TuSimple explores withdrawal from U.S. autonomous truck market
California company could take self-driving trucking products to Chinese buyers, following successful tests
The autonomous driving technology vendor TuSimple is “exploring strategic alternatives” for selling off its U.S. operations and expanding its self-driving truck business in China, the company said Thursday.
The decision comes a month after TuSimple’s stock was de-listed from trading on the NASDAQ exchange as a consequence of failing to file certain financial forms. The company had also released its CEO in 2022 while weathering accusations of sharing its technology with a Chinese business.
Despite those corporate troubles, TuSimple has taken several strides toward growing business success abroad in recent weeks.
On June 8, the company said it had gained a fully driverless test license awarded by Pudong New Area of Shanghai, allowing it to conduct SAE Level 4 fully autonomous “driver out” testing. TuSimple China has accumulated test mileage of over 373,000 miles and achieved zero incidents and road violations in that nation.
Just a week later, TuSimple announced it had completed China's first fully autonomous semi-truck run on open public roads without a human in the vehicle and without human intervention. The autonomous vehicle drove a 38-mile course on the designated public roads approved by the Shanghai government, including Yangshan Deep-water Port Logistics Park and Donghai Bridge.
According to TuSimple, its autonomous truck navigated complex road and weather conditions in both urban and highway environments within the port area, including traffic signals, on-ramps, off-ramps, lane changes, emergency lane vehicles, partial lane closures, fog, and crosswinds. The run was operated by TuSimple China's “Autonomous Driving System” platform without a human on-board, without remote human control of the vehicle, and without traffic intervention, the company said.