DEPLOYThe reference layer for physical AI

Company

Plus

Autonomous trucking technology company (formerly Plus.ai). Develops AI-powered self-driving software for long-haul freight trucks. Founded 2016 by four Stanford PhD graduates. Split US/China operations in 2023; US unit retains Plus brand. First cross-country autonomous freight delivery completed Dec 2019.

Based in Santa Clara, California, USA · Founded 2016 · 1 model on record

Track Plus

Machine-readable surfaces

Key facts

Product
PlusDrive autonomous trucking software (L2+ through L4) for long-haul freight
Founders
David Liu (CEO), Shawn Kerrigan (COO), Hao Zheng (CTO), Tim Daly (Chief Architect) — all Stanford PhDs, founded 2016
HQ
Santa Clara, California, USA
Patents
5 USPTO granted patents (autonomous speed/retarder control, trailer compensation, off-board perception, steering precision, event mitigation)
Funding
Series A $101.7M (2018, GSR Ventures); Series B $200M (2019); Series C $420M+ (2020-2021, CPE/FountainVest/ClearVue/Amazon); Corporate $287.5M (2025); total ~$1B+
Valuation
$8B (Feb 2021); SPAC attempts terminated (2021, 2026)
Partners
FAW Jiefang (China), Iveco, Hyundai, Scania/MAN/Navistar (TRATON), Bosch, Amazon (strategic investor + 1,000 unit order)
Split
US and China operations separated 2023; China unit became Zhijia Technology
Milestone
First cross-country autonomous freight delivery (CA to PA) Dec 2019
HQ
Santa Clara, California, USA
Founded
2016
Status
Private
Type
hardware
ID
a1510698-0cc5-4f5d-81de-3fbf81d29d13

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Models (1)

Current leadership (4)

  • David Liu Co-Founder and CEOsecondary-verified
  • Shawn Kerrigan Co-Founder and COOsecondary-verified
  • Hao Zheng Co-Founder and CTOsecondary-verified
  • Tim Daly Co-Founder and Chief Architectsecondary-verified

Founders (4)

Funding rounds (5)

  • Strategic Round2021-06-01
  • Series C Extension2021-03-01

    $220M(reported)

  • Series C2020-11-01

    $100M(reported)

  • Series B2019-08-01

    $200M(reported)

  • Series A2018-11-01

Patent estate (8)

Sources (2)

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plus_(autonomous_trucking)
  2. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210331005613/en/Self-Driving-Truck-Company-Plus-Upsizes-Recent-Fundraising-to-420-Million · 2021-03-31

Common questions

What is Plus?
Autonomous trucking technology company (formerly Plus.ai). Develops AI-powered self-driving software for long-haul freight trucks. Founded 2016 by four Stanford PhD graduates. Split US/China operations in 2023; US unit retains Plus brand. First cross-country autonomous freight delivery completed Dec 2019.
Where is Plus based?
Plus is based in Santa Clara, California, USA.
When was Plus founded?
Plus was founded in 2016.
What does Plus make?
Plus has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: Plus Flagship (Plus builds physical robots).
Where does Plus operate robots?
Plus is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.
Methodology: Unreviewed · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-06-07

Verification posture

Unreviewed

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-06-07

Sources by quality tier

1
knowledge-base
Knowledge base
1
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Plus.

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