One of the most intriguing and tight-lipped startups building technology for self-driving vehicles said Thursday it has inked partnerships with two major global automakers.
Aurora Innovation, founded in late 2016 by some of the autonomous industry?s most influential leaders, said it is forming collaborations with Volkswagen and Hyundai in efforts to deploy driverless vehicles in commercial operations by 2021.
While there aren?t many specifics yet available on which Volkswagen vehicles will receive Aurora?s self-driving systems, the German automaker indicated it intends to use them across its brand lineup in electric vehicles and in purpose-built autonomous cars like the Sedric van prototype shown in Geneva in March 2017. Hyundai officials, meanwhile, said they will integrate the startup?s systems on the hydrogen fuel-cell SUV unveiled last summer (shown below). The companies made their announcements Thursday in the run-up to CES, the annual consumer-technology spectacle in Las Vegas that has placed increasing emphasis on driverless vehicles in recent years.
Until then, Aurora Innovation, which has offices in Silicon Valley and Pittsburgh, hadn?t divulged much about its intentions. But it has been nonetheless closely watched, because its founders include Chris Urmson, a former director of Google?s self-driving car project, Sterling Anderson, the first director of Tesla Motors? Autopilot feature, and Drew Bagnell, a founding member of Uber?s Advanced Technology Center.
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