Openpilot

openpilot
Original authorGeorge Hotz
Developercomma.ai
Release30 November 2016; 9 years ago (2016-11-30)
Stable release
0.11.0 (17 March 2026; 7 months ago (2026-03-17))
Written inPython, C++, C
Operating systemAGNOS, based on Ubuntu
PlatformQualcomm Snapdragon 845
StandardsISO 26262, MISRA C:2012
Available in10 languages
List of languages
Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Thai, Turkish
TypeComputer vision
LicenseMIT License
Websitecomma.ai
Repositorygithub.com/commaai/openpilot
Toyota Prius with openpilot installed
An old version of Cabana, a CAN Bus traffic visualiser, now part of openpilot tools
A user annotating a drive

Openpilot is an open-source, semi-automated driving software by comma.ai. When paired with aftermarket retrofit comma.ai hardware, it replaces advanced driver-assistance systems in vehicles. As of 2026, openpilot supports over 325 car models and has over 30,000 users, accumulating over 402,000,000 miles (647,000,000 km).

History

Comma.ai was founded in September 2015 by George Hotz. The first version of openpilot was revealed in December 2015, showing functionality on a 2016 Acura ILX. The video and article instigated a cease and desist letter from the California Department of Motor Vehicles, claiming comma.ai was testing a self-driving car without a license.

Comma.ai announced a device called the Comma One at TechCrunch Disrupt in September 2016. On October 27, 2016, NHTSA issued a special order to comma.ai demanding detailed information about the comma one, to determine if the device complies with legally required Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. After the order, comma.ai announced the cancellation of the comma one. Comma.ai open-sourced openpilot a month later, on November 30, 2016, emphasizing its intended use for research, without any warranty.

On January 7, 2020, comma.ai introduced the $999 "comma two" device at CES in Las Vegas. By October 2020, Comma.ai reported that openpilot had driven a total of 25 million miles. In November 2020, Consumer Reports ranked openpilot above all other advanced driver-assistance systems on the market.

Comma two running the openpilot software

By January 2023, 5,000 units of openpilot-supported Comma 3 devices were in use. In April 2024, a 2017 Toyota Prius equipped with a comma 3X unit running openpilot was used on a semi-autonomous Cannonball run record, involving a drive across the United States from the East Coast to the West Coast. The drive took 43 hours and 18 minutes at 98.4% autonomy.

In September 2026, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into comma.ai, citing five crashes that resulted in three deaths and eleven injuries.

Features

In contrast to traditional autonomous driving solutions where the perception, prediction, and planning units are separate "modules", openpilot adopts a system-level end-to-end design to predict the car's trajectory directly from the camera images. openpilot's end-to-end design is a neural network that is trained by comma.ai using real-world driving data uploaded by openpilot users.

Openpilot includes a "navigate on openpilot" akin to Tesla Full Self-Driving. Openpilot features include lane centering, adaptive cruise control, driver monitoring, and automatic lane change.

References

  1. ↑ "openpilot in 2021". 12 October 2021.
  2. ↑ "Comma.ai announces Comma Three hardware with OLED display and 360° view of the car". 3 August 2021.
  3. ↑ "Github - openpilot safety". GitHub.
  4. ↑ "Github - openpilot language support". GitHub.
  5. ↑ "openpilot 0.9.5". Comma.ai Blog. 17 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "openpilot 0.10.0". 21 August 2025.
  7. 1 2 Stumpf, Rob (2020-11-25). "Consumer Reports Ranks This Aftermarket Driver Assistance Kit Above Tesla Autopilot, Cadillac Super Cruise". The Drive. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  8. 1 2 Hall, Emme (2023-01-10). "George Hotz wants to "make driving chill" with next-gen Comma 3 hands-free driver assist". The Verge. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  9. 1 2 Gitlin, Jonathan M. (2026-09-23). "Aftermarket driver assist under federal probe following fatal crashes". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  10. ↑ "Comma.ai founder George Hotz wants to free humanity from the AI simulation". 2019-03-09. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  11. ↑ "The First Person to Hack the iPhone Built a Self-Driving Car. In His Garage:George Hotz is taking on Google and Tesla by himself". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01.
  12. ↑ Dillet, Romain; Etherington, Darrell (2016-09-13). "Comma.ai will ship a $999 autonomous driving add-on by the end of this year". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  13. 1 2 Geuss, Megan (2016-10-28). "George Hotz cancels self-driving car product after US regulator asks questions". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  14. ↑ "George Hotz is giving away the code behind his self-driving car project". The Verge. 30 November 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  15. ↑ Hall, Emme (2020-01-09). "We hit the road with Comma.ai's assisted-driving tech at CES 2020". Roadshow. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  16. ↑ Baldwin, Roberto (2020-01-13). "Comma Ai continues to impress with its aftermarket driver assistance tech". Engadget. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  17. ↑ Stumpf, Rob (2020-10-15). "We Tested OpenPilot, the $1,199 Device That Adds Entry-Level Autonomy to Your Car". The Drive. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  18. ↑ Dorr, Bryon (2024-05-08). "Prius Sets 'Autonomous' Cannonball Run Record With AI Driving Assistant". GearJunkie. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
  19. ↑ Chen, Li; Tang, Tutian; Cai, Zhitian; Li, Yang (2022-06-16). "Level 2 Autonomous Driving on a Single Device: Diving into the Devils of Openpilot". arXiv:2206.08176 [cs.CV].
  20. ↑ Agatie, Cristian (2023-07-31). "Geohot's Comma AI Launches Comma 3X ADAS Hardware With Support for Over 250 Car Models". AutoEvolution. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  21. ↑ Tucker, Jamey (2025-01-27). "Comma 3X and Openpilot make regular cars self-driving". WPSD Local 6. Retrieved 2026-10-14.
  22. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (January 7, 2020). "Comma.ai launches Comma Two, a $999 kit that imbues cars with assisted driving features". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2026-10-14.