{"id":"09f2d59b-bded-431b-86c9-340a4177df30","name":"Bot Auto","slug":"bot-auto","description":"American autonomous-trucking startup (founded 2023 in Houston by Xiaodi Hou, a TuSimple co-founder and former CTO/CEO). In April 2026 it ran what it calls America's first fully humanless (no in-cab observer, no remote operator) commercial over-the-road truckload, a paid freight delivery from Houston to Dallas. It retrofits Freightliner Cascadia tractors and operates as its own motor carrier. Privately held (about $40M raised).","status":"private","founded":2023,"hq":"Houston, Texas, USA","fundingTotal":null,"type":"both","reviewStatus":"reviewed","sources":[{"url":"https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/02/tusimple-founder-xiaodi-hou-is-back-with-a-new-autonomous-truck-startup/","title":"TuSimple founder Xiaodi Hou returns with a new autonomous-truck startup (Bot Auto) (Oct 2, 2024)","sourceName":"TechCrunch"},{"url":"https://www.truckinginfo.com/news/tusimple-co-founder-launches-new-bot-auto-autonomous-trucking-venture","title":"TuSimple co-founder launches the Bot Auto autonomous-trucking venture (Oct 2024)","sourceName":"Heavy Duty Trucking"},{"url":"https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bot-auto-and-the-return-of-xiaodi-hou","title":"Bot Auto and the return of Xiaodi Hou to autonomous trucking (Oct 2024)","sourceName":"FreightWaves"},{"url":"https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/tusimple-bot-auto/","title":"From TuSimple to Bot Auto: Xiaodi Hou's plan for profitable autonomous trucking (2024)","sourceName":"The Road to Autonomy"},{"url":"https://www.ttnews.com/articles/hou-scores-legal-victory","title":"Former TuSimple CEO Hou scores a legal victory against the company (2024)","sourceName":"Transport Topics"},{"url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bot-auto-achieves-insurance-milestone-paving-the-way-for-commercial-driverless-freight-operations-302611546.html","title":"Bot Auto achieves an insurance milestone for commercial driverless freight (2025)","sourceName":"Bot Auto (PR Newswire)"},{"url":"https://bot.auto/press/houston-we-don-t-have-a-problem-bot-auto-delivers-america%E2%80%99s-first-fully-humanless-commercial-truckload","title":"Bot Auto delivers America's first fully humanless commercial truckload (Apr 30, 2026)","sourceName":"Bot Auto (official)"},{"url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/houston-we-dont-have-a-problem-bot-auto-delivers-americas-first-fully-humanless-commercial-truckload-302757935.html","title":"Bot Auto delivers America's first fully humanless commercial truckload (Apr 30, 2026)","sourceName":"Bot Auto (PR Newswire)"},{"url":"https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bot-auto-first-humanless-commercial-truckload","title":"Bot Auto achieves its first humanless commercial run (Houston-Dallas) (Apr 30, 2026)","sourceName":"FreightWaves"},{"url":"https://www.axios.com/2026/04/30/bot-auto-delivers-first-freight-load-with-no-one-in-the-cab","title":"Bot Auto delivers a first freight load with no one in the cab (Apr 30, 2026)","sourceName":"Axios"},{"url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/top-20-broker-ryan-transportation-partners-with-bot-auto-for-full-driverless-operations-in-texas-302696328.html","title":"Ryan Transportation partners with Bot Auto for driverless operations in Texas (2026)","sourceName":"Bot Auto / Ryan Transportation (PR Newswire)"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Founded","value":"2023, Houston, by Xiaodi Hou (TuSimple co-founder, former CTO/CEO)"},{"label":"Funding / scale","value":"Private; ~$40M raised; ~12 tractors, ~80 employees, 25+ contracted customers"},{"label":"Milestone","value":"America's first fully humanless commercial OTR truckload (Houston-Dallas, Apr 29 2026; no observer, no remote operator; paid freight). Sustained recurring service is claimed but not yet independently verified."},{"label":"Platform","value":"Retrofits Freightliner Cascadia tractors; operates as its own motor carrier"},{"label":"Autonomy","value":"Transformer-based 'foundation-to-all' end-to-end L4 stack; no separate product brand name"}],"aliases":["Bot Auto Inc","bot.auto"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"createdAt":"2026-05-31T05:24:51.590Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-31T05:24:51.590Z"}