From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.advocacy

"I do not think we should be letting people run any software they want
on their self-driving car."

The software that powers self-driving cars is no longer the domain of proprietary systems built by billion-dollar companies.

Open source assisted driving systems like Comma AIAs Openpilot have made
it possible for anyone tech savvy enough to turn their set of wheels
into a self-driving experiment. If you have $1,000 to spare and possess
a willingness to serve as a lab rat in pursuit of automotive automation,
you can buy a kit from Comma to retrofit your grocery getter with autonomous-driving ready sensors and cameras.

With all the attention that TeslaAs Full Self-Driving system and WaymoAs robotaxis get, these DIY options have largely flown under the radar. We
may have recently gotten a taste, however, of what the reaction to this aftermarket tech going mainstream might look like.

Over the weekend, a man going by Mike LaBarbera on X posted a video of
his Tesla Model Y driving itself using Comma Four, the latest version of
Comma AIAs self-driving hardware.

oMy FSD subscription ended last January, and this isnAt Tesla
Autopilot,o LaBarbera said. With this open source alternative, he
boasted, he was ono longer renting a closed system.o

Actually, LaBarbera clarified, what was running the car in the video is oSunnypilot,o an Openpilot fork u someone elseAs custom version of the software, essentially.

While a compelling testament to how far self-driving tech has come
along, the video has also alarmed some observers with how easy it
apparently is to install custom tech to control your car.

oI do not think we should be letting people run any software they want
on their self-driving car,o said Cairo Smith, a writer, in a post that attracted more likes than the original. oIt is not Skyrim for Linux. You
do not get mods on the freeway.o

Interestingly, some of the most scathing critiques came from apparent proponents of mainstream self-driving efforts. One viral hot take fumed
at the possibility of getting into a fatal accident because of choosing
to drive oan opensource repo with 3,000 stars instead of just buying the actually good systemo on a car that was originally built to support self-driving, like a Tesla.

Another called it a ojoke.o

oImagine getting home with your family, and this guy crashes into you
because of some vibe coded PR in a GitHub repo with 2k stars,o the user
wrote.

The software has also gotten the attention of federal regulators. Last
week, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration opened
an investigation into Comma AI after five crashes involving cars that
were running Openpilot. In each of the crashes, the vehicles slammed
into slow-moving or stopped vehicles in their lanes. Eleven people have
been injured across these incidents, and three have died.

Per ElectrekAs coverage, the investigation covers 30,000 Comma hardware
kits, including Comma Four. One area that the agency is zeroing in on is
Comma AIAs marketing, which promises ohands free driving for the car you already have,o despite its fine print stating the cars require constant supervision.

ItAs a problem that becomes yet more thorny when you consider that many
Comma users may not be using it out of the box, but installing modded
versions of the software. Your head starts to spin at all the subtle
ways that these mods affect a carAs safety, all without the ostensible accountability you get from a system being built at a large, commercial
entity like Tesla.

And thatAs without getting into how the rise of vibe coding means that
itAs also not a remote possibility that someone inexperienced will use
an AI model to customize Openpilot to their liking. Barring major
regulatory intervention, we may have to get used to sharing more of the
road with peopleAs homemade robot chauffeurs.

https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/people-installing-self-driving- mods-cars
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