Hesai Group (“Hesai” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: “HSAI”), the global
leader in three-dimensional light detection and ranging (“lidar”)
solutions, in response to recent inaccurate and misleading
information in the market, issued this statement setting the record
straight about the Company’s intellectual property assets and
record of innovation, data security, and ownership, funding, and
management.
Hesai BackgroundHesai is a
publicly traded and privately owned company that began as a Silicon
Valley lidar start-up in San Jose, California (“Hesai” means “Jose”
from San Jose in Chinese). It was founded in 2014 by two Stanford
University engineering graduates and a University of Illinois Ph.D.
Since then, Hesai has grown to become the global leader in
designing, developing, and producing superior performing, high
quality and safe lidar solutions for the Autonomous Mobility (AM)
or robotaxis, Advanced Driver Assistance System for passenger cars
(ADAS), and last-mile delivery and industrial automation for
robotics markets. Since its inception, Hesai has become the global
leader, having shipped over 200,000 lidars to the AM, ADAS and
robotics markets, including over 87,000 lidars in the first half of
2023 alone. Based on SEC filings and equity and industry research
reports, for the full year 2022 and the first half of 2023, Hesai
is the unequivocal market leader in terms of revenues and lidar
units delivered. Hesai has established its leadership in the global
lidar market while enjoying gross margins of more than 30 percent –
the highest in the industry -- dispelling baseless allegations that
Hesai sells lidars below cost to gain market share. Hesai’s
leadership in the lidar sector – with 47 percent of the global
market share for automotive lidars – has been earned by designing
and producing superior performing and higher quality lidar products
as judged by the lidar marketplace.
Intellectual Property Claims Brought by
OusterInnovation and safety are at the heart of Hesai’s
culture and practice. Hesai has more than 700 highly qualified
engineers and staff working in its R&D and manufacturing teams
who are dedicated to designing superior performing, high quality
lidar products to advance the safety and performance of driver
assisted technologies to save lives worldwide. This dedication and
focus have resulted in superior lidar products based on over 400
granted patents and over 700 pending patent applications
worldwide.
On April 11, 2023, Ouster (NYSE: “OUST”) filed a
complaint against Hesai and Hesai Technology Co., Ltd. in the
United States District Court for the District of Delaware for
alleged patent infringement (the “Delaware Action”). At the same
time, Ouster filed a companion complaint at the U.S. International
Trade Commission (the “ITC”), requesting an investigation into
Hesai and its affiliated entities pursuant to Section 337 of the
Tariff Act of 1930 based on substantially similar allegations (the
“ITC Action”).
Hesai disputes and denies all of Ouster’s
allegations as baseless and lacking merit and is vigorously
defending its IP and legal rights. The Delaware Action is currently
stayed. On June 22, 2023, Hesai filed a motion to terminate the ITC
Action. On August 24, 2023, the presiding Administrative Law Judge
issued an order granting Hesai’s motion to terminate the ITC
Action. The order is an initial determination that is subject to
review by the ITC Commissioners.
Hesai values and respects valid and enforceable
intellectual property rights and will continue to defend itself
against any allegations that are improper or lack merit.
Hesai Lidar Data Security Hesai
lidar does not and cannot independently wirelessly transmit any
operational or biometric data or data of any other kind.
Hesai’s lidar is a piece of hardware connected
to a vehicle’s computer via a secured cable on a nonstop, one-way
information pathway. Hesai’s lidars are analogous to the “eyes” of
an autonomous vehicle securely transmitting information to the
vehicle’s computer, or “brain”, which makes driving decisions. The
vehicle’s computers are entirely developed, owned, controlled, and
operated by our customers. Once a Hesai lidar is sold to a
customer, Hesai has no ability to access the images generated by
the lidar, which does not have wireless connectivity and cannot be
remotely operated or accessed. There is no so-called backdoor
security risk. All of the images generated by our delivered lidars
are controlled, operated, stored, accessed and used by our
customers, not Hesai.
Hesai lidars, based on their technical features,
are not sensitive products that would involve national security
concerns. They are civilian products by nature, and in addition,
they are designed, developed and intended for sale solely for
civilian, commercial purposes to advance the performance and safety
of Autonomous Driving System with the objective of making
transportation safer and saving lives worldwide.
Hesai Ownership and Management
ControlHesai is a privately founded and publicly traded
company listed on Nasdaq. Hesai’s ownership and management control
are transparent and disclosed in our public SEC filings as a result
of Hesai’s recent $190 million February 2023 IPO on the Nasdaq. Our
underwriters, auditors, and multiple American law firms have
conducted extensive and thorough due diligence and vetting of
Hesai’s corporate and legal structure and finances. Hesai’s IPO was
underwritten by two leading American investment banks, Goldman
Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and a leading European investment bank,
Credit Suisse (now part of UBS). The Company is audited by
Deloitte, one of the Big 4 accounting firms. Furthermore, two
leading American law firms have conducted extensive corporate and
legal due diligence on Hesai.
Hesai is transparently controlled by its
Founders, international board of directors, and senior management
team, with offices in China, the United States and Germany.
Pre-IPO, Hesai was owned by the three Founders, employees, leading
global private equity firms from Asia and the United States, and
leading private international strategic investors in the automotive
technology and TMT space from Europe and Asia.
Safe Harbor StatementThis
announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements
are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,”
“expects,” “anticipates,” “aims,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,”
“believes,” “estimates,” “confident,” “potential,” “continue” or
other similar expressions. Among other things, the business outlook
and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as the
Company’s strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking
statements. The Company may also make written or oral
forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), in its annual
report to shareholders, in press releases and other written
materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or
employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical
facts, including but not limited to statements about the Company’s
beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and
uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statement, including but not limited to the following: the
Company’s goals and strategies; the Company’s future business
development, financial condition and results of operations;
expected changes in the Company’s revenues, costs or expenditures;
the trends in, expected growth and the market size of the ADAS,
autonomous mobility and robotics industries; the market for and
adoption of lidar and related technology; the Company’s ability to
produce high-quality products with wide market acceptance; the
success of the Company’s customers in developing and
commercializing products using its solutions, and the market
acceptance of those products; the Company’s ability to introduce
new products that meet its customers’ requirement; the Company’s
expectations regarding the effectiveness of its marketing
initiatives and the relationship with its third-party partners;
competition in the Company’s industry; the Company’s ability to
recruit and retain qualified personnel; relevant government
policies and regulations relating to the Company’s industry; the
Company’s ability to protect its systems and infrastructures from
cyber-attacks; general economic and business conditions globally
and in China; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the
foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is
included in the Company’s filings with the SEC. All information
provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the
date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as
required under applicable law.
For investor and media inquiries, please
contact:
Hesai GroupYuanting “YT” Shi, Investor Relations
DirectorEmail: ir@hesaitech.com
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