SAN FRANCISCO, May 13 (Reuters) - China-based Hesai

Group sued the U.S. government on Monday for adding the

maker of lidar light sensors to a list of companies allegedly

working with Beijing's military.

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.

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.

"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 in

the lawsuit, adding it was majority owned by shareholders

outside China.

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

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

business opportunities," it said, asking a U.S. district court

to order the government to remove Hesai from the list.

The U.S. defense department did not immediately respond to

requests for comment outside regular business hours.

In Monday's lawsuit, Hesai, listed in New York since early

last year, said the department "afforded no warning, no

explanation, and no opportunity to defend itself prior to the

listing."

The government had not provided any substantive response to

its requests for removal or efforts to resolve the issue out of

court, it said, adding that it designed and makes products only

for commercial and civilian uses.

Some U.S. lawmakers have 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.

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."