Aurora’s Chris Urmson on why self-driving trucks are finally ready to scale

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify

Self-driving has been “almost here” for over a decade. But somewhere between DARPA challenges and a handful of driverless trucks hauling freight between Dallas and Houston, Aurora co-founder and CEOChris Urmson’s story changed.The self-driving truck company started commercial driverless operations last April and is now scaling from a handful of trucks to hundreds this year.

On this episode of TechCrunch’sEquitypodcast,we’re bringing you a conversation Rebecca Bellan had with Urmson at theHumanXconference in San Francisco. The pair dug into the long road from lab to highway and how physical AI differs from the LLM boom everyone else is chasing.

Listen to the full episode to hear about:

Why long-haul truckingmay crack the autonomy businesscase before robotaxis ever do

What “verifiable AI” means and why Urmson thinks end-to-end systems are a liability when lives are on the line

The surprisingly common-sense solution to the driverless truck safety triangle problem

What Aurora’s roadmap looks like beyond trucking, and which companies in the autonomy space have Urmson genuinely excited

Subscribe to Equity onYouTube,Apple Podcasts,Overcast,Spotifyand all the casts. You also can follow Equity onXandThreads, at @EquityPod.

Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.

You can contact or verify outreach from Rebecca by emailing rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at rebeccabellan.491 on Signal.

Theresa Loconsolo

Audio Producer

Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University.

You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing theresa.loconsolo@techcrunch.com.

May 27

Athens, Greece

StrictlyVC Athens is up next. Hear unfiltered insights straight from Europe’s tech leaders and connect with the people shaping what’s ahead. Lock in your spot before it’s gone.

REGISTER NOW