PlusAI and the Traton Group are expanding their global partnership to speed commercialization of factory-built, on-highway autonomous trucks in the U.S. and Europe. It’s a move that includes up to $25 million in dedicated R&D funding and deeper strategic alignment as PlusAI prepares to go public.

The companies said Traton would provide the non-dilutive funding to accelerate factory integration of PlusAI’s SuperDrive virtual driver system across Traton brands, including Scania, MAN, and International.

As part of PlusAI’s planned public listing via a business combination with Churchill Capital Corp IX, TTraton also plans to nominate a representative to PlusAI’s initial board of directors.

Part of Traton’s Long-Term Technology Roadmap

In addition, Traton will be eligible to receive private warrants tied to initial deployment revenue milestones. This incentive structure, the companies said, is designed to align both parties around accelerating commercialization and scaling adoption.

“Autonomous trucking is a strategic pillar of Traton’s long-term technology roadmap,” said Niklas Klingenberg, member of the executive board responsible for R&D at Traton. “From day one of our collaboration, PlusAI’s technical capabilities and commercial execution have exceeded our expectations, giving us even greater confidence that we have chosen the right partner.”

The expanded partnership builds on the collaboration first announced in 2024. That’s when Traton selected PlusAI’s SuperDrive as its on-highway autonomous driving platform across multiple brands.

Since then, the companies have worked through a series of technical and operational milestones aimed at delivering Level 4 autonomous trucking capabilities.

Among the most notable steps in 2025: International launched customer fleet trials in Texas along the I-35 corridor between Laredo and Dallas using next-generation tractors equipped with factory-installed sensors, compute, and the latest SuperDrive release.

The program includes active freight movements with what the companies described as one of North America’s largest logistics and fleet management providers.

Moving Toward Real-World Operations

PlusAI also pointed to driverless safety maneuver validation using International trucks equipped with SuperDrive. This includes autonomous fallback procedures and emergency maneuvers with no driver in the cab and no remote intervention. International and PlusAI are also leveraging Nvdia’s Drive AGX Hyperion platform to support Level 4 development and production-aligned compute architecture.

“Together with Traton, we’ve moved autonomy from the lab to factory integration and now to real-world operations,” said David Liu, CEO and co-founder of PlusAI. “We now have a common Level 4 software stack operating in Europe and the U.S., proven integration on truck platforms of Traton’s brands, successful driverless validation, and customer pilots underway.”

While a definitive agreement is still being negotiated and the terms remain subject to a non-binding agreement, Traton and PlusAI said the next phase of the partnership will focus on scaling on-highway operations in Texas, adding more fleet trials, and advancing toward a commercial launch of SuperDrive-enabled autonomous trucks.

The companies also said they plan to coordinate deployment planning across priority freight corridors and define routes and operational design domains for U.S. commercial service while laying the groundwork for expansion into key European markets.

Traton and PlusAI expect to provide more details during PlusAI’s Investor Day, currently planned for Jan. 28, 2026, with Traton management expected to participate alongside PlusAI and Churchill leadership.