A self-driving trucking start-up unraveled amid boardroom battles and escalating U.S.-China tensions. Now, its founder is staking his future on an American revival.
Illustration by Sam Ward
When Hou Xiaodi founded the autonomous trucking company TuSimple ten years ago, he was optimistic about launching a U.S. tech firm with Chinese roots — and for good reason.
Hou Xiaodi, October 19, 2022. Credit: TechCrunch
Jack Ma had just celebrated Alibaba’s record $25 billion IPO on the floor of the New York stock exchange and had plans to expand his group’s U.S. presence. Chinese search engine Baidu had opened a $300 million AI research lab in Sunnyvale California, and companies l
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California-based Jupiter Systems sold high-tech wall screens to U.S. military and government clients. On June 14, The Wire China revealed how Jupiter was sold to a Chinese company in 2020 without the first Trump administration’s knowledge. Now Trump is back and on the case as Jupiter teeters on the verge of bankruptcy.
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