Opening Bid Unfiltered Driverless 18-wheelers may reach your street sooner than you think
Dec 6, 2025
Chris Urmson, Co-founder and CEO of Aurora Innovation and former leader of Google's self-driving car project, dives into the future of autonomous trucking. He reveals Aurora's successful driverless truck deployments in Texas and their 2026 expansion plans. Urmson discusses the technology behind Aurora's system, from sensor suites to handling tire blowouts in adverse weather. He also highlights the societal benefits of autonomy, such as improving safety and reshaping the job landscape in logistics. Get ready for a glimpse into how driverless trucks might transform our roads!
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Aurora Is Building The Complete Driver
- Aurora builds the "driver": a combined software and hardware stack (cameras, LIDAR, radar) to see 360 degrees and drive the truck safely.
- An observer is currently present but the system is responsible for safe driving, not the person.
Design For Safe Fault Handling
- Design systems to detect failures and drive safely to a stop or shoulder when things go wrong.
- Plan for graceful, autonomous fault-handling identical to how human drivers would secure the vehicle.
Rapid Expansion With Weather Robustness
- Aurora tests day and night and in adverse weather, expanding routes to thousand-mile trips like Fort Worth–Phoenix.
- They expect to add rain operation by January and rapidly increase coverage in 2026.