Aurora Innovation (AUR) Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference summary

AI technology and product development

• Combines modern AI techniques, such as Transformers, with explicit rule-based guardrails for safety and verifiability.

• Uses data from expert and observed drivers to train for dynamic, naturalistic driving situations.

• Explicitly encodes critical behaviors, like stopping at stop signs, to ensure legal compliance.

• Addresses edge cases by combining learned behaviors with explicit rules for rare or dangerous scenarios.

• Early adoption of AI approaches has shaped ongoing problem-solving and product evolution.

Commercialization and operational progress

• Targeting commercial launch at the end of 2024, with strong progress on key performance and safety metrics.

• Autonomy Performance Indicator (API) measures trips completed without human intervention, showing steady improvement.

• Software development involves frequent updates, with performance stabilizing as launch approaches.

• Third-party audit by TÜV SÜD confirmed safety management system meets high standards.

• Initial commercial operations will involve upfitting trucks at company facilities, with future hardware integrated by OEM partners.

Partnerships, business model, and financials

• Asset-light model leverages partnerships with PACCAR, Volvo, Fabrinet, and Continental for manufacturing and hardware.

• Premier Autonomy program with Uber Freight provides access to a broad customer base without expanding sales force.

• Continental partnership enables hardware-as-a-service, aligning incentives and reducing upfront costs for customers.

• Significant cost reductions expected with next-generation hardware, targeting a 50% decrease in cost per mile from 2024 to 2025.

• Aims for positive gross profit in 2026, with recent capital raise covering about half of the estimated $850 million needed to reach free cash flow positive.