The US Department of Commerce announced a final rule Tuesday that would ban the sale or import of connected vehicles from China and Russia due to national security concerns. The rule would also bar Chinese car companies such as WeRide and Pony AI from testing self-driving cars on US roads.
“China is trying to dominate the future of the auto industry, but connected vehicles with software and hardware systems linked to foreign adversaries could expose the American people to risks of misuse of their sensitive data or interference by malicious actors,” said the National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard. it said in a statement, adding that the decision also ensures “a safer American auto industry.”
The software bans are scheduled to take effect in the 2027 model year and the hardware bans in 2029. The department said the bans would not cover Chinese software developed before the new rules took effect, as long as a Chinese company does not have access in the software.
The final rule also includes exemptions for vehicles heavier than 10,000 pounds, meaning China’s BYD could continue to assemble electric buses in California.
There are a few Chinese autonomous vehicle companies with active licenses to test in California. Baidu-owned Apollo Autonomous Driving and WeRide all have AV test licenses without safety drivers. Pony AI, which recently joined the public markets, is licensed to test with a safety guide. In the company’s IPO materials, Pony noted a slight risk of being unable to continue extremely limited robotaxi testing in the U.S. due to the impending ban, saying that these operations resulted in “less than 1% of [its] total revenue in 2023 and the six months ended June 30, 2024.”
A spokesperson from the California Department of Motor Vehicles told TechCrunch that the agency will follow the Commerce Department’s lead in imposing bans on Chinese connected vehicle technology. TechCrunch reached out to find out if the DMV will revoke those permits now that the final decision has been announced.
