Aurora Innovation said on Thursday it plans to expand its commercial driverless freight operations in the second half of 2025 by enabling night driving and operations during adverse weather, such as rain and high winds.
The autonomous vehicle technology company, which launched its commercial self-driving truck service last week, outlined the update in its first-quarter shareholder letter. Aurora intends to expand its driverless routes beyond the Dallas-to-Houston corridor to include El Paso and Phoenix, signaling a broader deployment strategy.
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“We’d like to have a high return on asset for every truck that we have, and so we’ll try to drive efficiency to get as many miles on as many trucks as fast as possible,” Chief Financial Officer Dave Maday said during the company’s earnings call. “We should be able to double our drive time as soon as we unlock night. And that’s our next key milestone.”
Aurora currently operates trucks in night and weather conditions with safety operators on board. Since the launch of its commercial service, the company has expanded to two driverless trucks running daily freight for Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight. The company said it expects to operate “tens of trucks” by the end of 2025.
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The operational plans come amid executive changes. Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson will resign effective June 1, with plans to exit the board by the end of August. Aurora said Anderson’s departure was not related to any disagreements and acknowledged his contributions during the transition.
Aurora reported $871,000 in pilot revenue from its safety-operator-assisted freight runs in the first quarter, marking a 22% increase from the prior quarter and a 54% rise year-over-year. With the commercial launch, Aurora said it will now begin recognizing revenue from driverless operations. Maday said the company expects revenue for 2025 to remain modest, reaching the “mid-single-digit millions” as operations gradually ramp up.
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Operating expenses totaled $211 million in the quarter, including $153 million in R&D. Aurora used $142 million in operating cash and $8 million in capital expenditures, ending the quarter with nearly $1.2 billion in cash and short-term investments. The company anticipates spending between $175 million and $185 million per quarter for the remainder of the year.
In the near term, Aurora will own and operate its autonomous trucks directly, which will be accessible via the Uber Freight network. Longer-term, starting in 2027 or earlier, the company expects its partners Paccar and Volvo Trucks to manufacture and sell self-driving trucks directly to customers. At that point, Aurora plans to shift to a driver-as-a-service model, aiming to improve margins and reduce capital intensity.