MAGA-aligned U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) criticized the $750 million deal made between ECARX, a London-based automotive intelligence company co-founded by Chinese billionaire Li Shufu, and U.S. company May Mobility of Ann Arbor, Michigan. May Mobility will receive thousands of autonomous vehicles (a.k.a. “robotaxis”) from ECARX.
[NOTE: Li is a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s political advisory board, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and is the founder of Geely, the second-largest private automobile manufacturer in China, which in 2010 bought Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Company for US$1.8 billion.]
What could go wrong by allowing Chinese companies to flood the US market with roving surveillance devices, controlled remotely by the CCP!?
My bill, the Connected Security Vehicle Act, can’t come soon enough! https://t.co/185TDWO3Cq
— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) May 19, 2026
Moreno responded to the deal on social media: “What could go wrong by allowing Chinese companies to flood the US market with roving surveillance devices, controlled remotely by the CCP!? My bill, the Connected Security Vehicle Act, can’t come soon enough!”
[NOTE: Moreno knows the car business: he once owned more than a dozen auto dealerships, mostly in the Cleveland, Ohio metropolitan area. In 2019, he sold many of them to focus on his blockchain-based tech company, Ownum.]
MAGA-aligned U.S. Congressman Pat Harrigan (R-NC) also disapproved of the deal. He wrote: “May Mobility just took $750M from a Chinese-backed firm to deploy robotaxis here. Autonomous vehicles collect real-time data on roads, routes, and movement patterns. We banned Huawei from our networks because of national security concerns. Autonomous vehicles backed by the CCP should get the same scrutiny.”
May Mobility just took $750M from a Chinese-backed firm to deploy robotaxis here. Autonomous vehicles collect real-time data on roads, routes, and movement patterns.
We banned Huawei from our networks because of national security concerns. Autonomous vehicles backed by the CCP… https://t.co/9nyBoYiO2i
— Congressman Pat Harrigan (@RepPatHarrigan) May 19, 2026
According to the joint press release: “ECARX is expected to develop and deliver up to thousands of autonomy-enabled vehicles, including customized central computing platforms and a full stack sensor suite, for May Mobility’s next-generation autonomy system.”
[NOTE: The sensor suite includes LiDAR, radar, cameras, and inertial measurement units (IMUs), which measure and report a body’s motion and are used in VR headsets, smartphones, and video game controllers including the Wii.]