For most people, the name George Hotz doesn't ring any bells. Unless of course you happen to own an iPhone or a PlayStation.

In 2007, at the age of 17, Hotz was the first person to succeed in unlocking an iPhone, allowing the device to be used with any carrier. He followed that up in 2009 by hacking the PlayStation 3, which led to a lawsuit by Sony.

Many of his famous hacks were done in order for people to have more control over their devices. Today, Hotz has turned his eye on self-driving cars. But never fear, his intentions are far more mainstream.

Hotz, now founder of Comma.ai, a Bay Area startup, wants people to circumvent the cost of today's self-driving cars by giving them the technology to do it themselves.

Last November, Hotz gave his technology for free, releasing an open-source, self-driving platform called Openpilot. He also released open-source plans for Neo, a smartphone-powered device which plugs into certain compatible models, and can control the car’s gas, brakes and steering, and navigate using Openpilot.

To show off the capabilities of Openpilot and in honor of Self Driving Car Awareness Week, Hotz and Comma.ai are travelling across the country on a self-driving road trip from San Francisco to Philadelphia. Along the way they will be stopping in various cities for meetings, presentations and to "hang out and show people the self-driving system."

And believe it or not, Sioux Falls is one of the stops. They will be at Billion Toyota on Wednesday (December 20) at 4101 W 12th Street from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.



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