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Aurora Innovation, Inc.
Aurora
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: AUR
IndustrySelf-driving car
Founded2017; 7 years ago (2017)
Founders
Headquarters
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Mountain View, California
,
U.S.
Key people
RevenueDecrease US$68 million (2022)
Decrease US$−1.723 billion (2022)
Total assetsDecrease US$2.001 billion (2022)
Total equityDecrease US$1.784 billion (2022)
OwnerUber (26%)
Number of employees
1,700 (2022)
Websiteaurora.tech
Footnotes / references
[1]

Aurora Innovation, Inc., doing business as Aurora, is a self-driving vehicle technology company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] Aurora has developed the Aurora Driver, a computer system that can be integrated into cars for autonomous driving. Aurora was co-founded by Chris Urmson, the former chief technology officer of Google/Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving team, which became known as Waymo,[2][3] as well as by Sterling Anderson, former head of Tesla Autopilot, and Drew Bagnell, former head of Uber's autonomy and perception team.[4][5][6]

Aurora tests its vehicles in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pittsburgh, and Dallas. In addition to its headquarters in Pittsburgh and Mountain View, the company also has offices in San Francisco, Bozeman, Montana, and Texas.[7][8]

History

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Aurora was founded in 2017 by Chris Urmson, the former chief technology officer of Google/Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving team, which became known as Waymo.[2][3][9] Previously, Urmson was a member of Carnegie Mellon's Red Team, which competed in DARPA's Grand Challenges for autonomous vehicles.[10][11][12] His two co-founders are Sterling Anderson, former head of Tesla Autopilot, and Drew Bagnell, former head of Uber's autonomy and perception team.[2][5][4]

In January 2018, Aurora signed deals with Volkswagen and Hyundai to develop self-driving software for commercial vehicles.[13] Also in January 2018, at CES 2018, Nvidia partnered with Aurora to provide hardware for Aurora's self-driving systems.[14][15][16]

In October 2018, Aurora became the first self-driving vehicle company authorized to test its vehicles in Pennsylvania.[17]

In January 2019, the company raised financing at a $2 billion valuation.[18]

In May 2019, Aurora acquired Blackmore, a Bozeman, Montana-based company focusing on Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) lidar.[19][20][21] In June 2019, Aurora announced a partnership with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to develop self-driving technology in commercial vans.[21] As a result of this partnership, the company was able to acquire Chrysler Pacifica minivans for its fleet of test vehicles.[22][23] In June 2019, Volkswagen also announced they would be ending their partnership with Aurora.[24]

Aurora expanded its operations to Texas in June 2020, bringing a fleet of test vehicles into the Dallas-Fort Worth area.[22] In July 2020, Aurora debuted its own long-range lidar system called "FirstLight."[25]

In September 2020, the company moved its headquarters to the Strip District.[26][27]

In December 2020, Aurora acquired Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), Uber's self-driving unit. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi subsequently joined Aurora's board of directors. Uber also invested $400 million in Aurora and took a 26% ownership stake in the company.[28][29]

In January 2021, Aurora partnered with Paccar to develop its first commercial product, a driverless truck. Their technology will be paired with Paccar's Peterbilt 579 and Kenworth T680 semi-trucks.[30][31][32][33]

In February 2021, Aurora partnered with Toyota and Denso to develop self-driving taxis.[34][35][36][37]

In March 2021, Aurora acquired 5D lidar company OURS Technology, a silicon photonics startup.[38][39] Also in March, Aurora announced it was partnering with Volvo Group to develop driverless trucks. Of the three largest truck manufacturers, Aurora has partnered with two; the third, Daimler, had previously announced it was partnering with Waymo for self-driving technology.[40]

In November 2021, the company became a public company via a merger with Reinvent Technology Partners Y, a special-purpose acquisition company set up by Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus which provided $2 billion in additional funding.[41][42][43]

In March 2022, Aurora unveiled its test fleet of autonomous Toyota Sienna robotaxi.[44] Following this, In May 2022, Aurora announced the development of the Aurora Beacon platform. The platform is a cloud-based mission control system designed for customers to optimise operations of autonomous vehicles via real time metrics such as status, location, and health of vehicles.[45]

In May 2022, Aurora announced the expansion of the organization's self-driving freight pilot with FedEx. The expansion is to include service from Fort Worth to El Paso, Texas. The new route challenged the company for its longest freight truck journey of about 600 miles, in which they will operate on a weekly basis. As of May, Aurora and FedEx have completed a total of 60,000 miles with zero safety incidents, according to the company.[46]

In March 2023, Aurora had 28 Class 8 self-driving trucks that run on public roads and are used with safety backup drivers.[47] Aurora issued a joint application along with Waymo to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The companies requested a five-year exemption from rules that require drivers to place reflective triangles or a flare around a stopped tractor-trailer truck, to alert other drivers. Waymo and Aurora instead want to use warning beacons mounted on the truck cab, to avoid needing human drivers.[48]

In May 2023, Aurora was featured in Barack Obama's Netflix docuseries Working: What We Do All Day.[49]

Products

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The company developed the Aurora Driver, a system that consists of sensors, software, and hardware. It can be installed in passenger or commercial automobiles, converting them into self-driving vehicles.[50][51][52] The Aurora Driver's software uses data from its sensors to devise a safe path through a given route, while its computer powers these components and integrates them with the vehicle.[52] The system's sensors use Aurora's FirstLight lidar, which was developed from Blackmore's FMCW lidar technology.[25][53] The first vehicle to be outfitted with the Aurora Driver was the Toyota Sienna.[54]

Conventional lidar uses pulses of light to acquire information about objects surrounding the sensor, including distance and velocity.[55] In contrast, FMCW lidar uses a low-powered continuous beam of light, enabling faster acquisition of distance, velocity, and acceleration of surrounding objects, but often requires bulky mirrors and rangefinders. By acquiring OURS, Aurora hopes to reduce the size of the FMCW lidar hardware.[56] Aurora plans to release the next generation of Aurora Driver, named "Fusion", in 2023.[55]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Aurora Innovation, Inc. 2022 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. ^ a b c Bhuiyan, Johana (December 6, 2017). "Chris Urmson is developing the brains for self-driving cars". Vox.
  3. ^ a b Kelly, Heather (August 5, 2016). "Google loses lead self-driving car engineer Chris Urmson". CNN.
  4. ^ a b "Shaken by hype, self-driving leaders adopt new strategy: Shutting up". The Washington Post. October 18, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Bhuiyan, Johana (December 12, 2016). "Uber has lost three of its top self-driving engineers". Vox.
  6. ^ Krisher, Tom (April 29, 2024). "Tractor-trailers with no one aboard? The future is near for self-driving trucks on US roads". Associated Press.
  7. ^ "Aurora Innovation to acquire Uber's self-driving vehicle unit". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  8. ^ "Aurora expands to Texas in bid to ramp up self-driving truck efforts". 20 July 2020.
  9. ^ Lee, Timothy B. (April 16, 2021). "Google veteran pans Tesla Autopilot: "We were doing better in 2010"". Ars Technica.
  10. ^ "Full Page Reload". IEEE Spectrum. 19 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Driven to Innovate - Carnegie Mellon University | CMU". www.cmu.edu.
  12. ^ "Aurora Is Not Building Autonomous Cars, It's Building Safe Drivers". PCMAG.
  13. ^ Davies, Alex. "America's Hottest Self-Driving Car Startup Just Joined Forces with VW and Hyundai". Wired.
  14. ^ MURRAY, ALAN; HUDDLESTON JR., TOM (January 8, 2018). "AI Takes Center Stage at CES: CEO Daily for January 8, 2018". Fortune.
  15. ^ Etherington, Darrell (January 7, 2018). "Self-driving startup Aurora will work with Nvidia on autonomous driving". TechCrunch.
  16. ^ Korosec, Kirsten (January 8, 2018). "Aurora and Nvidia Are Teaming Up to Build Next Gen Self-Driving Cars". Fortune.
  17. ^ Korosec, Kirsten (October 10, 2018). "Self-driving car startup Aurora becomes Pennsylvania's first 'authorized' tester". TechCrunch.
  18. ^ Clark, Kate (January 8, 2019). "Report: Self-driving car startup Aurora is raising capital at a $2B valuation". TechCrunch.
  19. ^ "Self-driving car startup Aurora acquires Blackmore for Doppler lidar tech". The Robot Report. May 25, 2019.
  20. ^ "Fresh off a $530M round, Aurora acquires lidar startup Blackmore". 23 May 2019.
  21. ^ a b "Aurora's latest acquisition would bolster capability to build lidar sensors at scale". Automotive News. February 26, 2021.
  22. ^ a b Hawkins, Andrew J. (July 20, 2020). "Aurora will test its fleet of self-driving cars and semi trucks in Texas". The Verge.
  23. ^ "FCA partners with Aurora on self-driving tech". Automotive News. June 10, 2019.
  24. ^ Kolodny, Emma; Lora, Newburger (June 11, 2019). "Volkswagen concludes partnership with self-driving start-up Aurora, in talks with Ford". CNBC.
  25. ^ a b "Self-Driving Startup Aurora Debuts its New Long-Range Lidar Called 'FirstLight'". www.futurecar.com.
  26. ^ "Autonomous vehicle firm Aurora gears up for move to the Strip District". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 17, 2020.
  27. ^ Schooley, Tim (September 17, 2020). "Aurora announces local headquarters move to the Strip District". American City Business Journals.
  28. ^ Bursztynsky, Jessica (December 7, 2020). "Uber sells its self-driving unit to Aurora". CNBC.
  29. ^ Metz, Cade; Conger, Kate (December 7, 2020). "Uber, After Years of Trying, Is Handing Off Its Self-Driving Car Project". The New York Times.
  30. ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (January 19, 2021). "Aurora gets self-driving heavy truck deal as it wraps up buy of Uber unit". American City Business Journals.
  31. ^ Wiggers, Kyle (January 19, 2021). "Aurora partners with Paccar to develop driverless trucks". VentureBeat.
  32. ^ Hyatt, Kyle. "Self-driving startup Aurora partners with heavy truck company Paccar". Roadshow.
  33. ^ Smith, Jennifer (January 19, 2021). "Paccar, Aurora to Develop Self-Driving Big Rigs". The Wall Street Journal.
  34. ^ Hawkins, Andrew J. (February 9, 2021). "Toyota teams up with Aurora and Denso on robotaxi development". The Verge.
  35. ^ "Toyota, Denso team with Aurora on self-driving cars for Uber, others". Business Insider. Reuters. February 2021.
  36. ^ BIGELOW, PETE (February 9, 2021). "Toyota, Denso form robotaxi partnership with Aurora". Automotive News.
  37. ^ Lee, Timothy B. (February 9, 2021). "Months after buying Uber self-driving project, Aurora signs Toyota deal". Ars Technica.
  38. ^ "Aurora acquires 5D LiDAR startup OURS Technology". The Robot Report. March 1, 2021.
  39. ^ "Aurora targets trucking with $2BN SPAC merger plan". optics.org. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  40. ^ Hull, Dana (March 30, 2021). "Driverless Tech Startup Aurora Adds Volvo to Trucking Partners". Bloomberg. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  41. ^ Rosenblatt, Lauren (November 4, 2021). "Self-driving startup Aurora starts trading on the Nasdaq". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  42. ^ McGee, Patrick (July 15, 2021). "Driverless vehicle start-up Aurora to go public in $11bn Spac merger". Financial Times. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  43. ^ Tan, Gillian (July 14, 2021). "Self-Driving Startup Aurora in Agreement With Reinvent SPAC". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  44. ^ Bellan, Rebecca (March 23, 2022). "Aurora unveils test fleet of autonomous Toyota Sienna robotaxis". TechCrunch.
  45. ^ "Introducing Aurora Beacon, Aurora's Powerful Suite of Operational Tools" (Press release). Business Wire. 4 May 2022.
  46. ^ Bellan, Rebecca (17 May 2022). "Aurora expands autonomous freight pilot with FedEx in Texas". TechCrunch.
  47. ^ Shepardson, David (2023-04-12). "US union opposes driverless trucks waiver for Waymo, Aurora". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  48. ^ "Federal Register :: Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Exemption Application From Waymo LLC, and Aurora Operations, Inc". Federal Register. 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  49. ^ "Obamas' Netflix docuseries 'Working' spotlights Aurora Innovation — and Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  50. ^ "Aurora and Volvo partner to bring autonomous long-haul trucks to North America".
  51. ^ Schiffer, Zoe (January 24, 2020). "Aurora is finally ready to show the world what it's been up to". The Verge.
  52. ^ a b "Aurora prizes independence in AV world". Automotive News. June 17, 2019.
  53. ^ "Self-Driving Technology Developer Aurora to Partner with Volvo on Autonomous Long-Haul Trucks". www.futurecar.com.
  54. ^ "Aurora Partners With Toyota in Bid to Bring Autonomy to Masses". Transport Topics. February 9, 2021.
  55. ^ a b "Aurora outlines commercial roll-out for silicon photonics lidar". optics.org. September 1, 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  56. ^ Korosec, Kirsten (February 26, 2021). "Aurora acquires a second lidar company in push to bring self-driving trucks to the road". Techcrunch. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
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