Nvidia buys stake TuSimple to build autonomous truck
Summary
Earlier, the startup received an angel investment of 50 million yuan (US $ 7.43 million) from Sinas Wei Venture Capital along with Sequoia Capital, IDG Capital, Sinovation Ventures, Yunfeng Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.Through new funding Nvidia is now entering the Chinese market, while TuSimple is part of the AI program by Nvidia aiming to encourage collaboration and promote chip technology in the US, including the Drive PX 2 platform is AI computing for self-driving cars.A report by CB Insights research firm said as much as US $ 929 million was invested in autonomous vehicle technology in China in the first quarter of this year. The autonomous car sector is becoming one of the most popular businesses for startup investment.Nvidia has forged its own alliance with Audi, Toyota and Volvo and has a partnership with Chinas Internet giant Baidu in the open source platform in Project Apollo , artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and AIs home assistant.Co-founder and CEO of Tusimple, Jianan Hao, said Nvidias new funding for research, development and recruitment. The startup also has a research center in San Diego and has tested autonomous trucks in Arizona. The company plans to test its own propulsion truck on a Chinese highway next month.TuSimple was founded in 2015 which specializes in the development of level four automation which means fully autonomous trucks and can perform all essential driving functions and monitor road conditions during the entire trip.The company has developed machine vision technology, millimeter wave lidar, and three-dimensional high-resolution digital maps. TuSimple claims their technology allows single driver to lead several autonomous trucks at the same time.