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China’s Runs in front of the United States
Why does Volvo choose to set up an automated driving test facility in China？ One of the biggest reasons is that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of autopilot technology and provides strong support. The data collected under the complex traffic conditions in China will provide important reference for the development and research of automatic driving.
The International Symposium on Automatic Pilot jointly organized by the Ministry of Transport and Road Research Institute， Chinese Academy of Information and Communications and Volvo Cars was held in Beijing on April 7. This is the highest level of autopilot seminar held in China， whose theme is “development prospects of autopilot in China”. Volvo Car Group’s CEO and president Hanken Samuelson announced that the company will set up an automated driving test base in China， which will be the world’s highest level of automatic driving base China opens to the automotive industry and the general public for the first time.
Baidu’s autonomous vehicles in Beijing have gone through fully automated driving test under the mixed road conditions of cities， circuits and express ways at the top testing speed of 100km / h. Volvo Cars went on a real road test at the sixth west ring in Beijing in March 2015， achieving an autopilot at 70 km per hour. The complexity of traffic conditions in China is obvious to all， and the data collected under the complex traffic conditions in China will provide important reference for the development and research of automatic driving.
Alphabet （Google parent company） executives， financial website Motley Fool director Susanne Frey recently published an article saying China will lead the United States in the driverless car competition， because the US government is acting too slowly. Although autopilot technology is very popular in the United States， the control of driverless vehicle testing is tightly controlled in all states. For example， California has made it clear that driving license holders must sit in the front seat during the driverless vehicle testing.
Frey pointed out in the article that this requirement targets Google who hopes driverless cars can be driven by anyone， whether he or she has a driver license o r not， even the blind can legally use the car. Google said in a statement at the time： “We are deeply disappointed by the decision of California authorities. Completely driverless cars for everyone living here will be great benefit， however the potential of driverless cars have been limited.” On last month’s GM China Future Construction of Transportation news conference， Matthew Tsien， president of GM China said， V2I （vehicle and infrastructure network） technology in China will be developed rapidly， because this technology will reduce traffic jam and improve road safety which will also be supported by the government. Similarly， the autopilot will solve four major issues plaging road traffic in China—security， congestion， pollution， and the waste of time. Self-driving cars will develop rapidly in China when the government takes self-driving as solutions for future transportation problems.
Xin Guobin， vice min- ister of Ministry of Information and Industry， raised three proposals of autopilot development in China at the seminar. First， the autopilot must put safety in the first place. The Internet of things is the future direction of development， but first of all is to ensure the security of the network； secondly， all relevant parties shall work out integration and cooperation， including joint ventures， acquisitions and joint research and development and other forms； finally， there must be systematic thinking， automatic driving is not a simple superposition technology， nor simply putting accessories together， it needs systematic thinking to work out the collaboration.
On the issue of automatic driving， what the Ministry of Information and Industry concerns most are security issues. In the technical development level， we shall promote a wide range of forms of cooperation. The government’s attitude toward autopilot driving will be a catalyst for the rapid development of this technology. Of course， a lot of work is required before autopilot cars can really get to the road， including the development of regulations and technical standards， and even the appropriate changes in road infrastructure. Compared to the United States， perhaps China’s autopilot will really run faster， and China also needs it to alleviate traffic congestion and reduce exhaust pollution.
Self-driving Cars Endanger Car Brand Value
When the vehicle can automatically drive， passengers may not care whether it is a BMW car or Audi car. Car brands are based on the car driving experience over the past centuries， however the arrival of the automobile era is likely to push car manufacturers into “brand failure”.
If the customer does not need to manipulate a car， the car brand may lose the original meaning. Like most people booking tickets will not bother if the plane is a Boeing aircraft or a passenger plane. Bob Lutz， retired General Motors vice president， said： “In the long run， the car brand will disappear. People won’t care who makes the vehicle when taking a bus or a plane. Maybe car brands will totally disappear in the coming two decades. “ Recently， Hodes unveiled his idea to let autopilot system be free， just like Android smart phone system. As the once first person ever to break the iPhone， Hodes now will challenge Tesla. As reported by foreign media， regulators may ask you to stop selling products. As a start-up how will it deal with it？ Comma.ai gives his own answer： make the products free of charge. Autopilot technology startups Comma.ai launched a free software toolkit， which is mainly available to developers. Software developers can use the software to change any car into autonomous vehicles. Established for only a year， Comma.ai has employees about 50 people whose founder is exactly the well-known hacker Hodes. The company is supported by Silicon Valley investors.
In the news conference， wearing jeans， long-sleeved white T-shirt and a black knit cap with a white hat on a comma， Hodes chatted with media representatives before the conference officially started. He asked whether the conference would be shown on Facebook Live. It was not on any live show.
Before the start of the conference， Horz got up from the chair and he walked to the corner of the computer monitor. Before long， the song “Regulate” sounded. It was from the 1994 Warren G and Nate Dogg concert collection. Hods smiled and said， this song is very suitable， because it sings about the regulatory. He closed the garage door， dimmed the lights， and then began to play the slides on the display， which hung on the back wall of the garage.
Things announced by Comma.ai were like instruction manuals， allowing researchers， people who like to tinker with small invention to modify cars， increased autopilot function. Hodes said it posted whole new open-source software called Open Pilot. The company also released a guide to users with 3D printing technology to print a box named Comma Neo. If you want the product works， Neo boxes also need a $ 400 One Plus 3 phones. Comma Neo box can be used instead of car mirrors， the cameras and high-end data processing capability add functions to automotive， such as lane keeping function， adaptive cruise control function， but the device can only be used on certain models.
Hodes had tried to launch its first product Comma One， which was forced to terminate as a result， the new products and Comma One are quite different. At the beginning of the year The Verge reporter visited Hodes and tested products developed by him. Hodes then applied a testing version of Comma One onto an Acura vehicle. Although it is not perfect， Acura cars can slowly drive automatically， which can speed up on the long straight road. New One Pilot software and Comma Neo has a difference： it’s free. Comma.ai doesn’t sell products， only to avoid regulation. “We provide everything， so you can copy the product.” Hodes again stressed that “we do not sell hardware， no ship.” To prepare for the conference， Hodes wrote in the garage a lot of introduction， one from Eminem （emerged in the last century on behalf of white rap music）， one from Kanye West， one from Peter Thiel， as well as one said by Hodes previously—If Telsa is IOS in driverless cars， we are Android system. Peter Thiel stressed that the introduction of early Comma.ai legal difficulties faced， It must hire a lawyer to deal with regulators； Holz said， as a small company， there is no way to effectively use the legal system. With a tone of passion， Hodes more than once stressed that in today’s automotive market， no software is better than Comma.ai in addition to Tesla. Another engineer Michael Graczyk even told the audience that the quality of Comma.ai product will finally surpass Tesla.
At some point， Hertz’s was a little hesitant. A reporter raised questions about security issues， and he responded：“Your car has been connected to the Internet ...... our products will not bring greater security risk for the car”There are also reporters asked why he committed to development of autopilot software and he said he did not care too much about preaching. Hortz just think the technology itself is cool and he saw the potential value.
The software is free， the company itself does not sell hardware， this model will naturally cause people to think about a problem： how does VC supported Comma.ai make money？ Hodes responded by saying： “How does everybody make money？ Our goal is to have a basic network； we hope to have our own network of autonomous vehicles.”He said Comma.ai will establish cooperation with a num- ber of after sale suppliers， but these are just not priorities right now. The company’s goal listed on the whiteboard in Comma.ai garage is： The most important thing is fun， then solve the problem of self-driving cars， and finally profits.
Regulation and risk
Autopilot technology has great potential， but there is also the risk， how should the United States enhance its innovation capability？ Comma.ai’s action again sent people deep in thought. Experts believe that with automatic driving technology， the number of road accidents will be greatly reduced， because most of the accidents are caused by human errors. John Simpson， member of the security organization Consumer Watchdog， believes Comma.ai au-topilot kit only runs about 5，000 miles， which is too small numbers； it is not enough to determine whether the product is safe or not. Some industries have gone through strict supervision， Comma.ai options noted a clear way for start-ups to tell them how to avoid regulation. In real estate， DNA testing and space industries， companies generally will choose to cooperate with the government， or follow the example of Uber and Airbnb： ask for forgiveness， not for approval， and then adjusts its actions.
Comma.ai chose circuitous strategy. This fall， Hodes announced at industry conferences that Comma.ai will launch DIY autopilot software and hardware kit， priced at $ 999. Large car manufacturers， the driverless car technology giant has invested billions of dollars. Comma.ai technology can greatly reduce the threshold.
Washington is skeptical. In TechCrunch Disrupt conference， Hodes announced plans， not long after he received a warning letter from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Hodes is the first iPhone jailbreak hacker， because of his brilliant technology ability， he was also reported by the “New Yorker”， and even invited by Musk together build Tesla autopilot system. Holz is ready to launch the product before the end of the year. Washington asked him to provide detailed safety information.
After receiving the letter a few hours later， Horz canceled the plan， no longer introducing products. In an interview with the Washington Post Horz said he did not have much money and could not afford a lawyer or to circle round with the government. He also said that earlier Cali-fornia officials suddenly visited him without prior notice. They wanted to view the products developed by Hodz. Finally， Holtz chose a workaround： the toolkit code is provided free of charge. Hodes in press conference said： “We want to develop self-driving cars， like the Android operating system.”
Currently the code has been placed on the open source collaboration platform GitHub， anyone （in fact hard-core hackers） can be put into the development of automotive equipment. Connected through interface called CAN （Controller Area Network） to the car. Cars produced after 2006 generally have this kind of interface. Users need to use 3D printer to make equipments， with Android version OnePlus 3 to run the code through the camera scanning the road.
Technically， Holtz’s software is not the same as Google’s or GM’s autopilot. Hodes said it is open-source alternative to Tesla Autopilot， which is considered as a semi-automatic system. When the user turns on the system， the car runs in autopilot mode， leaving the steering wheel with both hands without using the pedals. Hodes explained that， if the driver does not continue activating the system， the autopilot software will shut down after 6 minutes， the car will slow down. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulates commercial vehicles， and Horz says he can avoid regulation because he does not sell anything. A spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration declined to comment.
Simpson， member of Consumer Watchdog， holds skeptical attitude towards Hodes’ avoidance of supervision. He said that if the car features security problems， the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has the power to stop the car on the road； it also has the power to assess the additional features of the car. Simpson said：“Comma on road safety is an obvious threat. Its launching of products is absolutely unexpected. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the California DMV should now take action to stop cars installed with equipments developed by Hodes to go the road.”
Simpson pointed out that anyone who applies Hodes’tools on the car is breaking the law. In accordance with California law， without $ 5 million warranty or demon- strable driver training program， no driverless car is allowed on public roads. Although Hodes names his innovation as“autopilot Kit”， he explained that the toolkit is similar to Tesla Autopilot， which is exempted from the regulatory requirements of the autopilot system. “The tool can save lives，” he warned. “The government should not suspend it， engineers should be free to develop socially beneficial products. Will open source technology cause hackers to attack cars？ Hods is not worried， he said， the car has been connected to the Internet， the risk exists no matter how.
“Our products are not consumption products.” Hodes said， “it targets clients who are into gadgets and gizmos. If these people want to develop malicious products， they would be able to do.” At the start of the conference， Hodes played 90s hip-hop classic “Regulate”， at the end of the play rapper Drake songs. Hodes told the guests： “Everybody doubts that I’m asking for forgiveness. If you are not one of them， at least you’ll be a witness.”
Learning from Android
If Hodes plan successes， Comma.ai self-driving cars will become Google in automobile world. Comma.ai doesn’t simply launch the projects but also cooperate with other people to help them develop their own autopilot tools. Now， Comma.ai software supports adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist function， but can only be used in the Toyota and Acura cars. Hodes confirmed that the company redesigned Comma Neo components， thus enthusiasts will be more easily to develop them. He also hinted that the company is ready to cooperate with partners and convert it into products， then officially ship them. In fact， code development only has two purposes： First， to circumvent the regulation， the second is to quickly enhance the software functions. On the same day of the launching of the code， people began to enter the old code into Tesla Model S cars， even including the Ford Fusion cars. Hodes said： "the progress is surprisingly fast."
Comma.ai’s ultimate goal is to have a self-driving cars network. Hodes explained： "Let driving become a kind of service has always been our vision. Google provides mail services in the same way such as Gmail without any charge. However， it can still derive value because you are part of Google network. Android also has a similar plan. Why Google invests to develop the operating system then provides it to you for free？ Google wants to pull you into Google， which is also our plan to get people to join the network.
Initially the challenge facing Comma.ai is to solve autonomous vehicles problems. At this stage， enthusiasts use Comma Neo to develop products， which bring wealthy data. Hodes pointed out that if there are 100 people to develop automatic driving Neo product， Comma.ai will have the world’s second-largest auto-pilot network， second only to Tesla. Tesla autopilot Autopilot function can be learnt continuously， whose information comes from cars installed by Autopilot. In other words， Tesla operates a network， when one car learns all the cars will follow the study.
Once the self-driving cars problem is solved Comma.ai will further build its own network and to make money. For example， Comma.ai network’s cars can send themselves out to join Uber to make more money. Hodes said the money will be partly owned by Uber and Comma and by car owners.
Hodes said： " ’Interesting’ comes first， followed by the solution to autopilot and money making comes the last."
Andreessen Horowitz is the supporter behind the company’s open software. Hodes said： "When I first proposed open source software， I was surprised， I thought there will be a hard fight， but the result very well. I think they like the idea. I think Andreessen Horowitz really knows future directon which are not clarified by some of the old car manufacturers. " The future has nothing to do with hardware， he said.
Why does Volvo choose to set up an automated driving test facility in China？ One of the biggest reasons is that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of autopilot technology and provides strong support. The data collected under the complex traffic conditions in China will provide important reference for the development and research of automatic driving.
The International Symposium on Automatic Pilot jointly organized by the Ministry of Transport and Road Research Institute， Chinese Academy of Information and Communications and Volvo Cars was held in Beijing on April 7. This is the highest level of autopilot seminar held in China， whose theme is “development prospects of autopilot in China”. Volvo Car Group’s CEO and president Hanken Samuelson announced that the company will set up an automated driving test base in China， which will be the world’s highest level of automatic driving base China opens to the automotive industry and the general public for the first time.
Baidu’s autonomous vehicles in Beijing have gone through fully automated driving test under the mixed road conditions of cities， circuits and express ways at the top testing speed of 100km / h. Volvo Cars went on a real road test at the sixth west ring in Beijing in March 2015， achieving an autopilot at 70 km per hour. The complexity of traffic conditions in China is obvious to all， and the data collected under the complex traffic conditions in China will provide important reference for the development and research of automatic driving.
Alphabet （Google parent company） executives， financial website Motley Fool director Susanne Frey recently published an article saying China will lead the United States in the driverless car competition， because the US government is acting too slowly. Although autopilot technology is very popular in the United States， the control of driverless vehicle testing is tightly controlled in all states. For example， California has made it clear that driving license holders must sit in the front seat during the driverless vehicle testing.
Frey pointed out in the article that this requirement targets Google who hopes driverless cars can be driven by anyone， whether he or she has a driver license o r not， even the blind can legally use the car. Google said in a statement at the time： “We are deeply disappointed by the decision of California authorities. Completely driverless cars for everyone living here will be great benefit， however the potential of driverless cars have been limited.” On last month’s GM China Future Construction of Transportation news conference， Matthew Tsien， president of GM China said， V2I （vehicle and infrastructure network） technology in China will be developed rapidly， because this technology will reduce traffic jam and improve road safety which will also be supported by the government. Similarly， the autopilot will solve four major issues plaging road traffic in China—security， congestion， pollution， and the waste of time. Self-driving cars will develop rapidly in China when the government takes self-driving as solutions for future transportation problems.
Xin Guobin， vice min- ister of Ministry of Information and Industry， raised three proposals of autopilot development in China at the seminar. First， the autopilot must put safety in the first place. The Internet of things is the future direction of development， but first of all is to ensure the security of the network； secondly， all relevant parties shall work out integration and cooperation， including joint ventures， acquisitions and joint research and development and other forms； finally， there must be systematic thinking， automatic driving is not a simple superposition technology， nor simply putting accessories together， it needs systematic thinking to work out the collaboration.
On the issue of automatic driving， what the Ministry of Information and Industry concerns most are security issues. In the technical development level， we shall promote a wide range of forms of cooperation. The government’s attitude toward autopilot driving will be a catalyst for the rapid development of this technology. Of course， a lot of work is required before autopilot cars can really get to the road， including the development of regulations and technical standards， and even the appropriate changes in road infrastructure. Compared to the United States， perhaps China’s autopilot will really run faster， and China also needs it to alleviate traffic congestion and reduce exhaust pollution.
Self-driving Cars Endanger Car Brand Value
When the vehicle can automatically drive， passengers may not care whether it is a BMW car or Audi car. Car brands are based on the car driving experience over the past centuries， however the arrival of the automobile era is likely to push car manufacturers into “brand failure”.
If the customer does not need to manipulate a car， the car brand may lose the original meaning. Like most people booking tickets will not bother if the plane is a Boeing aircraft or a passenger plane. Bob Lutz， retired General Motors vice president， said： “In the long run， the car brand will disappear. People won’t care who makes the vehicle when taking a bus or a plane. Maybe car brands will totally disappear in the coming two decades. “ Recently， Hodes unveiled his idea to let autopilot system be free， just like Android smart phone system. As the once first person ever to break the iPhone， Hodes now will challenge Tesla. As reported by foreign media， regulators may ask you to stop selling products. As a start-up how will it deal with it？ Comma.ai gives his own answer： make the products free of charge. Autopilot technology startups Comma.ai launched a free software toolkit， which is mainly available to developers. Software developers can use the software to change any car into autonomous vehicles. Established for only a year， Comma.ai has employees about 50 people whose founder is exactly the well-known hacker Hodes. The company is supported by Silicon Valley investors.
In the news conference， wearing jeans， long-sleeved white T-shirt and a black knit cap with a white hat on a comma， Hodes chatted with media representatives before the conference officially started. He asked whether the conference would be shown on Facebook Live. It was not on any live show.
Before the start of the conference， Horz got up from the chair and he walked to the corner of the computer monitor. Before long， the song “Regulate” sounded. It was from the 1994 Warren G and Nate Dogg concert collection. Hods smiled and said， this song is very suitable， because it sings about the regulatory. He closed the garage door， dimmed the lights， and then began to play the slides on the display， which hung on the back wall of the garage.
Things announced by Comma.ai were like instruction manuals， allowing researchers， people who like to tinker with small invention to modify cars， increased autopilot function. Hodes said it posted whole new open-source software called Open Pilot. The company also released a guide to users with 3D printing technology to print a box named Comma Neo. If you want the product works， Neo boxes also need a $ 400 One Plus 3 phones. Comma Neo box can be used instead of car mirrors， the cameras and high-end data processing capability add functions to automotive， such as lane keeping function， adaptive cruise control function， but the device can only be used on certain models.
Hodes had tried to launch its first product Comma One， which was forced to terminate as a result， the new products and Comma One are quite different. At the beginning of the year The Verge reporter visited Hodes and tested products developed by him. Hodes then applied a testing version of Comma One onto an Acura vehicle. Although it is not perfect， Acura cars can slowly drive automatically， which can speed up on the long straight road. New One Pilot software and Comma Neo has a difference： it’s free. Comma.ai doesn’t sell products， only to avoid regulation. “We provide everything， so you can copy the product.” Hodes again stressed that “we do not sell hardware， no ship.” To prepare for the conference， Hodes wrote in the garage a lot of introduction， one from Eminem （emerged in the last century on behalf of white rap music）， one from Kanye West， one from Peter Thiel， as well as one said by Hodes previously—If Telsa is IOS in driverless cars， we are Android system. Peter Thiel stressed that the introduction of early Comma.ai legal difficulties faced， It must hire a lawyer to deal with regulators； Holz said， as a small company， there is no way to effectively use the legal system. With a tone of passion， Hodes more than once stressed that in today’s automotive market， no software is better than Comma.ai in addition to Tesla. Another engineer Michael Graczyk even told the audience that the quality of Comma.ai product will finally surpass Tesla.
At some point， Hertz’s was a little hesitant. A reporter raised questions about security issues， and he responded：“Your car has been connected to the Internet ...... our products will not bring greater security risk for the car”There are also reporters asked why he committed to development of autopilot software and he said he did not care too much about preaching. Hortz just think the technology itself is cool and he saw the potential value.
The software is free， the company itself does not sell hardware， this model will naturally cause people to think about a problem： how does VC supported Comma.ai make money？ Hodes responded by saying： “How does everybody make money？ Our goal is to have a basic network； we hope to have our own network of autonomous vehicles.”He said Comma.ai will establish cooperation with a num- ber of after sale suppliers， but these are just not priorities right now. The company’s goal listed on the whiteboard in Comma.ai garage is： The most important thing is fun， then solve the problem of self-driving cars， and finally profits.
Regulation and risk
Autopilot technology has great potential， but there is also the risk， how should the United States enhance its innovation capability？ Comma.ai’s action again sent people deep in thought. Experts believe that with automatic driving technology， the number of road accidents will be greatly reduced， because most of the accidents are caused by human errors. John Simpson， member of the security organization Consumer Watchdog， believes Comma.ai au-topilot kit only runs about 5，000 miles， which is too small numbers； it is not enough to determine whether the product is safe or not. Some industries have gone through strict supervision， Comma.ai options noted a clear way for start-ups to tell them how to avoid regulation. In real estate， DNA testing and space industries， companies generally will choose to cooperate with the government， or follow the example of Uber and Airbnb： ask for forgiveness， not for approval， and then adjusts its actions.
Comma.ai chose circuitous strategy. This fall， Hodes announced at industry conferences that Comma.ai will launch DIY autopilot software and hardware kit， priced at $ 999. Large car manufacturers， the driverless car technology giant has invested billions of dollars. Comma.ai technology can greatly reduce the threshold.
Washington is skeptical. In TechCrunch Disrupt conference， Hodes announced plans， not long after he received a warning letter from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Hodes is the first iPhone jailbreak hacker， because of his brilliant technology ability， he was also reported by the “New Yorker”， and even invited by Musk together build Tesla autopilot system. Holz is ready to launch the product before the end of the year. Washington asked him to provide detailed safety information.
After receiving the letter a few hours later， Horz canceled the plan， no longer introducing products. In an interview with the Washington Post Horz said he did not have much money and could not afford a lawyer or to circle round with the government. He also said that earlier Cali-fornia officials suddenly visited him without prior notice. They wanted to view the products developed by Hodz. Finally， Holtz chose a workaround： the toolkit code is provided free of charge. Hodes in press conference said： “We want to develop self-driving cars， like the Android operating system.”
Currently the code has been placed on the open source collaboration platform GitHub， anyone （in fact hard-core hackers） can be put into the development of automotive equipment. Connected through interface called CAN （Controller Area Network） to the car. Cars produced after 2006 generally have this kind of interface. Users need to use 3D printer to make equipments， with Android version OnePlus 3 to run the code through the camera scanning the road.
Technically， Holtz’s software is not the same as Google’s or GM’s autopilot. Hodes said it is open-source alternative to Tesla Autopilot， which is considered as a semi-automatic system. When the user turns on the system， the car runs in autopilot mode， leaving the steering wheel with both hands without using the pedals. Hodes explained that， if the driver does not continue activating the system， the autopilot software will shut down after 6 minutes， the car will slow down. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulates commercial vehicles， and Horz says he can avoid regulation because he does not sell anything. A spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration declined to comment.
Simpson， member of Consumer Watchdog， holds skeptical attitude towards Hodes’ avoidance of supervision. He said that if the car features security problems， the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has the power to stop the car on the road； it also has the power to assess the additional features of the car. Simpson said：“Comma on road safety is an obvious threat. Its launching of products is absolutely unexpected. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the California DMV should now take action to stop cars installed with equipments developed by Hodes to go the road.”
Simpson pointed out that anyone who applies Hodes’tools on the car is breaking the law. In accordance with California law， without $ 5 million warranty or demon- strable driver training program， no driverless car is allowed on public roads. Although Hodes names his innovation as“autopilot Kit”， he explained that the toolkit is similar to Tesla Autopilot， which is exempted from the regulatory requirements of the autopilot system. “The tool can save lives，” he warned. “The government should not suspend it， engineers should be free to develop socially beneficial products. Will open source technology cause hackers to attack cars？ Hods is not worried， he said， the car has been connected to the Internet， the risk exists no matter how.
“Our products are not consumption products.” Hodes said， “it targets clients who are into gadgets and gizmos. If these people want to develop malicious products， they would be able to do.” At the start of the conference， Hodes played 90s hip-hop classic “Regulate”， at the end of the play rapper Drake songs. Hodes told the guests： “Everybody doubts that I’m asking for forgiveness. If you are not one of them， at least you’ll be a witness.”
Learning from Android
If Hodes plan successes， Comma.ai self-driving cars will become Google in automobile world. Comma.ai doesn’t simply launch the projects but also cooperate with other people to help them develop their own autopilot tools. Now， Comma.ai software supports adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist function， but can only be used in the Toyota and Acura cars. Hodes confirmed that the company redesigned Comma Neo components， thus enthusiasts will be more easily to develop them. He also hinted that the company is ready to cooperate with partners and convert it into products， then officially ship them. In fact， code development only has two purposes： First， to circumvent the regulation， the second is to quickly enhance the software functions. On the same day of the launching of the code， people began to enter the old code into Tesla Model S cars， even including the Ford Fusion cars. Hodes said： "the progress is surprisingly fast."
Comma.ai’s ultimate goal is to have a self-driving cars network. Hodes explained： "Let driving become a kind of service has always been our vision. Google provides mail services in the same way such as Gmail without any charge. However， it can still derive value because you are part of Google network. Android also has a similar plan. Why Google invests to develop the operating system then provides it to you for free？ Google wants to pull you into Google， which is also our plan to get people to join the network.
Initially the challenge facing Comma.ai is to solve autonomous vehicles problems. At this stage， enthusiasts use Comma Neo to develop products， which bring wealthy data. Hodes pointed out that if there are 100 people to develop automatic driving Neo product， Comma.ai will have the world’s second-largest auto-pilot network， second only to Tesla. Tesla autopilot Autopilot function can be learnt continuously， whose information comes from cars installed by Autopilot. In other words， Tesla operates a network， when one car learns all the cars will follow the study.
Once the self-driving cars problem is solved Comma.ai will further build its own network and to make money. For example， Comma.ai network’s cars can send themselves out to join Uber to make more money. Hodes said the money will be partly owned by Uber and Comma and by car owners.
Hodes said： " ’Interesting’ comes first， followed by the solution to autopilot and money making comes the last."
Andreessen Horowitz is the supporter behind the company’s open software. Hodes said： "When I first proposed open source software， I was surprised， I thought there will be a hard fight， but the result very well. I think they like the idea. I think Andreessen Horowitz really knows future directon which are not clarified by some of the old car manufacturers. " The future has nothing to do with hardware， he said.