Earlier today, Comma.ai announced on Twitter that they would be cancelling the after-market self-driving product for cars. The company was recently questioned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which questioned about the safety of the product and how it would be used for real.
Comma.ai also published the entire letter from NHTSA via Twitter:
Got this in the mail today. https://t.co/BsEANVWoXn First time I hear from them and they open with threats. No attempt at a dialog. -GH 1/3
— comma ai (@comma_ai) October 28, 2016
Looks like Geo Hotz is so not happy about dealing with lawyers and regulatory authorities.
Would much rather spend my life building amazing tech than dealing with regulators and lawyers. It isn't worth it. -GH 2/3
— comma ai (@comma_ai) October 28, 2016
But the Tweet Storm did not stop there. Geo Hotz also hinted that the company might be looking into their next product, which could be built? in China:
The comma one is cancelled. comma.ai will be exploring other products and markets. Hello from Shenzhen, China. -GH 3/3
— comma ai (@comma_ai) October 28, 2016
For people like Hotz, working with the regulators might not be something exciting. But I think for creative freedom to work out, regulators should properly test these technologies for real, before jumping into conclusions and asking questions.