Aurora Innovation Unveils Advanced 78,000 Sq Ft Lidar R&D Facility, Accelerates Autonomous Trucking Development

BOZEMAN, Montana--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUR), a leader in autonomous trucking technology, today announced the opening of its new 78,000 square-foot office and testing facility in Bozeman, Montana. Located on Montana State University’s Innovation Campus, the space builds upon the university’s 30-year history of producing industry-leading photonics engineers and innovations.

Aurora's new 78,000 square-foot office and testing facility in Bozeman, Montana includes advanced research and development labs, a world-class manufacturing area with a cleanroom, a garage for vehicle testing, and modern office and collaboration spaces. (Credit: Aurora)

Inaugurated today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by state elected officials, regulators, and community leaders, Aurora’s facility is designed to support the continued development and testing of its proprietary FirstLight Lidar technology. The state-of-the-art space includes advanced research and development labs, a world-class manufacturing area with a cleanroom, a garage for vehicle testing, and modern office and collaboration spaces for Aurora’s growing Bozeman team. This investment highlights Aurora’s commitment to innovation and its partnership with the local community.

“Our state is made stronger when companies like Aurora choose to expand their business in Montana,” said Montana Governor Gianforte. “From their investments in the Bozeman community, to inspiring the next generation of innovators, Montana is seeing rapid growth in industries like photonics thanks to job creators like Aurora.”

Driving Montana’s Photonics Industry Forward

Aurora’s ribbon cutting ceremony brought together leaders from Montana’s regulatory bodies, including the departments of transportation and commerce and featured remarks by Montana Governor Gianforte, Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham, Montana State University Vice President Alison Harmon, and Aurora co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson. Attendees were given a showcase of the lab space and testing facilities where Aurora is designing the future of freight transportation.

“The grand opening of Aurora’s Bozeman facility is wonderful news for Montana,” said U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT). “Investing in cutting-edge technology and the photonics sector will provide new jobs and an increasingly talented workforce in our state. I look forward to seeing the opportunities and progress that will come from this exciting development.”

"We're delighted to see Aurora's commitment to Bozeman,” said Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham. “This ribbon-cutting event is also an affirmation of the collaborative approach that the City of Bozeman, the State of Montana, Montana State University and our business community take to foster an environment where innovative, high-tech businesses like Aurora can grow and thrive."

Investing in Lidar Development

In 2019, Aurora acquired Blackmore, a leading lidar company based in Bozeman. Less than a year later, with Blackmore’s expertise in lidar architecture and digital signal processing, Aurora launched the first generation of FirstLight Lidar – its proprietary lidar sensor that can detect objects at more than 450 meters away, unlocking highway driving capabilities for autonomous trucks.

“From early on, we knew Montana’s photonics leadership would be invaluable for bringing safe, scalable self-driving technology to the world,” said Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO at Aurora. “Our new Bozeman office deepens our commitment to the region and strengthens our ability to expand our fleet of autonomous trucks.”

Aurora’s leadership in lidar development is driving the autonomous trucking industry forward in Montana and beyond. On a daily basis, Aurora’s fleet of autonomous trucks, equipped with FirstLight Lidar, haul commercial freight on public roads in Texas. The company expects to commercially launch its autonomous trucking product in Texas in April 2025.

About Aurora

Aurora (Nasdaq: AUR) is delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly to make transportation safer, increasingly accessible, and more reliable and efficient than ever before. The Aurora Driver is a self-driving system designed to operate multiple vehicle types, from freight-hauling trucks to ride-hailing passenger vehicles, and underpins Aurora’s driver-as-a-service products for trucking and ride-hailing. Aurora is working with industry leaders across the transportation ecosystem, including Continental, FedEx, Hirschbach, PACCAR, Ryder, Schneider, Toyota, Uber, Uber Freight, Volvo Trucks, Volvo Autonomous Solutions, and Werner. To learn more, visit aurora.tech.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the prospects of the development, manufacturing, scaling (including, but not limited to, the opening of new lanes) and commercialization of the Aurora Driver and related services and technology (including relationships with partners and customers) and on the timeframe we expect or at all, and Aurora’s cash management. These statements are based on management’s current assumptions and are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. For factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, please see the risks and uncertainties identified under the heading “Risk Factors” section of Aurora Innovation, Inc.’s (“Aurora”) Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 15, 2024, as amended by the Form 10-K/A filed with the SEC on May 24, 2024, and other documents filed by Aurora from time to time with the SEC, and other documents filed by Aurora from time to time with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements reflect our beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. Aurora undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.