Hesai responds to ‘false allegations’ raised by members of Congress

Hesai Technology responded to what it calls “numerous false allegations made about the company and its technology” in a letter from the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party released on November 28. Hesai stated: “Hesai lidars have no mechanism to store even one second of the image they see. Hesai lidars also have no wireless transmission capabilities. They contain no cellular, wi-fi, or Bluetooth, so data cannot wirelessly leak from Hesai lidars and there is no way for anyone to wirelessly extract data… Hesai lidars cannot capture human facial features or any other identifying biometric data. They cannot be used for facial recognition or personal information identification. Lidars, which use lasers, provide much greater privacy protection than cameras for surveillance purposes… Hesai’s lidars have never been designed, evaluated for, or validated to military specifications. In other words, they are unsuitable for use in any military defense systems. Hesai’s products are classified by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security as EAR99, which means they are not suitable for military applications. Hesai has a customer screening process to ensure that the company does not sell any products to entities on U.S. government restricted party lists or otherwise defined as a military end user under the Commerce Department’s EAR designation… On April 11, 2023, Ouster, a lidar competitor of Hesai, filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission alleging Hesai infringed on Ouster’s (OUST) lidar IP, seeking to enjoin the import of Hesai lidars into the U.S. On June 22, 2023, Hesai filed a motion to terminate the ITC actions. On Aug. 24, 2023, the presiding ITC Administrative Law Judge granted Hesai’s motion to terminate the ITC Action. On Oct. 10, 2023, the ITC Commissioners affirmed the administrative law judge’s decision terminating the ITC action… Hesai is a publicly traded, privately controlled company (Nasdaq: HSAI) that makes its own business decisions in the best interest of its employees and shareholders. Hesai has never taken sovereign or state money from any government, nor do they sell or provide their lidar technology to any military. Hesai has not received any investment from a state-owned enterprise. The Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party have had no intervention in Hesai’s business operations or management.” Hesai CEO and co-founder David Li added: “It is disappointing that the Select Committee has made these false allegations about our company. We will continue to work to ensure that all interested parties know the truth about Hesai, its products, and its broader mission. Hesai’s goal is to improve road safety in America and around the world.”