BEIJING, Dec 19 (Reuters) - TuSimple Holdings ( TSPH )

said on Thursday it would rebrand as CreateAI and pivot from

autonomous trucking to AI gaming technology, marking an attempt

by the once-prominent self-driving truck startup to make a

comeback.

CEO Cheng Lu told Reuters in an interview that the move into

gaming and animation technology represented a natural evolution

of the company's capabilities, though the transition comes after

two years of setbacks and regulatory challenges.

Founded in 2015, TuSimple ( TSPH ) attracted investments from Chinese

internet giant Sina Corp and global heavyweights such as Nvidia ( NVDA ),

Volkswagen and UPS. But the self-driving truck developer's

fortunes reversed in 2022 when U.S. regulators began probing its

Chinese connections, triggering boardroom disputes.

Early this year, the company said it had decided to delist

from Nasdaq, fewer than three years after raising $1.35 billion

in an April 2021 initial public offering.

Lu said management had in March proposed the AI gaming pivot

to the board, which approved the strategic shift. The company

cited third-party reports valuing the global gaming market at

$200 billion in 2023, according to a business plan document sent

to Reuters.

The rebranded CreateAI will focus on video game and anime

production and publishing, leveraging its newly developed

image-to-video AI model, Ruyi, for content development, the

business plan document shows.

The company has 270 employees globally, including research

and content production teams across China, Japan and the United

States.