Aurora Innovation, a company specializing in autonomous vehicle technology, is gearing up to build on the success of its first driverless commercial launch by incorporating night driving into its services.
On Thursday, Aurora shared exciting news: starting in the latter half of 2025, its self-driving trucks will hit the roads not just during the day, but also at night and in challenging weather conditions like rain or strong winds. This update came in their first-quarter shareholder letter, where they also revealed plans to extend their driverless trucking routes beyond Dallas, reaching out to Houston, El Paso, and Phoenix.
“We aim to maximize the return on each truck we operate, so we’re focused on efficiency—getting as many miles from as many trucks as quickly as possible,” shared Aurora’s CFO, Dave Maday, during the company’s first-quarter earnings call. “Unlocking night driving should allow us to double our drive time, and that’s our next major goal.”
Currently, Aurora is already using self-driving trucks in various conditions, but with a human safety operator in place. The company has successfully completed over 4,000 miles in a single autonomous truck, transporting freight for its launch customers, Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight.
In just a week since its commercial launch, Aurora has expanded operations to include two driverless trucks running daily, with expectations to scale up to “tens of trucks” by the close of 2025.
This significant milestone coincides with a notable change within the company: the resignation of co-founder and chief product officer, Sterling Anderson.
In Thursday’s shareholder letter, Aurora outlined its plans for growing its autonomous freight services, indicating that more detailed timelines for key milestones will be provided as the company continues to expand.
Aurora generated $871,000 in pilot revenue from its driver-operated freight runs, marking a 22% increase from the previous quarter and a 54% increase compared to the same period last year, according to Maday.
“When we officially launch commercially, we will begin to recognize revenue,” he mentioned during the earnings call on Thursday. “This will encompass revenue from driverless operations, along with ongoing pilot revenues… Given our careful launch strategy, we anticipate our revenue in 2025 to be modest, in the mid-single-digit millions. For planning purposes, we expect revenue growth to happen gradually over the year.”
The company reported $211 million in operating expenses, with $153 million allocated for research and development. In the first quarter, they utilized $142 million in operating cash and $8 million in capital expenditures, finishing with nearly $1.2 billion in cash and short-term investments. Aurora plans to spend $175 million to $185 million each quarter for the remainder of the year.
In the near future, Aurora intends to own, operate, maintain, and insure its own fleet of trucks, which will be accessible through the Uber Freight network for customers. The company is collaborating with partners Paccar and Volvo Trucks to scale the production of self-driving trucks. They expect that starting in 2027 or sooner, customers will have the option to purchase these trucks directly from manufacturers, allowing Aurora to transition to a driver-as-a-service model and achieve “high gross margins,” as noted by Maday.
This article has been updated with additional information regarding Aurora’s recognized revenue and its upcoming milestones.
