San Diego-based self-driving truck company TuSimple shuts down U.S. operations, lays off 150 – San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego-based self-driving truck company TuSimple shuts down U.S. operations, lays off 150 – San Diego Union-Tribune
Author: Natallie Rocha
Published on: 2023-12-05 21:04:16
Source: Technology – San Diego Union-Tribune
Disclaimer:All rights are owned by the respective creators. No copyright infringement is intended.
It’s official: San Diego’s self-driving truck company, TuSimple, is shutting down its U.S. operations and laying off staff.
The embattled tech company reported back in June that it was looking for a buyer for its U.S. business so it could focus operations in Asia Pacific. However, no buyer emerged.
TuSimple, a public company developing technology for autonomous semi-trucks, announced the U.S. shutdown in a filing late Monday. That includes its headquarters in San Diego.
The shutdown comes after more than a year of controversy and multiple rounds of layoffs. Most notably, the company’s board fired CEO and co-founder Xiaodi Hou last year for sharing confidential information with a Chinese startup without proper disclosures.
TuSimple will cut its U.S. workforce by approximately 75 percent, or about 150 people, according to the filing. The reduction represents 19 percent of the company’s global staff and will leave approximately 700 full-time employees.
The remaining employees will help TuSimple sell its U.S. assets and shift its strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific market.
The restructuring plan will cost the firm an estimated $7 million to $8 million and it is expected to be substantially completed by the end of fiscal year 2024, according to the filing.
The company is cutting 95 jobs that report to its San Diego headquarters, according to TuSimple’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing. It is also cutting 42 jobs in Arizona, according to a WARN notice filed with the state Monday.
TuSimple did not comment on what will happen to its San Diego office at 9191 Towne Centre Drive, near Interstate 805 freeway and La Jolla Village Drive.
The company leases approximately 100,000 square feet of office space, including “approximately 20,000 square feet of office space subleased or being offered for sublease,” in San Diego according to the company’s most recent annual financial filing. It says those leases are set to expire in September 2027.
TuSimple was founded in 2015 and established operations in Texas and Arizona, as well as Europe and China. The company became the flag-bearer for the autonomous trucking industry among investors. It went public in 2021, raising $1 billion, with a $8.5 billion valuation.
Today, it is valued at less than one-sixteenth of that. TuSimple’s stock price has hovered under $3 per share this calendar year and closed Tuesday at $1.08 per share.
Earlier this year the company appealed a de-listing notice from the Nasdaq for not filing financial reports on time following the resignation of its auditor.
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