Aurora Innovation, a self-driving technology company aiming to launch a “driverless” self-driving truck business by the end of 2024, laid off dozens of employees this month, people familiar with the matter said. The Pittsburgh-based company, which also has facilities in California, Colorado, Texas and Montana, acknowledged that about 3% of its employees were laid off at the beginning of the year as a result of an organizational review.
According to the company, Aurora will employ approximately 1,800 people as of the end of 2023.
“As we move toward commercialization, we have recently taken steps to ensure that we are working as effectively as possible at the speed necessary to achieve our ambitious goals,” said Christopher Barrett, Aurora’s senior vice president of human resources, in an emailed statement. We reviewed our entire organization to make sure we were addressing the same issues.” “Through this process, a limited number of roles were removed, impacting 3% of our workforce.During recent market uncertainty, we have taken steps to minimize such actions. “We have been very thoughtful about our resources. We appreciate the contributions of these individuals and are supporting them through this transition.”
The layoffs come as Aurora moves forward with plans to introduce self-driving trucks that can travel on U.S. highways without a human driver. The company said it plans to launch up to 20 driverless Class 8 trucks by the end of 2024. Initially, these driverless trucks (meaning there will be no humans behind the wheel) will carry cargo between Dallas and Houston, a route the company has been using. Under test.
Aurora is also working with auto supplier Continental on a more than $300 million project to mass produce self-driving vehicle hardware for commercial self-driving trucks. Aurora recently completed the first phase of the project, which will allow Continental to work on prototype development ahead of plans to begin production in 2027.
Developing self-driving car technology safe enough for public roads has proven to be an expensive endeavor, resulting in many startups closing down or being acquired. This wave of consolidation started in his 2020 and lasted into 2023 thanks to economic headwinds.
aurora, that is Founded in 2017 Alumni from Tesla, Uber, and Waymo have taken to the public markets to raise the funds needed to commercialize their frontier technologies. Aurora will go public in 2021 after merging with a special purpose acquisition company founded by LinkedIn co-founder and investor Reid Hoffman, Zynga founder Mark Pincus, and managing partner Michael Thompson. It became a company.
Aurora has emerged as one of the last remaining companies focused on commercializing self-driving big rigs. Kodiak Robotics is a privately held company. Torque Robotics. Sweden’s Einride is also working on self-driving trucks. Still, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, as the high costs of hiring engineers to develop the technology combined with economic headwinds have eroded capital.
In 2022, a leaked memo sent by Aurora’s CEO and co-founder Chris Urmson revealed a series of cost-cutting and funding moves, from a hiring freeze and asset spin-out to a small capital raise, going private and going public. presented options for creation to the board of directors. A high-profile technology company, he has even pitched to Apple and Microsoft.
The company has assured investors that it will have sufficient funding by mid-2024 and, despite some cost-cutting, will receive 820 million yen through a public offering and simultaneous private offering in July 2023. Completing the dollar financing brought a real sense of relief.
The company said at the time that the stock sale would help it raise funds for a commercial launch from the end of 2024 “by 2025.” Aurora reiterated its financial position in its third quarter 2023 earnings call, saying it expects to have $1.5 billion in total liquidity to support its planned commercial launch and capital operations by the second half of 2025. Ta.
