Sources: US Department of Energy is investigating whether Chinese lidar sensors might pose a security risk if they become widely used on vehicles in the US (Sean O'Kane/TechCrunch)

The US Department of Energy is investigating potential security risks associated with Chinese lidar sensors being widely used on vehicles in the US. According to TechCrunch, a Department of Energy lab, specifically the Idaho National Laboratory, is conducting the review. The research is reportedly funded by an unnamed company or group of companies in the electric and autonomous vehicle industries.

The investigation comes as Chinese lidar suppliers, such as Hesai and RoboSense, are prominent players in the market. Lidar technology uses laser pulses to measure distances to nearby objects and is commonly used in autonomous vehicle development.

Several major companies, including Rivian, General Motors, and Uber, have stated they are unaware of the review, while others, such as Nvidia and Aurora, did not respond to questions about their potential involvement. The Idaho National Laboratory has declined to comment on the review, citing it as a project they are "not at liberty to discuss with reporters."

Brief written by urgent.news from Techmeme, TechCrunch — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.