The Idaho National Laboratory is investigating Chinese lidar sensors for potential security risks, a review funded by a consortium of electric and autonomous vehicle companies in the United States. This private industry funding of a Department of Energy lab's research highlights how state resources are deployed to serve specific capitalist interests.
Representatives for major US auto and tech firms like Rivian, General Motors, Ford, Kodiak, Lucid Motors, Nuro, and Uber, all reportedly considering Chinese lidar, stated they weren't aware of the review. Nvidia, Zoox, and Aurora offered no comment. Idaho National Laboratory itself declined to discuss the project, maintaining its silence since June.
Capital's Competition
This state-backed inquiry unfolds as US lawmakers push to ban Chinese lidar sensors from American roads. Senator Tammy Baldwin, D-WI, co-sponsoring the Securing Infrastructure from Adversaries Act, voiced concerns about military or industrial espionage, framing the issue as a threat to "American communities and our national security." Congressman John Moolenaar, R-MI, and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-IL, echoed these sentiments, warning of "back doors" and the potential for China to "gather sensitive data or disrupt our systems."
These "security" anxieties emerge directly from the competitive struggle for market dominance. Lidar, which uses laser pulses to map surroundings for autonomous vehicles, has seen its cost plummet over the last decade. Chinese manufacturers like Hesai and RoboSense have driven prices down from $75,000 to just a few hundred dollars, leveraging economies of scale and lower costs of labor and capital.
American lidar companies have struggled to match this pace. Many have consolidated, and some, like Luminar, have filed for bankruptcy. This inability to compete on price has pushed US automakers and autonomous vehicle firms to consider integrating Chinese lidar into their systems, prioritizing profit margins over national origin.
The State's Shield
Omer Keilaf, CEO of Israeli lidar company Innoviz, acknowledged the cybersecurity risks but also underscored the strategic importance China places on lidar technology. He warned of a "huge risk down the road" for OEMs building their entire autonomous driving stack on a Chinese supply chain, revealing the underlying economic stakes for competing capital.
The US state apparatus has already moved to protect domestic capital. The Department of Defense placed Hesai and RoboSense on its 1260H list, restricting their ability to work with the US military. In the first year, the Commerce Department prohibited Chinese-made connectivity hardware in US passenger cars, though lidar sensors remain exempt for now.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, whose company is reportedly considering Chinese lidar for its new R2 SUV, stated in March of the same year that Rivian was in "active discussions" with lidar firms about developing US production capacity, possibly through joint ventures. This demonstrates capital's willingness to adapt and even partner across national lines when it serves its accumulation goals, despite the rhetoric of national security.
While concerns about widespread disabling of lidar sensors persist, they remain largely theoretical. An incident in the second year saw Hesai lidar sensors fail for a day due to a leap year calculation error, causing autonomous vehicles to stop working. This disruption, though significant, was a technical glitch, not an act of espionage, illustrating the difference between operational failures and the politically charged "security threats" invoked by lawmakers and competing capital.