An automotive technology startup named IQ.Lvbs has alleged that its proprietary driving model, NovaSpark, was targeted by a series of cyber attacks originating from an IP address registered to Comma.ai Inc.

According to a blog post published by IQ.Lvbs, the incidents occurred between October 7 and 14, during which the company reported repeated attempts to extract its driving model, access user devices and private driving files, and compromise its sign-in system. The company stated that the initial requests were traced to an IP address assigned to Comma.ai Inc.

The alleged intrusion coincided with IQ.Lvbs' introduction of NovaSpark, a private beta model for its IQ.Pilot application, which was launched on October 3 within the Comma.ai Discord channel. The startup chose this platform for distribution because NovaSpark relies on Comma.ai's camera hardware designed for self-driving vehicles.

Following the reported attacks, IQ.Lvbs claimed that its team was subsequently banned from the Comma.ai Discord channel. Members of the IQ.Pilot Discord community also reported being excluded from the channel around the same time.

One of IQ.Lvbs' three team members, a UI/UX designer who identified only as "Cat," suggested to The Register that the incident may stem from competitive concerns. "Our model, NovaSpark, is a significant advancement over Comma's current offerings, which directly challenges their business model of selling hardware reliant on AI models that are no longer advancing at the same pace," the designer stated. "This stagnation appears to have motivated our development of NovaSpark."

An October 7, 2026, Discord message attributed to Harald Schäfer, Comma.ai's Chief Technology Officer, referenced NovaSpark in a manner interpreted by IQ.Lvbs as implying the model was derived from Comma.ai's Rebellious Hope project. The message read: "I’m glad people are training models and experimenting with this stuff. But don’t lie to people about what you’re doing, and saying it’s not a finetune of existing comma models when it is. That’s not cool."

IQ.Lvbs contested this characterization, asserting that NovaSpark was developed independently and that the claim of derivation did not withstand technical scrutiny. The company noted that Comma.ai does not possess NovaSpark's model weights or ONNX format files, making direct comparison implausible.

In technical logs shared to support its allegations, IQ.Lvbs identified the username "haraschax" as being associated with IP addresses linked to Comma.ai. Schäfer is known to use this username on GitHub.

Comma.ai and Schäfer have not responded to multiple requests for comment sent to various contact addresses. A direct message sent to the Discord user "Torq_boi" in the Comma.ai channel also went unanswered.

Comma.ai is currently under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding its autonomous driving technology, specifically in relation to five crashes and three fatalities. IQ.Lvbs has indicated it is evaluating legal options in response to the alleged intrusion, with a representative stating, "We are currently reviewing our legal options and looking into involving the authorities."

The situation remains under active scrutiny, with both technical and legal dimensions under consideration.