This week, President Joe Biden's outgoing administration has finalized rules that effectively ban all Chinese and Russian connected car technology from U.S. roads, a landmark blow with far-reaching consequences, not least the ongoing trade in cheap Chinese electric vehicles. increase.

The Commerce Department argued that the rule, first proposed in September, was necessary to protect U.S. cars from foreign adversaries and interference. “Imagine if there were thousands or hundreds of thousands of Chinese connected vehicles on U.S. roads that could all be banned immediately and simultaneously by someone in Beijing,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said last year. The ban on Russian software will begin in 2027, and hardware restrictions will begin in 2029.

On the face of it, this could be a disaster for Waymo. Alphabet's self-driving technology developer announced in 2021 that automaker Zeekr, a brand owned by Chinese auto giant Geely Holding, would build its next-generation robot taxi.

In fact, pre-production models are already being tested on the roads of San Francisco and Phoenix, and Zeekr officials told reporters earlier this month that it would begin delivering a production version of the vehicle, called the Zeekr RT, later this year.

Despite the new regulations, Waymo is confident this partnership will be unaffected and intends to move forward as planned.

"We do not expect the final rule to impact our use of the Zeekr platform," Waymo spokesman Ethan Teicher wrote in an email to WIRED.

In comments submitted to the Commerce Department last year, Waymo argued that its vehicles should not be subject to the new rules because all connected technology on board is U.S.-owned and installed.

Waymo said the vehicles it received from Geely were "base vehicles" without telematics systems and any other technology that would allow the vehicle to communicate with or send data back to its manufacturer. Only "authorized personnel" can install Waymo's self-driving technology into cars after they are delivered to the United States.

The U.S. Commerce Department did not respond to WIRED's questions about Waymo's partnership with Zeekr.

Today, Waymo uses modified Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles to operate its self-driving ride-hailing service in Phoenix, Arizona, San Francisco and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Atlanta and Austin are expected to join later this year.

The company also signed a deal with Hyundai Motor to use modified Ioniq 5s in its ride-hailing fleet later this year.

While Waymo still believes its new vehicles will have more legroom, higher ceilings and lower steps to allow more passengers to use the vehicles, it's unclear whether they will be subject to the new 100% restrictions Biden The government finalized tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles last fall.

"We are watching the tariffs closely, but Waymo's plans are on track," Teicher confirmed.