Aurora Innovation announced ambitious plans to significantly expand its autonomous trucking services, moving beyond initial daytime operations to include driverless night-time journeys and travel during adverse weather conditions such as rain and strong wind starting in the second half of 2025.
In a recent update to shareholders detailing its first-quarter performance, Aurora revealed it will also further extend the geographic area covered by its autonomous trucks. Currently focused between Dallas and Houston, Aurora’s planned expansions will see its trucks reaching new markets including El Paso and Phoenix. Although Aurora has previously navigated night-time and inclement weather conditions with its self-driving fleet, these have so far required a human safety operator onboard to intervene if necessary.
The company said it recently achieved an important milestone, logging more than 4,000 driverless freight-hauling miles completed entirely without a human behind the wheel, serving initial commercial customers Uber Freight and Hirschbach Motor Lines. Since the official launch of commercial operations only a week ago, Aurora has quickly scaled its driverless fleet to two trucks running daily, and it expects that number to rise into the tens before the year’s end.
The accelerated pace of growth coincides with a significant executive transition: Aurora reported that Sterling Anderson, co-founder and chief product officer, will leave the company.
Financially, Aurora disclosed first-quarter operating expenses of $211 million—with research and development accounting for $153 million of that total. The company consumed $142 million in operational cash and $8 million in capital expenditures over the quarter, closing the period with approximately $1.2 billion on hand in cash and short-term investments. Although quarterly revenue figures were not provided, Aurora expects its spending through the remainder of the year will remain within a range of $175 to $185 million per quarter.
In the shorter term, Aurora plans to continue directly owning, operating, maintaining, and insuring its fleet, offering its autonomous trucking service through partner Uber Freight’s logistics platform. Aurora is moving forward in collaborations with truck manufacturers PACCAR and Volvo to scale production of autonomous-ready trucks. Ultimately, the company anticipates shifting to a “driver-as-a-service” model by 2027 or earlier, enabling customers to purchase fully equipped autonomous trucks directly from manufacturers.
