Autonomous truck company TuSimple has officially announced its withdrawal from the United States as part of a new restructuring plan, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The publicly traded company intends to reduce its U.S. workforce by 75%, or approximately 150 employees, leaving around 700 full-time employees globally.
The restructuring plan includes winding down U.S. operations, selling U.S. assets, and focusing on the company’s strategic shift to the Asia-Pacific region. TuSimple anticipates incurring one-time charges between $7 million and $8 million for employee severance payments and benefits fulfillment. The plan is expected to be executed by the end of the fiscal year 2024.
Founded in 2015, TuSimple initially gained prominence in the autonomous truck landscape, developing onboard software for solutions ranging from Level 2+ to Level 4 autonomy. By 2017, the company began testing its TuSimple Autonomous Driving System in Arizona and later engaged in hub-to-hub autonomous hauling in Tucson in 2018. A significant partnership with Navistar and ZF in 2020 underscored TuSimple’s trajectory.
However, challenges emerged, including a dramatic fall in the company’s share price after filing for an IPO in 2021, internal divisions, scrutiny over Chinese funding, and the threat of delisting from Nasdaq. The deal with Navistar was terminated in December 2022, followed by layoffs and a second restructuring in May 2023, where CEO Cheng Lu cited global economic factors and reduced capital availability in the self-driving industry.
TuSimple acknowledged its evaluation of strategic alternatives for its U.S. business in July 2023, indicating a potential sale. The company will now focus on operations in Japan and China, where it has accelerated testing. TuSimple’s decision to exit the U.S. follows the industry trend, with the demise of Embark earlier in the year, acquired by Applied Intuition after significant layoffs.
