TuSimple Develops Autonomous Domain Controller Using NVIDIA DRIVE Orin to Bring Level 4 Autonomous Trucking to Market at Scale

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TuSimple (Nasdaq: TSP), a global autonomous driving technology company, has expanded its ongoing partnership with NVIDIA to design and develop an advanced autonomous domain controller (ADC) specifically engineered for TuSimple's Level 4 autonomous trucking applications. The ADC design will incorporate the NVIDIA DRIVE Orin system-on-a-chip (SoC), which is specifically designed for AI-based autonomous driving applications. The collaboration with NVIDIA is intended to accelerate TuSimple's ability to put autonomous trucks on the Autonomous Freight Network (AFN) at scale with a production-ready computing solution capable of handling both the unique requirements and powerful computational needs of TuSimple's autonomous driving system (ADS).

The scalable NVIDIA DRIVE Orin SoC delivers 254 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of performance and is the central computer for intelligent vehicles—powering safe autonomous driving capabilities.

The ADC is an integral part of TuSimple's autonomous driving system and serves as an autonomous semi-truck's central compute unit that processes hundreds of TOPS, including mission-critical perception, planning, and actuation functions. As a result, TuSimple can expedite the development of a high-performance, automotive-grade, and scalable ADC that will be integrated into future autonomous truck production programs. This strategic vertical integration will give TuSimple more control over the ADC's capabilities and accelerate its development timeline.

"A high-performance, production-ready ADC is a critical piece to scaling our AFN, and we are taking a hands-on role to advance its development with the help of NVIDIA," said Cheng Lu, President, and CEO of TuSimple. "We believe this move provides us a significant competitive advantage in speeding time to market and further extending our industry leadership position."

TuSimple will leverage its proficiency in developing an advanced Level 4 ADS for semi-trucks, while NVIDIA will contribute its DRIVE Orin hardware and AI expertise based on its decades of experience designing cutting-edge accelerated computing platforms. TuSimple will own usage rights to the ADC reference design, including certain limited "first-use" provisions. TuSimple intends to work with third-party manufacturers for the production of the ADC.

"We have been strong advocates of TuSimple from the start, first as an NVIDIA Inception member back in 2017, and now as they continue to blaze trails in the autonomous trucking industry," said Gary Hicok, senior vice president of engineering at NVIDIA. "TuSimple is moving from development using NVIDIA GPUs to production based on DRIVE Orin -- this new powerful and scalable ADC solution will help move the entire autonomous trucking industry forward."

TuSimple launched the world's first Autonomous Freight Network in 2020 and today operates a fleet of more than 50 autonomous trucks between Arizona and Florida.     

About TuSimple
TuSimple is a global autonomous driving technology company headquartered in San Diego, California, with operations in Arizona, Texas, Europe, and China. Founded in 2015, TuSimple is developing a commercial-ready, fully autonomous (SAE Level 4) driving solution for long-haul heavy-duty trucks. TuSimple aims to transform the $4 trillion global truck freight industry through the company's leading AI technology, which makes it possible for trucks to see 1,000 meters away, operate nearly continuously and reduce fuel consumption by 10%+ relative to manually driven trucks. Visit us at www.tusimple.com

 Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking, including statements regarding TuSimple's business strategy and plans, the impact of autonomous trucks on the trucking industry, the expected efficiencies and savings from autonomous trucks, market opportunity and objectives of management for future operations. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "intend," "may," "might", "opportunity," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "strategy," "strive," "target," "will," or "would," the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. The absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections, and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many important factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to the fact that autonomous driving is an emerging technology and involves significant risks and uncertainties; TuSimple's business model is relatively new; unfavorable changes to, or TuSimple's failure to comply with, applicable government regulations, including those related to autonomous vehicles; TuSimple's ability to develop its Autonomous Freight Network and market, sell or lease purpose-built L4 autonomous semi-trucks could be harmed if TuSimple's L4 autonomous semi-trucks fail to perform as expected; TuSimple's ability to commercialize its offerings at scale; various other factors relating to TuSimple's business, operations and financial performance, including, but not limited to, the impact of the COVID-19. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described under the caption "Risk Factors" in our final prospectus dated April 14, 2021, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on April 16, 2021, and TuSimple's other filings with the SEC. These SEC filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and we assume no obligation and do not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. We do not give any assurance that we will achieve our expectations.

SOURCE TuSimple Holdings, Inc.