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Comma.ai's driver monitoring system uses infrared camera; positions company ahead of Tesla on safety hardware despite superior external perception
George Hotz· Comma.ai· Robotics· 2026-06-27· about Comma.ai, Tesla (TSLA)
“This is the one area where I can say our hardware is ahead of Tesla. The rest of our hardware way behind but our driver monitoring camera... Uh it's like a low resolution visible light. I mean to be fair that's what we have in the Eon as well. Our last generation product. This is the one area where I can say our hardware is ahead of Tesla.”
Why it matters
Comma.ai's infrared driver monitoring is a differentiator; Tesla's adoption of driver monitoring (recently in shadow mode) validates Hotz's long-standing criticism and suggests pressure on Tesla to catch up on safety hardware.
Investment implication
Suppliers of infrared camera sensors and thermal imaging chips may see increased demand from automotive OEMs retrofitting driver monitoring. Companies like OmniVision, Flir (Teledyne), or specalized automotive camera makers could benefit.