Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up TuSimple has deployed autonomous trucks on commercial runs between Tucson and Phoenix in Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada, as the company prepares to expand its operations in the world’s two largest economies by next year. That trial program in the U.S., where its two trucks transport consumer goods at speeds of up to 104.6 kilometers per hour on their routes, is generating about USD6,600 a week in revenue and giving TuSimple a toehold in the vast U.S. freight market, said Chen Mo, the company’s Co-founder and Chief Executive. “Scaling up our operations boils down to two factors – capital and talent,” Chen said in an interview with the South China Morning Post at his office in Beijing.

He said TuSimple, which has more than 150 employees in China and the U.S., plans to gradually expand its autonomous truck fleet to a total of 500 units between the two markets, which would enable it to generate about CNY100 million in revenue from next year. The company, which has generated USD83 million in funding since it was founded in 2015, is now working on a new round of financing, the amount of which it has not been disclosed.

TuSimple’s expansion plans underscore China’s efforts to gain leadership in developing next-generation vehicles with autonomous driving technology. Various Chinese hi-tech firms are looking to develop so-called level-four autonomous driving trucks and cars. That means these vehicles should be able to slow down, pull over or park at a safe spot if a human driver does not take control when requested, according to industry guidelines set by the Society of Automotive Engineers. But the U.S.-China trade war has heightened security concerns over Chinese hi-tech companies doing business in the U.S.

TuSimple’s Chen, however, sees plenty of opportunity in the U.S., “where logistics costs are more expensive and there is a shortage of 200,000 truck drivers”. “If we succeed, about 15 million truck drivers in China and the U.S. will be initially freed from their strenuous and dangerous work,” he said. TuSimple is competing against Tesla and Alphabet’s Waymo in developing level-four autonomous trucks for the transport and logistics industry.