Lawmakers voice concern on Chinese autonomous vehicle firms collecting US testing data

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers raised concerns about Chinese companies collecting sensitive data while testing autonomous vehicles in the United States, according to letters seen by Reuters Thursday.

The lawmakers, including House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and China select committee Chair Mike Gallagher, asked 10 companies - including China's Baidu, Nio, WeRide, Xpeng, Inceptio and Pony.ai - to answer questions by Nov. 29 on data collection practices from ongoing U.S. autonomous vehicle testing.

The letters said the companies "collect sensitive information about our citizens and their daily routines, the nation’s infrastructure, and connected technologies."