Modern cars are packed with internet-connected widgets, many of them containing Chinese technology. Now, the car industry is scrambling to root out that tech ahead of a looming deadline, a test case for America’s ability to decouple from Chinese supply chains.
New U.S. rules will soon ban Chinese software in vehicle systems that connect to the cloud, part of an effort to prevent cameras, microphones and GPS tracking in cars from being exploited by foreign adversaries.
The move is “one of the most consequential and complex auto regulations in decades,” according to Hilary Cain, head of policy at trade group the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. “It requires a deep examination of supply chains and aggressive compliance timelines.”
Carmakers will need to attest to the U.S. government that, as of March 17, core elements of their products don’t contain code that was written in China or by a Chinese company. The rule also covers software for advanced autonomous driving and will be extended to connectivity hardware starting in 2029. Connected cars made by Chinese or China-controlled companies are also banned, wherever their software comes from.
I remember. Massachusetts had a right-to-repair ballot question a few years ago. Auto manufacturers and dealers went HARD with that line.
Meanwhile, nobody asking “wait why is the car storing all that data in the first place?”
If we had a functioning regulatory framework in this country there would have been a law passed somewhere around 2010 restricting the kinds of data collected and how long it could be stored. Instead we have data brokers selling data to cops outside fourth amendment protection and it’s totally fine because people “agreed” to have their data collected and sold on the open market.
I’ll bite. In the 1980s, AUDI/VW was sued for “sudden acceleration”, which was Americans mashing the gas pedal by mistake. Then it was Toyota in 2019, but they proved with data black boxes that the crying Karens on TV were lying. But, not all Toyotas had black boxes and they still paid out $1B in settlements. Same thing with Tesla, but those lawsuits ended quickly when data showed driver fault.
Amazingly, while these cars were sold worldwide, only one country reported “sudden acceleration”. Now people are trying to sue for FSD crashes and again, Tesla data revealed improper use of FSD.
People are making expensive warranty claims after abusing their vehicles.
So, if you are a large automaker, and you aren’t collecting data, you will be sued for a phantom in your cars by America’s massive industry of ambulance chasers. Literally billions of dollars are spent on frivolous auto lawsuits.
That’s cool and all but they don’t need more than 30 seconds of sensor data to get what they need. Not storing days or weeks (or more, who knows?) of location data.
<Louis Rossman enters the chat>