TECHNOLOGISM WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS: China’s Grip on Maps Hinders Self-Driving Car Makers.

Self-driving cars need detailed maps to help them discern their exact location, navigate tricky intersections and avoid fixed objects like buildings. But China limits the amount of mapping that can be done by foreign companies, citing national security concerns.

Global car makers already need to partner with a local company to open factories in China, but some are skeptical they will be able to find a way to operate their autonomous-car software in China because of the mapping restrictions.

Brian McClendon, an industry pioneer who helped created Google Maps and later headed up Uber Technologies Inc.’s self-driving effort, said he doubted U.S. software would ever be adopted for self-driving cars in China.

“We’re going to have a bifurcated market for self-driving—China will do China and the U.S. will do U.S. and the rest of the world will quickly choose and do one or the other,” said Mr. McClendon, now a research professor at the University of Kansas.

I’m reminded a bit of the Soviet Union’s strict controls on fax machines and photocopiers — for all the good that did them — and have to wonder if anyone outside China will trust Beijing-approved technology.