Citing national security concerns, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is asking the Department of Justice to investigate TuSimple, an autonomous trucking company that ended U.S. operations in 2023.
In a recent letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Hawley asked for an investigation into TuSimple’s potential violations of U.S. export controls, unauthorized transfers of sensitive technology to the People’s Republic of China and any associated breaches of national security.
“According to recent investigative reports, TuSimple systematically shared proprietary data, source code and autonomous driving technologies with Chinese state-linked entities, in blatant disregard of a 2022 national security agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States,” Hawley wrote. “These reports also revealed communications from TuSimple personnel inside China requesting the shipment of sensitive Nvidia AI chips and detailed records showing “deep and longstanding ties” with Chinese military-affiliated manufacturers. To date, TuSimple has not faced serious consequences for sharing American intellectual property with China.”
TuSimple launched in 2015 and soon became one of the leaders in trying to make autonomous trucks a reality. In 2022, the company announced that it completed a “driverless truck run” on an 80-mile stretch in Arizona. Although the deployment was heavily controlled by the Arizona Department of Transportation, TuSimple said the trip was completed without human intervention.
However, hard times struck fast for the company. In April 2022, one of TuSimple’s autonomous trucks was involved in a crash near Tucson, Ariz. Later that same year, The Wall Street Journal reported that the there was a federal investigation looking into espionage charges against TuSimple and its founders. In December 2023, the company began dismantling its U.S. operations as it planned to move its business to China. This past August, TuSimple reached a $189 million settlement in a lawsuit that accused the company of misrepresenting the capabilities of its self-driving trucks.
Hawley said that any violations regarding technology breaches should be investigated.
“If the reports about TuSimple are accurate, they represent not just a violation of export law, but a breach of national trust and a direct threat to American technological leadership,” Hawley wrote in the letter. “The American people deserve to know how and why a supposedly U.S.-based company was allowed to serve as a conduit for the transfer of sensitive innovations to the Chinese Communist Party. I urge the department to act swiftly and without hesitation. Any individual or entity found to have violated our laws must be held fully accountable.”
This past October, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association raised concerns about TuSimple and the lack of transparency involving autonomous vehicles as part of comments to the Department of Commerce about connected vehicle technology.
“The current lack of data transparency for AV developers makes it challenging for the public to assess such safety performance,” OOIDA wrote. “However, more rigorous financial disclosure reporting requirements show that some autonomous trucking companies are partners with foreign suppliers. We are aware of one major autonomous trucking business that is no longer operational in the U.S. that held extensive ties to China.” LL
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