Aurora shares jump after deal with Nvidia, Continental to deploy self-driving trucks (updated)

Aurora Innovation

07/01/2025 15:20

(Updates shares in paragraph 1, adds details in paragraph 3)
    By Akash Sriram and Jaspreet Singh
       Jan 7 (Reuters) - Aurora Innovation's  AUR.O  shares
rose 35% on Tuesday after the self-driving technology developer
announced a long-term deal with Nvidia and Germany's Continental
to deploy driverless trucks.
    Uber  UBER.N -backed Aurora's stock has nearly doubled in
the past 12 months, as investors bet that the market for
autonomous driving technology used in trucks will grow rapidly
in the coming years.
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Aurora is set to add about $4
billion to its market value if gains hold. As of last close, the
company had a market valuation of $11.17 billion.
    "Nvidia's CEO has been clear that he sees huge potential in
the autonomous driving space over the next few years," said
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
    Aurora already has partnerships with truck makers including
PACCAR  PCAR.O  and Volvo  VOLVb.ST  to develop and test its
self-driving system, Aurora Driver, on their trucks.
    Aurora plans to launch its driverless trucking service in
Texas in April, the company said on Monday.
    "Many investors may have only heard the name Aurora
Innovation for the first time today and its association with
Nvidia and Continental is a tantalizing one, but this is a space
with a huge amount of competition and requiring a massive amount
of investment," Hewson said.
    Under the deal, Nvidia's  NVDA.O  computing platform DRIVE
Thor, designed to centralize autonomous and assisted driving as
well as other digital functions, and its automotive operating
system, DriveOS, will be integrated into the Aurora Driver
system.
    Continental  CONG.DE  will mass produce this system in 2027,
to enable a large-scale deployment of self-driving trucks.


 (Reporting by Akash Sriram and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
 ((Akash.Sriram@thomsonreuters.com; On X as @HoodieOnVeshti;
+91-74116-87774;))