Image: Tesla
On Wednesday, Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy appeared before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee during a hearing titled “Hit the Road, Mac: The Future of Self-Driving Cars,” where lawmakers examined how the U.S. should modernize regulations around autonomous vehicles. Moravy represented Tesla alongside Waymo Chief Safety Officer Dr. Mauricio Peña, Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association CEO Jeff Farrah, and University of South Carolina law professor Bryant Walker Smith.
In his opening statement, Moravy made it clear that Tesla believes the U.S. is at risk of falling behind in the autonomous vehicle space without a unified national approach. As Moravy told the committee:
“For America to maintain its position in global technological development and grow its advanced manufacturing capabilities, we must enact a federal framework for the development and deployment of AVs (autonomous vehicles). The committee has the opportunity to position NHTSA as a global gold standard for AV development.”
The testimony builds on written remarks Tesla submitted earlier this week, where the company warned lawmakers that the U.S. could lose the AI and self-driving race to China without regulatory reform and a consistent federal framework. Right now, autonomous vehicle rules vary widely by state, making large-scale deployment far more complex than it needs to be.
The timing is notable. Just weeks ago, Elon Musk claimed Tesla has effectively “solved” full autonomy, arguing that the remaining hurdles are largely regulatory rather than technical. Tesla has been putting those claims into practice. Late last year, the company began offering fully unmanned Robotaxi rides in Austin, with no driver or safety monitor onboard. It’s an early glimpse of what Tesla hopes will eventually roll out across its entire global fleet — assuming regulations allow it.
A more hospitable federal framework could dramatically accelerate not just development, but deployment, giving the U.S. a clearer path to compete with China in autonomous vehicles and AI-powered transportation.
Moravy also used the hearing to address concerns around vehicle cybersecurity, emphasizing that Tesla’s architecture was designed from the ground up with isolation and redundancy in mind. He explained that Tesla’s most critical driving systems are physically and digitally separated from anything that could be accessed externally.
As Moravy told senators, “We have many layers of security in our system. Our driving controls are in a core-embedded central layer that cannot be accessed from outside the vehicle,” underscoring that remote takeover scenarios are effectively blocked at the hardware level.
He went on to describe Tesla’s strict internal controls around software updates, noting that firmware changes require multiple layers of authorization before they can ever reach a vehicle. “Our security protocols ensure that no firmware can be downloaded to the vehicle without the modern equivalent of a ‘two-man role,’” Moravy said, adding that “two people must sign off with individual keys” before any encrypted firmware is approved.
Addressing the question many lawmakers were circling around, Moravy was unequivocal: “To answer your question on if anyone has been able to take over control of our vehicles, the answer is simply no.”
You can watch the full Senate hearing to hear more from Moravy, as well as testimony from Waymo and other industry leaders, for deeper insight into how U.S. lawmakers are weighing the future of self-driving cars.
