition,” members of this group make lidar sensors. Coupled with radar, these systems allow traffic to be identified and highly detailed maps to be created of everything the vehicles perceive. This is exactly what they fear lidar manufacturer from Chinese companies. Lidar could be used to collect large amounts of sensitive data about US infrastructure. This data could be used to drive autonomous military vehicles.
However, the lidar industry itself is faced with economic imponderables. The long-awaited breakthrough of autonomous vehicles did not materialize and some companies have already gone bankrupt. This not only affected companies, the car-developing companies, but also the sensor manufacturers. Do you want to possibly use this method to get the competition out of the country? These sometimes produce cheaper such as Hesai, which is why some manufacturers have switched to this brand.
Meanwhile, the Lidargroup is sounding the alarm. In a 20-page white paper, they advocate uncovering potential risks. The Chinese companies should be controlled. This mood was picked up in the US Congress. They not only want to protect the economy, but also national security. China’s embassy has already responded and insists on compliance with international trade rules. The alliance meanwhile wrote a letter to Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in which they complained about trade restrictions imposed by US companies in China.
Will the technology around autonomous driving become a dispute between China and the USA. It evokes the impression of the race to the moon during the Cold War.