MW Aurora Innovation's stock rockets 44% after entering partnership with Nvidia and Continental in self-driving trucks

By Ciara Linnane

Nvidia's Drive Thor system-on-a-chip to be integrated into Aurora Driver

Shares of Aurora Innovation Inc. rocketed 44% early Tuesday after the maker of autonomous-trucking technology announced a partnership with AI market leader Nvidia Corp. and tire maker and parts supplier Continental.

The three are teaming up to deliver driverless trucks at scale, using Nvidia's $(NVDA)$ next-generation Drive Thor system-on-a-chip, which will be integrated into the Aurora Driver $(AUR.AU)$, an SAE L4 Autonomous driving system that Continental (XE:CON) is planning to mass manufacture starting in 2027. The company will test prototypes of the future hardware in the coming months.

"Delivering one driverless truck will be monumental. Deploying thousands will change the way we live," Chris Urmson, CEO and co-founder at Pittsburgh-based Aurora, said in prepared remarks.

Aurora is currently in the last stages of validating the Aurora Driver to driverless operations on public roads. The truck is outfitted with 25 laser, radar and camera sensors, and is expected to start hauling freight on Interstate 45 between the Dallas and Houston areas with 20 driverless trucks in the near term, as the Associated Press reported.

Read now: Tractor-trailers with no one aboard? The future is near for self-driving trucks on U.S. roads.

Nvidia's technology is built on its Blackwell architecture and designed to accelerate inference tasks critical for self-driving vehicles to navigate the world around them.

"As Continental and Aurora prepare to manufacture self-driving hardware at scale in 2027, production samples of DRIVE Thor are coming in the first half of 2025," the companies said in a joint statement.

Continental is developing a specialized independent secondary system that can take over operation if a failure occurs in the primary Aurora Driver computer, the company said in its statement.

Aurora's stock has gained 98% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 27%.

-Ciara Linnane

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January 07, 2025 07:41 ET (12:41 GMT)

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