Google on the hot seat, Intel's brutal year, and Elon Musk vs. Kamala Harris on space: Tech news roundup
According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the 2024 presidential election, we can say goodbye to life as we know it — eventually.
 |
| Photo: Apu Gomes (Getty Images), Win McNamee (Getty Images), Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto (Getty Images), Drew Angerer (Getty Images), Justin Sullivan (Getty Images), Phillip Faraone (Getty Images), Sean Gallup (Getty Images), Illustration: Chevrolet |
Biden wants to ban Chinese software in ‘smart cars’ over security concerns
President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday said it would propose banning the sale of imported Chinese-made software and so-called “smart cars” in the U.S. over safety concerns.
The move, which also applies to similar technology from Russia, is intended to prevent Chinese or Russian intelligence agencies from using internet-connected vehicles to access U.S. infrastructure or the electric grid. It comes as the Biden administration has approved new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to protect domestic automakers from rivals subsidized by Beijing.
“Chinese automakers are seeking to dominate connected vehicle technologies in the United States and globally, posing new threats to our national security, including through our supply chains,” the White House said in a statement.
The Department of Commerce said its proposed rule would ban connected vehicle systems designed, developed, made, or supplied by firms connected to China or Russia. That designation is broad and encompasses “systems and components connecting the vehicle to the outside world, including via Bluetooth, cellular, satellite, and Wi-Fi modules,” as well as automated driving systems.
Some parties, such as small carmakers, may be exempted from the ban, according to the Commerce Department. If approved, the ban on software would affect the 2027 model year, while the prohibitions on hardware would come into play for the 2030 model year.
The proposed restrictions come as automakers continue making vehicles with new and improved ways of collecting information on their drivers and surroundings. Autonomous vehicles, for example, can collect up to 19 terabytes of data per hour, or as much as 5,100 TB annually.
Technology installed in General Motors (GM+1.46%) vehicles from the 2015 model year onward allowed the Detroit automaker to collect and transmit detailed driving data about each time a driver used their vehicle, according to a recent lawsuit. The company collected data on when drivers got behind the wheel, how fast they were going, whether seatbelts were enabled, how far they drove, how long the engine was running — and more.
That data isn’t always kept private. In some cases, that data is sold to global data brokers like LexisNexis (RELX-1.10%) or Verisk (VRSK-0.28%), which then share that information with insurance companies. Verisk paid companies like American Honda Motor (HMC-4.14%) and Hyundai Motor America (HYMTF-6.59%) less than $1 for each car they shared data from, according to a recent letter from two Democratic senators.
Last year, the non-profit Mozilla Foundation called connected vehicles “the official worst category of products for privacy” it had ever reviewed after testing 25 different brands. None met the foundation’s minimum security standards, and all but two — Renault (RNLSY+2.13%) and Dacia — don’t give drivers the right to delete their personal data.
Six car brands — GM’s Cadillac, GMC, Buick, Chevrolet, Kia, and Nissan — were found to gather genetic information; Nissan (NSANY-2.07%) and Kia, Mozilla noted, say they collect data about drivers’ “sexual activity” and “sex life,” respectively. Tesla (TSLA+2.45%) became the second product to ever totally fail Mozilla’s testing and was the only carmaker labeled with an “untrustworthy AI” label.
Elon Musk says a Kamala Harris presidency would 'doom humanity' and 'destroy' the Mars program:
Humanity needs to become multi-planetary before a "supervirus" or "nuclear war" ravages the Earth, Musk said.
 |