ISO 26262 Ed. 3 Draft Released for Public Comment — Key Changes Summarized

A draft of ISO 26262 Edition 3 has entered public comment phase. The draft includes expanded guidance for software-defined vehicles, clarifies ASIL decomposition rules for multi-core processors, and adds a new annex on AI/ML component safety argumentation.

ISO 26262 Ed. 3: What's in the Draft

The third edition of ISO 26262 is in public comment phase through July 2026. Here's what practitioners need to know before submitting feedback.

Software-defined vehicles: New guidance addresses OTA update safety argumentation — specifically how to handle runtime-modified safety-relevant parameters.

Multi-core ASIL decomposition: The draft clarifies long-standing ambiguity around ASIL decomposition on heterogeneous multi-core SoCs. Freedom from interference requirements are now more explicitly scoped.

AI/ML annex: A new informative annex covers safety argumentation strategies for ML-based perception components, citing ISO/TR 4804 and SOTIF (ISO 21448) as complementary references.

Comment deadline: July 15, 2026. National body submissions can be coordinated through SAE International for US practitioners.