Talk:TuSimple

Wiki Education assignment: WRIT 340 for Engineers - Spring 2023 - 66845

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 9 January 2023 and 28 April 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): DavidMorales101, Dmagie, Pdankwah, Vngelrojas (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by 1namesake1 (talk) 00:54, 22 March 2023 (UTC)

Edit request

I'd like to request some edits to improve the article, but won't edit myself because I have a conflict of interest. I will try to be as specific with my requests as possible, and welcome independent consideration of my requests.

1. I'd like to simplify the lead by moving most of the info into the body of the article. Info about partnerships, investigations, funding and leadership changes is fleeting, and are better suited in the body. I'd like to leave it with just the opening two sentences:

TuSimple Holdings, Inc. is an American autonomous trucking company, based in San Diego, California, with offices in Arizona, Texas, and China. It was founded in 2015 by Xiaodi Hou and Mo Chen. Done

2. To avoid breaking the code, the full ref code will need to be added to the <ref name=":2" /> ref tag following the July 2020 Navistar info in the partnerships section: <ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Somerville |first=Heather |title=WSJ News Exclusive {{!}} TuSimple Plans Layoffs That Could Cut at Least Half Its Workforce Next Week |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/tusimple-plans-layoffs-that-could-cut-at-least-half-its-workforce-next-week-11671245596 |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}</ref> Done

3. The accident in the "legal issues" section is part of "road testing", so it should be moved to the "road testing" section, after the first paragraph. I also added the company's reported statement that the NHTSA declined to open a separate probe, per WP:BALANCE.

On May 26, 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation of an April 6, 2022 accident in which one of the company's autonomous trucks crashed into a concrete barrier while on Interstate 10 near Tucson. Company officials blamed the accident on "human error," but former employees and experts in the field of autonomous vehicles suggest that there were issues with the company's technology. The investigation was closed in March of 2023 and did not result in penalties. The company issued a statement that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration declined to open a separate probe. Done

4. The financial info currently in the lead would be better suited in the "financial health" section. This would be the first paragraph in that section:

Initial financial backers included Volkswagen, United Parcel Services, and U.S. Xpress Enterprises. In April 2021, the company raised over US$1 billion in an initial public offering, leading to a valuation of almost $8.5 billion. The company was reportedly the first autonomous trucking company to go public on the NASDAQ composite index. Done

5. With only one item in the legal issues section, the section title could be promoted up one level so "illicit technology transfer" is at top. Then, the info moved from the lead can go into an expanded section paragraph. For WP:BALANCE, I added language clarifying that it was a member of the CFIUS panel that recommended criminal charges, not the full panel, and that the company issued a statement that it was unaware of any allegations of espionage, taken directly from independent third party media coverage. The second paragraph in that section would then look like this:

As of late 2022, TuSimple and its leadership were under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) on suspicions of illicit technology transfer to Hydron in China. In February 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that a member of the CFIUS panel recommended that the United States Department of Justice bring criminal charges of economic espionage against the management of TuSimple. At the time, a company spokeswoman denied being aware of any allegations of economic espionage against the company. Done

6. The last sentence of the "leadership changes" section isn't substantiated in any of the sources. The majority of Lu’s management team resigned from the company following his departure. It should be removed as WP:OR. Also, the "leadership changes" section says Hou was terminated, but doesn't say why. We can fill in the narrative gap by adding this sentence to the top of the second paragraph:

In October 2022, Hou was fired after an internal investigation related to a possible technology transfer to a Chinese company Hou started. Done

References

Fearlesschilli (talk) 23:46, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

@Fearlesschilli: I made the changes. It was a bit confusing moving things around, but I think I did it correctly. You can always ping me if I didn't. Emikey-34 (talk) 02:29, 20 May 2023 (UTC)

Edit Request

I have a few more edits to request. I'm pinging @Emikey-34: who was kind enough to help earlier.
1. Please remove the hyphen in the first sentence of the partnerships section so it correctly reads 100 mile, not 100-mile.  Done STEMinfo (talk) 19:55, 27 October 2023 (UTC)
2. Please add this information to the end of the last paragraph in the partnerships section.

Also in September, the company announced the launch of the autonomous freight network (AFN), with partners UPS, carrier U.S. Xpress, Penske Truck Leasing and McLane, the grocery and food service supply chain of Berkshire Hathaway.

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 19:55, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

3. Please add this paragraph to the end of the partnerships section:

In January 2022 at the Consumer Electronic Show,the company announced it was partnering with American chipmaker Nvidia to add Nvidia's Drive Orin system on a chip to its self-driving technology.

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 19:55, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

4. Please add this section to the top of the road testing section:

In December 2021, TuSimple announced that it had completed the world's first robotic semi test on a public road, an 80 mile run from Tucson to Phoenix.

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 19:55, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

5. In the third line of the second paragraph in the road testing section, please insert "of" so it says "The investigation was closed in March of 2023". That reads better.  Done STEMinfo (talk) 23:43, 27 October 2023 (UTC)
6. Please add these two paragraphs to the end of the road testing section:

In March 2023, it was reported that the company had completed 10 million combined testing, research, and freight delivery miles. In June 2023, TuSimple announced that it had completed a series of fully autonomous semi-truck runs on public roads in China. Also in June, the company announced it had completed self-driving truck tests in Japan, on Tōmei Expressway.

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 23:43, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

7. In the third paragraph of the financial health section that begins "In December 2022", please change the sentence to more accurately reflect the restructuring.

In December 2022, TuSimple announced a restructuring to focus more sharply on commercializing its newest technologies.

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 23:43, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

8. At the end of that paragraph, can you add the word dollars to change $11 million to $11 million dollars?  Not done Unnecessary. See CURRENCY STEMinfo (talk) 23:43, 27 October 2023 (UTC)
9. Please add these two paragraphs after the first paragraph of the technology section:

In April 2023, the company announced a proprietary central computer unit called the TuSimple Domain Controller (TDC), designed to act as an autonomous truck's central computer, managing sensor inputs, vehicle control and autonomous driving software. The TDC reportedly incorporated American technology company Nvidia's DRIVE Orin system-on-a-chip (SoC).

The company also operates the Autonomous Freight Network (AFN) that links four components: TuSimple's self-driving trucks, digital mapped routes, freight terminals and a system for monitoring autonomous trucks tracking shipments in real-time.

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 23:43, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

10. Can you revise the second sentence of the illicit technology transfer paragraph to change the awkward phrasing?

−

As of late 2022, certain TuSimple leaders were under investigation by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI)

+

As of late 2022, TuSimple and its leadership were under investigation by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI)

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 23:43, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

11. Please also shorten and simplify this phrasing at the end of the same paragraph:

−

...''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' reported that a member of the CFIUS panel recommended that the United States Department of Justice bring criminal charges of [[economic espionage]] based on concerns regarding the activities of the two founders and the CEO of TuSimple.

+

...''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' reported that a member of the CFIUS panel recommended that the United States Department of Justice bring criminal charges of [[economic espionage]] against the management of TuSimple.

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 23:43, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

Thank you for your help. Autonomyfan1981 (talk) 19:35, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

References

Autonomyfan1981 (talk) 19:35, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

All done except for #8. Content and sources match. STEMinfo (talk) 23:43, 27 October 2023 (UTC)