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Robots on the factory floor. Self-driving vehicles on the Las Vegas strip. Even a substitute for man's best friend — the robotic dog. They are all part of the physical artificial intelligence buildout that depends on high-tech, low-cost lidar, the critical sensors that allow these technologies to see their surroundings.
A Hesai lidar sensor. CNBC
And at the heart of this buildout is Hesai Technology , a Shanghai-based lidar manufacturer blacklisted as a national security threat in 2024 by the U.S. Department of Defense, which designated Hesai as a Chinese military entity. While the blacklist prevents Hesai and the 187 other companies and subsidiaries on the list from securing Pentagon contracts, there is nothing illegal about using these products in nonmilitary applications. Hesai's presence on the blacklist does not prevent U.S. companies from using Hesai's technology. Government officials and security experts say the use of Chinese lidar could open this new, critical infrastructure to cyberthreats with potentially serious consequences and become a backdoor for Beijing to access sensitive data collected by the lidar technology. David Li, Hesai's co-founder and CEO, says the narrative that his company poses a threat is fiction.
David Li, Hesai's co-founder and CEO. CNBC
"In the DOD case, I don't feel there is sufficient evidence, and it's not logical," Li said. "We are frustrated by that." In his first extended interview about the blacklist designation, Li defended the company against allegations that its technology poses national security risks or could be used by the Chinese government to collect data.
David Li, Hesai's co-founder and CEO, speaks to CNBC's Melissa Lee in his first extended interview about his company's blacklist designation by the U.S. Department of Defense. CNBC
Despite the federal blacklist designation, Hesai's reach is growing. Under an expanded partnership between Hesai and Nvidia , Hesai sensors will be one of the options automakers can choose to integrate into Nvidia's autonomous vehicle platforms, which the chipmaker hopes will power the self-driving vehicle revolution.
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