U.S. eyes barring Chinese software in autonomous, connected vehicles – report

The U.S. is planning to bar Chinese software in autonomous and connected vehicles in the coming weeks, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters, amid national security concerns.

The Commerce Department is expected to propose a rule barring Chinese software in vehicles with Level 3 automation and above in the U.S. and effectively ban testing of Chinese-made self-driving vehicles on U.S. roads. It will also propose barring vehicles with advanced Chinese wireless communication modules from U.S. roads.

Under the proposed rule, automakers and suppliers would be required to verify that the software in their connected and autonomous vehicles was not developed in a “foreign entity of concern” like China, the sources said. The industry will be given a chance to review the proposed rule and submit comments.

Last week, the White House and Department of State hosted a meeting with allies and industry leaders to discuss national security risks associated with connected vehicles.

“The U.S. and like-minded nations will explore options for advancing affirmative cybersecurity standards and coordinating other possible measures to mitigate risks,” the department said.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in November called on 10 companies to answer questions on data collection practices from autonomous vehicle testing in the U.S. These included Baidu (BIDU), Nio (NIO), WeRide (WRD), Didi (OTCPK:DIDIY), and XPeng (XPEV).