Security News > 2023 > November > US lawmakers have Chinese LiDAR on their threat-detection radar

The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, spearheaded by US representative and committee chairman Mike Gallagher, penned a letter to secretaries Gina Raimondo, Lloyd Austin, and Janet Yellen requesting an investigation of Chinese LiDAR manufacturers and the appropriateness of sanctions on those entities.

"LiDAR is a critical technology used in autonomous systems and robotics but is currently not subject to US export controls or government procurement restrictions, which raises several concerns," reads the letter.

"Given the importance of LiDAR, it is crucial to ensure US technology used in foreign LiDAR systems is not being leveraged by our adversaries to create autonomous military vehicles and weapons."

LiDAR tech is used for the surveillance of the minority Muslim population, accused Gallagher and co.

LiDAR uses pulsed laser light to measure the distance, speed, and altitude of objects, to map environments.

Earlier this month, Chinese state-sponsored media dismissed concerns over self-driving vehicles and LiDAR data as "Another excuse to contain China's technological rise."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/11/30/us_lawmakers_examine_chinese_lidar/