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Image Credits:Comma5:12 AM PDT · September 23, 2026
Comma.ai, the startup founded by hacker George Hotz, is facing a national investigation aft 5 reported crashes involving the company’s aftermarket hands-off operator assistance tech, 2 of which resulted successful 3 deaths.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) said this week that the reported crashes progressive Comma devices failing to observe oregon respond to dilatory oregon stopped vehicles successful the aforesaid roadworthy lane. Across 4 of the crashes, arsenic galore arsenic 11 radical were injured, immoderate seriously.
Some of the crashes, including astatine slightest 1 of the fatal incidents, whitethorn person progressive the usage of “forked” oregon modified versions of Comma.ai’s software, according to the ODI.
Comma.ai could not instantly beryllium reached for comment. Hotz, who distanced himself from the startup’s day-to-day operations successful 2022, did not instantly instrumentality a petition for comment.
Founded successful 2015, Comma.ai makes devices that tin beryllium installed connected a scope of modern cars. The devices — and Comma.ai’s software, “openpilot,” — tin power a car’s Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Automated Lane Centering (ALC) systems to execute functions “similar to Tesla Autopilot and GM Super Cruise,” according to the startup’s website. The extremity is to “make driving chill.”
Comma.ai’s website claims that “openpilot tin steer, accelerate, and brake automatically for different vehicles wrong its lane.” Still, overmuch similar Tesla and GM, Comma.ai warns drivers that they “must ever beryllium susceptible to instantly retake manual power of the vehicle, by stepping connected either pedal oregon by pressing the cancel button.” The company’s instrumentality uses a camera-based operator monitoring strategy to ticker for distracted oregon sleepy drivers.
One of the 2 fatal crashes appears to person happened successful February 2026 successful Ascension Parish, Louisiana. It A 2022 Toyota RAV4, which was moving FrogPilot, a third-party fork of openpilot, struck a stopped archetypal responder vehicle.
Louisiana State Police released details of a clang successful February that look to lucifer the study successful the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s database. In its statement of the crash, the bureau said 2 rear-seat passengers of the Toyota died.
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Sean O’Kane is simply a newsman who has spent a decennary covering the rapidly-evolving concern and exertion of the proscription industry, including Tesla and the galore startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, helium was a newsman astatine Bloomberg News wherever helium helped interruption stories astir immoderate of the astir notorious EV SPAC flops. He antecedently worked astatine The Verge, wherever helium besides covered user technology, hosted galore short- and long-form videos, performed merchandise and editorial photography, and erstwhile astir passed retired successful a Red Bull Air Race plane.
You tin interaction oregon verify outreach from Sean by emailing sean.okane@techcrunch.com oregon via encrypted connection astatine okane.01 connected Signal.
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