When he was seventeen, George “geohot” Hotz became the first person to jailbreak an iPhone, back when Apple really didn’t take too kindly to such things. Three years later, he moved his unlocking efforts over to the PlayStation 3. Again, Sony wasn’t feeling it.
The young hacker has since joined forces with a number of high-profile tech corporations, first at Facebook, followed by a stint on Google’s security team. Early last year, he took things into his own hands once again with the launch of Comma.ai, an automotive technology startup designed to build upon the artificial intelligence technologies he’d designed to turn his 2016 Acura ILX into a DIY self-driving vehicle.
Back in April, geohot announced plans to bring his technologies to market through a retrofitting kit that would turn standard vehicles into self-drivers, with a sub-$1,000 price tag and a set of instructions that even non-mechanics can follow. “Ghost riding for the masses,” as he puts it.
Geohot will be joining us at TechCrunch Disrupt in SF this September to discuss the future of autonomous vehicles that has captured the imagination of everyone from Tesla to BMW to Apple, even as safety questions threaten to jeopardize its push toward the mainstream.
Early Bird tickets are available now. We hope you can make it out to the event this September.
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