Episode 239 | From TuSimple to Bot Auto: Xiaodi Hou's New Plan for Profitable Autonomous Trucking

Xiaodi Hou, Founder & CEO, Bot Auto joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss his plans for building and scaling a profitable autonomous trucking company.

In a revealing conversation Dr. Xiaodi candidly discusses his departure from TuSimple and the founding of Bot Auto, offering candid insights into lessons learned, decisions he made and why his new approach to building an autonomous trucking business is largely focused on profitability over rapid scaling.

Episode Chapters

0:00 What Happened at TuSimple

3:52 What if TuSimple Did Not Go Public

6:46 Decision Making

9:41 Bot Auto Business and Commercialization Strategy 

20:39 Bot Auto Cost Structure 

24:07 Making a Truck Autonomous and Going Driver-Out

30:18 Safety

33:11 Tesla FSD (Full Self-Driving)

37:08 Bot Auto Lanes

39:47 Small Teams

44:53 Commercial Operations Timeline

50:35 GPUs

52:17 Takeaway

Recorded on Monday, October 14, 2024

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