AUTOMOTIVE: Software Is a Work in Progress; Ultimate Goal Is Self-Driving Car
SAN DIEGO – Representatives of Old Town-based Comma.ai brought the latest iteration of their assisted driving device, comma four, to CES in Las Vegas earlier this month to show to the wider world.
The appearance at the big consumer electronics show came on the heels of a kickoff event, dubbed COMMA_CON 2025, in November at San Diego’s Julep Venue. “Make Driving Chill” was the tagline for the event.
With the appearances, the Old Town business renewed its push to let ordinary drivers put assisted driving tech on their late-model cars, using the company’s aftermarket products.
The hardware and software (dubbed openpilot) are compatible with more than 325 models from 27 brands, from Acura to Volkswagen. As the name implies, the software is open sourced; Comma.ai says more than 1,000 contributors have put their work into the software.
The business also says drivers have logged more than 300 million miles using the software.
In the parlance of autonomous vehicles, Comma.ai’s product offers Level 2 driving assistance, with features such as adaptive cruise control and automated lane centering.
The company goal, however, is to “solve self-driving cars.”
Federal guidelines state that under Level 2, the driver is fully responsible for driving the vehicle while the system provides continuous assistance with acceleration, braking and steering. Comma.ai’s product records video and also keeps an eye on the human driver, alerting that person when distracted or asleep.
The business says its product can drive for hours without intervention.
In mid-2025, Comma.ai founder George Hotz said the firm was valued at $1 billion.
Comma.ai was founded in 2016 and made headlines in 2019 when it relocated from the San Francisco Bay Area to San Diego. The business received early funding from VC giant Andreessen Horowitz. The company’s last filing with securities regulators, in November 2021, recorded the sale of slightly less than $10 million of equity to seven investors, who were not named.
Comma.ai did not respond to inquiries from the San Diego Business Journal, though videos posted by the company, including a seven-hour presentation from COMMA_CON, offer a glimpse into the company and its products.
The new comma four sells for $999. The device incorporates a Snapdragon 845 MAX chip from San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM). The 845 MAX chip is several years old and was top of the line when released in Samsung’s Galaxy S9 smartphone.
The electronics on comma four are much smaller than those of their predecessor – specifically, one-fifth the size.
Comma.ai’s Old Town offices also double as a factory, where employees start with printed circuit boards and methodically add electronic components. The process includes inspection and stress testing prior to fulfillment. It all takes place in San Diego.
The business says its factory includes new dual smartphone-grade surface mount technology lines, featuring stencil and jet printing, vapor phase reflow, and 3-D automated inspection.
“Comma is a profitable consumer electronics business,” the organization says on its website. “For every dollar we make, half goes to building comma fours and half goes to engineering to improve the product.”
The business says it is not looking for additional funding – but it is looking for good employees, and not necessarily ones with college degrees. The bar is high, however.
Prospective employees are asked to solve complex computer engineering challenges posted to its main website and its GitHub software development site.
Comma.ai lists 25 employees split among its autonomy, product and operations teams.
Among the job openings posted on its website is a pick-and-place machinery operator for its circuit board production line. It is also advertising for a supply chain engineer, preferably with Chinese language skills.
The goal of all this, the company says, is incremental progress.
“We will win by continuing to ship a better product and better driving to our users,” the business says. “No hype, just shipping constant incremental progress until your comma reliably drives you to Taco Bell.”
Comma.ai
FOUNDED: 2016
FOUNDER: George Hotz
HEADQUARTERS: Old Town
BUSINESS: Maker of assisted driving technology which can be applied to several makes and models of cars
EMPLOYEES: 25, according to its website
FUNDING: Andreessen Horowitz led a $3.1 million investment in the company in 2016; the business claimed a $1 billion valuation in 2025
WEBSITE: comma.ai
CONTACT: [email protected]
NOTABLE: Comma.ai’s technology is sold on the aftermarket
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