WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense

Department removed lidar maker Hesai Group from a list

of companies allegedly working with Beijing's military, but will

immediately relist the China-based firm, according to a court

filing and two letters sent to Congress.

Hesai, whose lidars help self-driving cars and

driver-assistance systems gain a three-dimensional map of the

road, was added to the list by the U.S. Department of Defense in

January along with over a dozen other companies.

Hesai filed suit in May challenging the designation, saying

"no Chinese governmental or military entity has sought to exert

influence or control over the Hesai Group's management,

strategy, or research-and-development operation."

Hesai said it was majority owned by shareholders outside

China.

The Justice Department said late Wednesday in a court filing

the Pentagon had delisted Hesai on the basis of the original

grounds and now plans to relist the Chinese company "based on

the latest information available."

The Pentagon, which notified Congress of its decision in a

pair of letters, will formally publish notice of the return to

the list in the coming days.

While being placed on the list doesn't involve immediate

bans, it represents a warning to U.S. entities and companies

about the risks of conducting business with them.

Addition to the so-called 1260H list caused "serious

reputational injury, a significant drop in stock price, and lost

business opportunities," Hesai said, asking a U.S. district

court to order the government to remove it from the list.

A lawyer for Hesai and the Pentagon did not immediately

comment.

Some U.S. lawmakers previously raised concerns about the use

of AV technology such as lidar, radar and semiconductors when

made by Chinese firms, citing alleged risks of data on American

people collected and potentially shared with China.

The Biden administration last month proposed effectively

banning Chinese vehicles over concerns about connected vehicle

software and hardware.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Reuters

last year his agency had national security concerns about such

technologies and that there was a need to better understand "the

true ownership of the different enterprises that are supplying

different elements of our transportation systems."

(Reporting by David Shepardson

Editing by Chris Reese and Lincoln Feast.)