By Stephen Nellis
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 11 (Reuters) – A U.S. lawmaker has proposed phasing out Chinese-made sensors in self-driving cars and critical infrastructure amid warnings they could be hacked and disabled from space during a conflict, crippling vast U.S. systems in seconds.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois who is the ranking member on the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on China, introduced the bill this week.
It focuses on phasing out Chinese lidar sensors, which use lasers to help self-driving vehicles such as robotaxis gain a three-dimensional view of their surroundings and which can help automate ship-to-shore cranes at ports, among other uses.
The bill would bar new purchases of Chinese lidar after three years, but provide for some waivers and extensions for fields like scientific and cybersecurity research. It would also provide for a five-year transition period for legacy equipment used in critical infrastructure.
While U.S. firms such as Ouster and Aeva Technologies are working to win over automakers, China has begun to dominate the market, with consulting firm Yole Group estimating in June that Chinese lidar firms account for 93% of the passenger car market and 89% of the total lidar market.
“America and our allies should lead in LiDAR innovation—not cede control of this critical technology to foreign adversaries who will use their control to endanger Americans,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement.
National security groups have warned that Chinese lidar units could present a hacking risk to the United States in the event of a conflict, saying the sensors could be disabled in seconds across huge swaths of the U.S. from satellites in space.
“We don’t need a Huawei-on-wheels moment,” said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a co-author of the hacking warnings.
“Chinese LiDAR is already starting to embed itself across U.S. infrastructure — from autonomous vehicles to pipeline inspection systems — and allowing (Chinese) vendors to scale further risks repeating the same strategic mistake we made with Huawei.”
Lidar is also expected to play a key role in autonomous military vehicles. The U.S. Department of Defense has added Hesai Group, the world’s biggest maker of automotive lidar sensors, to a list of entities it alleges assist the Chinese military.
Hesai challenged the designation in U.S. court but lost.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Howard Goller)
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