Aurora Innovation Inc (AUR) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's Aurora First Quarter 2025 Business Review Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this call is being recorded. I will be standing by should you need any assistance.

大家好，歡迎參加今天的 Aurora 2025 年第一季業務回顧電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此通話正在錄音。如果您需要任何幫助，我會隨時待命。

It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Ms. Stacy Feit, VP of Investor Relations.

現在我很高興將電話轉給投資者關係副總裁 Stacy Feit 女士。

Thanks, Shana. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our first quarter 2025 business review call.

謝謝，莎娜。大家下午好，歡迎參加我們的 2025 年第一季業務回顧電話會議。

We announced our results earlier this afternoon. Our shareholder letter and a presentation to accompany this call are available on our Investor Relations website at ir.aurora.tech. The shareholder letter was also furnished with our Form 8-K filed today with the SEC. On the call with me today are Chris Urmson, Co-Founder and CEO; David Maday, CFO; and Sterling Anderson, Co-Founder and CPO. Chris will provide an update on the progress we have made across the key pillars of our business, and David will recap our first quarter financial results. We will then open the call to Q&A. A recording of this conference call will be available on our Investor Relations website at ir.aurora.tech shortly after this call has ended.

我們今天下午早些時候公佈了我們的結果。我們的股東信函及本次電話會議的簡報可在我們的投資者關係網站 ir.aurora.tech 上取得。股東信函也包含在我們今天向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的 8-K 表格中。今天與我一起參加電話會議的有聯合創始人兼首席執行官 Chris Urmson、首席財務官 David Maday 和聯合創始人兼首席產品官 Sterling Anderson。克里斯將介紹我們在業務主要支柱方面取得的進展，大衛將回顧我們第一季的財務表現。然後我們將開始問答環節。本次電話會議的錄音將在會議結束後不久在我們的投資者關係網站 ir.aurora.tech 上提供。

I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that during the call, we will be making forward-looking statements. This includes statements relating to our future financial and operating performance and our financial outlook and guidance, our ability to reduce costs, the safety benefits of our technology and product, the achievement of certain milestones around and realization of the potential benefits of the development, manufacturing, scaling and commercialization of the Aurora Driver and related services, including relationships and anticipated benefits with partners and customers and on the time frame we expect or at all, the market opportunity, our product's ability to reduce fuel use and emissions, the anticipated impact of our product on the freight industry and economy, the expected future market size and our products' compatibility therewith, our expected market share, the efficiency and effectiveness of our validation process and profitability of our products and services, regulatory tailwinds and framework in which we operate, our expected cash use and expected cash runway, the incremental capital needed to achieve positive free cash flow and overall future prospects.

我想藉此機會提醒您，在電話會議期間，我們將做出前瞻性陳述。這包括與我們未來財務和經營業績以及財務前景和指引有關的聲明、我們降低成本的能力、我們技術和產品的安全優勢、Aurora Driver和相關服務的開發、製造、擴展和商業化過程中某些里程碑的實現以及潛在優勢的實現，包括與合作夥伴和客戶的關係和預期收益以及我們預期的時間範圍、市場機會、我們的產品減少燃料使用和排放的能力、我們的產品對貨運業和經濟的預期影響、預期的未來市場規模以及我們產品與之的兼容性、我們預期的市場份額、我們驗證流程的效率和有效性以及我們產品和服務的盈利能力、監管順風和我們運營的框架、我們預期的現金使用和預期的現金跑道、實現正自由現金流所需的增量資本以及整體未來前景。

These statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied during this call. In particular, those described in our risk factors, including in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC as well as the current uncertainty and unpredictability in our business, the markets and economy. Additional information will also be set forth in the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. You should not rely on our forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. All forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions and beliefs as of the date hereof, and Aurora disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

這些聲明受到已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與本次電話會議中預測或暗示的結果有重大差異。特別是我們的風險因素中所描述的因素，包括我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的年度報告 10-K 表，以及我們業務、市場和經濟中當前的不確定性和不可預測性。更多資訊也將在截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的季度 10-Q 表格季度報告中列出。您不應依賴我們的前瞻性陳述來預測未來事件。我們在本次電話會議上所做的所有前瞻性陳述均基於截至本電話會議之日的假設和信念，Aurora 不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務，除非法律要求。

Our discussion today may include non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to and not as a substitute for or in isolation from our GAAP results. Information regarding our non-GAAP financial results, including a reconciliation of our historical GAAP to non-GAAP results, may be found in our shareholder letter, which was furnished with our Form 8-K filed today with the SEC and may also be found on our Investor Relations website. Our discussion today may also include references to free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure. To the extent that this forward-looking non-GAAP financial measure is provided, it is presented on a non-GAAP basis without a reconciliation due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that are necessary for such reconciliation.

我們今天的討論可能包括非公認會計準則財務指標。這些非 GAAP 指標應被視為對我們的 GAAP 結果的補充，而不是替代或孤立於我們的 GAAP 結果。有關我們非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 財務業績的資訊（包括我們的歷史 GAAP 與非 GAAP 業績的對帳表），可在我們的股東信函中找到，該信函隨我們今天向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的 8-K 表格一起提供，也可在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。我們今天的討論也可能涉及自由現金流，這是一種非公認會計準則財務指標。在提供此前瞻性非公認會計準則財務指標的範圍內，它是以非公認會計準則為基礎呈現的，沒有進行調節，因為預測和量化此類調節所需的某些金額存在固有的困難。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Chris.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給克里斯。

Thanks, Stacy. Well, I'm immensely proud to share that after years of uncompromising commitment to safety, rigorous engineering and disciplined execution at Aurora, driverless trucks are on the road, operating commercially. Autonomous freight is no longer just a vision, it's a reality, and it's powered by the Aurora Driver. I have dedicated my career to solving one of the most complex technology challenges of our time. I've been extremely fortunate to have been a part of many groundbreaking moments, but riding in the backseat of our first driverless trip, seeing the Aurora Driver perform perfectly is by far the highlight of my career. And now watching it operate daily, weather permitting, delivering value to our customers is so rewarding. This milestone is just the starting point for an incredible commercial journey with many more defining moments to come.

謝謝，史黛西。嗯，我非常自豪地告訴大家，經過 Aurora 多年對安全、嚴謹工程和嚴格執行的不懈承諾，無人駕駛卡車現已上路並投入商業運營。自動駕駛貨運不再只是一個願景，而是一個現實，並由 Aurora Driver 提供支援。我的職業生涯致力於解決我們這個時代最複雜的技術挑戰之一。我非常幸運能夠參與許多開創性的時刻，但坐在我們第一次無人駕駛旅行的後座上，看到 Aurora Driver 完美運行，是迄今為止我職業生涯中最精彩的部分。現在，只要天氣允許，看著它每天運轉，為我們的客戶創造價值，真是令人欣慰。這一里程碑只是一段令人難以置信的商業旅程的起點，未來還會有更多決定性的時刻。

It's not possible to put into words how excited I am and the whole team is to charge forward from here and deploy this technology to have a huge impact and build an amazing business. I'm fired up for the next decade at Aurora, which I'm convinced is going to be something very special. We've shown the technology is real. Our focus now turns to proving the promise of the technology, increasing the value of our product for our customers and ultimately becoming an essential partner in the freight industry. Along the way, we'll underpin our customer adoption strategy with the focus and fiscal stewardship that will enable us to build a sustainable and scalable business to realize our mission to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly and broadly.

我無法用言語表達我和整個團隊從這裡向前衝刺並部署這項技術以產生巨大影響並建立令人驚嘆的業務的興奮之情。我對 Aurora 的未來十年充滿熱情，我相信這將會是非常特別的十年。我們已經證明這項技術是真實存在的。我們現在的重點是證明該技術的前景，為客戶增加我們的產品價值，並最終成為貨運業的重要合作夥伴。在此過程中，我們將以重點和財務管理為基礎，鞏固我們的客戶採用策略，這將使我們能夠建立可持續和可擴展的業務，以實現我們的使命，即安全、快速和廣泛地提供自動駕駛技術的優勢。

Our path to delivering long-term value is built on a foundation of safety. To commence driverless operations, we needed to close the safety case for our Dallas to Houston launch lane. Our safety case framework is a rigorous evidence-based approach to confirming that our autonomous vehicles are acceptably safe to operate on public roads. We were the first in the industry to develop and publicly share a safety case framework for autonomous trucking. Safety cases have now been widely adopted by other autonomous vehicle developers. And we've continued to lead the way with transparency as the only company quantifying our progress through the ARM, which is a weighted measure of completeness across all claims of the safety case for our launch lane.

我們實現長期價值的道路建立在安全的基礎上。為了開始無人駕駛運營，我們需要完成達拉斯至休士頓發射航線的安全案例。我們的安全案例框架是一種嚴格的基於證據的方法，用於確認我們的自動駕駛汽車在公共道路上行駛是安全的。我們是業界第一家開發並公開分享自動駕駛卡車安全案例框架的公司。安全案例現已被其他自動駕駛汽車開發商廣泛採用。作為唯一一家透過 ARM 量化我們進展的公司，我們繼續在透明度方面保持領先地位，ARM 是對我們的發射通道安全案例所有聲明的完整性的加權衡量標準。

With the closure of the remaining software and vehicle claims last month, ARM reached 100%. This means we have validated and approved our verifiable AI for driverless operations together with our launch trucks. These trucks are equipped with our first-generation commercial hardware and redundant systems, including braking, steering and power that enable safe operation without a human driver. We've built our safety case to support rapid capability and lane expansion with just incremental validation needed for future development to support the scaling of our business. Aligned with our commitment to transparency, we published our driverless safety report. The report details when, where, why and how the Aurora Driver operates safely, including risk management, redundancies, cybersecurity, remote assistance and more. As we expand commercial operations, we remain committed to setting the standard for safe autonomous trucking.

隨著上個月剩餘軟體和車輛索賠的結案，ARM 已達到 100%。這意味著我們已經驗證並批准了可驗證的人工智慧與我們的發射卡車一起用於無人駕駛操作。這些卡車配備了我們的第一代商用硬體和冗餘系統，包括煞車、轉向和動力，無需人類駕駛員即可安全運行。我們已經建立了安全案例來支援快速的能力和車道擴展，並且只需進行未來開發所需的增量驗證即可支援我們業務的擴展。為了履行我們對透明度的承諾，我們發布了無人駕駛安全報告。報告詳細說明了 Aurora Driver 何時、何地、為何以及如何安全運行，包括風險管理、冗餘、網路安全、遠端協助等。隨著我們擴大商業運營，我們將繼續致力於制定安全自動駕駛卡車的標準。

Consistent with our collaborative approach with regulators, elected officials and first responders, we proactively provide regular updates and confidentially briefed federal and state officials as well as local law enforcement on our plans for driverless operations. These engagements demonstrate our belief that safety and transparency go hand-in-hand. By keeping the lines of communication open, we are fostering trust that not only supports our initial operations, but also lays the groundwork for long-term scale deployment across the country. We're proud to have the support of Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, who shared that he believes the Aurora Driver will further spur economic growth and job creation in Texas. At the same time, California Governor, Gavin Newsom's administration recently released a draft regulatory framework for autonomous trucking, officially launching the rule-making process in the state. This marks a meaningful step forward on the path to safe and broad deployment of this transformative technology.

與我們與監管機構、民選官員和急救人員的合作方式一致，我們主動定期提供最新情況，並向聯邦和州官員以及當地執法部門秘密匯報我們的無人駕駛運營計劃。這些合作顯示了我們的信念：安全與透明度是相輔相成的。透過保持溝通管道暢通，我們正在建立信任，這不僅支持我們的初步行動，而且為全國範圍內的長期規模部署奠定了基礎。我們很榮幸得到德州州長格雷格·阿博特的支持，他表示相信「極光司機」將進一步刺激德州的經濟成長和創造就業機會。同時，加州州長加文·紐瑟姆領導的政府近日發布了自動駕駛卡車監管框架草案，正式啟動該州的規則制定程序。這標誌著這項變革性技術在安全、廣泛部署的道路上邁出了有意義的一步。

We're further encouraged by the recent release of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new automated vehicle framework, which aligns with Aurora's safety-first innovation-driven approach. We believe the framework's three guiding principles: prioritizing safety, unleashing innovation and enabling commercial deployment, which closely mirror our safely, quickly and broadly approach, provide a much needed foundation to harmonize today's patchwork of state-level regulations and accelerate the safe rollout of autonomous vehicles nationwide. We're encouraged to see such bipartisan support at both the state and federal level, which underscores a growing recognition of the safety and economic benefits autonomous trucking can bring to the United States. Aurora remains committed to working collaboratively with our federal and state policymakers and regulators to realize this shared vision.

美國國家公路交通安全管理局最近發布的新自動駕駛汽車框架讓我們感到更加鼓舞，該框架與 Aurora 的安全第一創新驅動方法一致。我們相信，該框架的三個指導原則：優先安全、釋放創新和實現商業部署，與我們的安全、快速和廣泛的方法非常相似，為協調當今國家級法規的零散局面和加速全國範圍內自動駕駛汽車的安全推廣提供了急需的基礎。我們很高興看到州和聯邦兩黨都給予瞭如此的支持，這表明人們越來越認識到自動駕駛卡車能為美國帶來的安全和經濟效益。Aurora 將繼續致力於與聯邦和州的政策制定者和監管機構合作，以實現這一共同願景。

In addition to our confidence in the safety of the Aurora Driver, we have also seen strong on-road performance through our 100% API metric. During the first quarter, 95% of loads running our production release software for launch had a 100% API, exceeding our commercial launch target of 90%. In the video on page 8 of our presentation, you can see firsthand some of the powerful on-road performance underlying this metric. This is the Aurora Driver, a solution with superhuman capabilities that we believe will (inaudible) logistics and mobility. On April 27, Aurora Driver-powered trucks began regular driverless operations and are making commercial deliveries for Uber Freight and Hirschbach between Dallas and Houston. The Aurora Driver has completed over 4,000 driverless miles, already starting to prove the promise of our groundbreaking technology. To put that in perspective, that's longer than the entire distance across the United States coast-to-coast.

除了我們對 Aurora Driver 的安全性充滿信心之外，我們還透過 100% API 指標看到了其強勁的道路性能。在第一季度，運行我們發布的生產版本軟體的負載中有 95% 具有 100% 的 API，超過了我們 90% 的商業發布目標。在我們簡報第 8 頁的影片中，您可以親眼看到該指標所體現的一些強大的道路性能。這就是 Aurora Driver，一種具有超人能力的解決方案，我們相信它將（聽不清楚）實現物流和移動性。4 月 27 日，搭載 Aurora Driver 的卡車開始常規無人駕駛運營，並在達拉斯和休斯頓之間為 Uber Freight 和 Hirschbach 進行商業配送。Aurora Driver 已完成超過 4,000 英里的無人駕駛里程，已經開始證明我們突破性技術的前景。從這個角度來看，這比美國東西海岸的整個距離還要長。

We've included a hyperlapse video of our first driverless trip on page 3 of the presentation. You'll see the Aurora Driver navigating a series of challenging scenarios, including interactions with unusually aggressive drivers, one of whom we've nicknamed the Maserati in light of the extraordinary length these photographers went to in pursuit of footage from our driverless launch. The Aurora Driver also expertly handles very heavy traffic, decelerating smoothly from its standard cruising speed of 65 miles per hour to nearly a full stop and negotiates a long-standing complex construction zone that frequently changes week-to-week with lane shifts and repainted lines of common occurrence.

我們在簡報的第 3 頁附上了我們第一次無人駕駛旅行的縮時影片。您將看到 Aurora Driver 應對一系列具有挑戰性的場景，包括與異常激進的駕駛員的互動，我們給其中一位駕駛員起了個綽號叫“瑪莎拉蒂”，因為這些攝影師為了拍攝我們無人駕駛發射時的鏡頭不遺餘力。Aurora Driver 還能熟練地應對非常擁擠的交通，從標準巡航速度 65 英里每小時平穩減速到幾乎完全停止，並能順利通過長期複雜的施工區域，該區域每週都會頻繁變化，車道變換和重新繪製的線條也很常見。

We're thrilled to show the world that this technology is real. It's delivering value for customers in Texas, and we're excited to share the road ahead with all of you. We've already expanded to two driverless trucks scheduled daily, and we anticipate operating tens of trucks by the end of 2025. As we've discussed, we're deliberately starting with a crawl, walk, run approach as our early efforts will be focused on exercising the full product suite to ensure a seamless product experience for our customers that clearly demonstrates its value proposition and continues to build trust with all of our stakeholders. We expect additional customers to begin driverless operations in the coming months.

我們很高興向世界展示這項技術是真實的。它為德克薩斯州的客戶帶來了價值，我們很高興與大家分享未來的道路。我們的無人駕駛卡車數量已擴大到每天兩輛，預計到 2025 年底將達到數十輛。正如我們所討論的，我們特意以爬行、行走、奔跑的方式開始，因為我們的早期努力將集中在使用全套產品上，以確保為我們的客戶提供無縫的產品體驗，清楚地展示其價值主張並繼續與所有利益相關者建立信任。我們預計未來幾個月將有更多客戶開始無人駕駛營運。

The Aurora Driver addresses major challenges the freight industry faces, including the structural driver shortage, persistently high turnover and asset underutilization. We offer a solution that provides a scalable, stable driver supply, which we expect will nearly double truck utilization and that will supplement traditional drivers. Importantly, the Aurora Driver never loses focus, prioritizing safety in every mile and can deliver an immediate fuel economy benefit greater than 10% with a potential of more than 30%. Our customers are not just adopting a new technology, they're getting early access to a transformative solution that will redefine the movement of goods.

Aurora Driver 解決了貨運業面臨的主要挑戰，包括結構性司機短缺、持續的高流動率和資產利用不足。我們提供的解決方案可提供可擴展、穩定的司機供應，我們預計這將使卡車利用率幾乎翻倍，並補充傳統司機的不足。重要的是，Aurora Driver 永遠不會失去注意力，始終將每一英里的安全放在首位，並且可以立即帶來超過 10% 的燃油經濟性效益，並且潛在效益可超過 30%。我們的客戶不僅採用了一項新技術，而且還提前獲得了重新定義貨物運輸的變革性解決方案。

By enhancing safety, mitigating labor constraints and improving fuel efficiency, the Aurora Driver creates value not only for our customers, but also through -- for the public through safer roads, cleaner transportation and faster and more cost-effective freight. This should ultimately drive down costs for consumers. Today, the Aurora Driver is validated for driverless operations on one of the most significant freight corridors in the country in daytime with clear weather conditions, hauling the two most common types of trailer, 53-foot dry vans and refrigerated trailers. Our Dallas to Houston launch lane represents a compelling commercial opportunity and a critical first step to prove the promise of our technology.

透過提高安全性、減輕勞動力限制和提高燃油效率，Aurora Driver 不僅為我們的客戶創造價值，而且透過更安全的道路、更清潔的運輸和更快捷、更具成本效益的貨運為公眾創造價值。這最終將降低消費者的成本。如今，Aurora Driver 已通過驗證，可以在白天晴朗的天氣條件下，在該國最重要的貨運走廊之一上進行無人駕駛運營，牽引兩種最常見的拖車類型：53 英尺乾貨車和冷藏拖車。我們的達拉斯至休士頓發射航線代表著一個極具吸引力的商業機會，也是證明我們技術前景的關鍵的第一步。

Building on this foundation, we expect to further expand our commercial lanes with driverless operations between Fort Worth and El Paso and further extension to Phoenix in the second half of 2025. To support this plan, last month, we extended our Fort Worth to El Paso pilot with Werner to Phoenix. Self-driving trucks have the potential to cut single driver transit time in half on this route. This is a powerful use case that demonstrates how expanding driverless operations to lanes that exceed hours of service limitations for traditional truck drivers will unlock significant value for our freight customers.

在此基礎上，我們預計將進一步擴大沃斯堡和埃爾帕索之間的無人駕駛商業航線，並在 2025 年下半年進一步延伸至菲尼克斯。為了支持這項計劃，上個月，我們將沃斯堡至埃爾帕索的試點計畫從沃納擴展到了鳳凰城。自動駕駛卡車有可能將這條路線上單一司機的運輸時間縮短一半。這是一個強大的用例，它展示瞭如何將無人駕駛操作擴展到超過傳統卡車司機服務時間限制的車道，為我們的貨運客戶釋放巨大的價值。

Also in the second half of 2025, we plan to expand our operating domain to meaningfully increase the utilization of our self-driving trucks by validating night driving and operation in adverse weather conditions, including rainy conditions and heavy wind. As we look further ahead, our OEM and Tier 1 partnerships are unmatched in the industry, and we believe position Aurora as the only company capable of deploying autonomous trucking at scale. While commercial launch represents the most significant milestone in Aurora's history thus far, much of our team has remained focused on what comes next. We continue to make great progress with our partners on purpose-built self-driving platforms designed for high-volume production. And on the hardware front, our teams are continuing to work on our second- and third-generation commercial hardware kits to support our scaling and profitability ambitions.

此外，在 2025 年下半年，我們計劃擴大營運範圍，透過驗證夜間駕駛和惡劣天氣條件下（包括雨天和強風）的運行，顯著提高自動駕駛卡車的利用率。放眼未來，我們與 OEM 和 Tier 1 的合作夥伴關係在業界無與倫比，我們相信 Aurora 是唯一一家能夠大規模部署自動駕駛卡車的公司。雖然商業發布是 Aurora 歷史上迄今為止最重要的里程碑，但我們團隊的大部分成員仍然專注於接下來的發展。我們與合作夥伴一起繼續在專為大批量生產而設計的自動駕駛平台方面取得巨大進展。在硬體方面，我們的團隊正在繼續致力於第二代和第三代商用硬體套件，以支援我們的擴展和獲利目標。

Our second-generation kit brings exciting performance gains and importantly, we expect it to drive a step function reduction in our hardware costs, which is a critical milestone on our path to self-funding. We've started to receive B-samples for testing from our contract manufacturer, Fabrinet. We also continue to make great progress with Continental on our third-generation commercial hardware kit that we believe will unlock true scale on the order of tens of thousands of trucks.

我們的第二代套件帶來了令人興奮的性能提升，重要的是，我們期望它能夠大幅降低我們的硬體成本，這是我們自籌資金道路上的一個重要里程碑。我們已經開始從我們的合約製造商 Fabrinet 接收 B 樣品進行測試。我們也與大陸集團合作，在第三代商用硬體套件方面取得了巨大進展，我們相信這將實現數萬輛卡車的真正規模。

As you can tell, it's an incredibly exciting time to be at Aurora, and this enthusiasm extends beyond our team. We're fortunate to have John Donahoe joining our Board of Directors, pending shareholder approval at the upcoming annual meeting. John has led iconic companies through periods of transformation and growth as CEO of Nike, ServiceNow and eBay. Earlier in his career, he served as President and CEO of Bain & Company, where he helped guide some of the world's most respected companies through strategic inflection points. His deep expertise at the intersection of technology and customer experience will be invaluable as we move into the commercial phase of our business.

如你所知，這是加入 Aurora 的激動人心的時刻，這種熱情超越了我們的團隊。我們很榮幸約翰·多納霍 (John Donahoe) 加入我們的董事會，但需在即將舉行的年度會議上獲得股東批准。身為Nike、ServiceNow 和 eBay 的首席執行官，約翰帶領標誌性公司經歷了轉型和發展時期。在其職業生涯早期，他曾擔任貝恩公司總裁兼首席執行官，幫助一些全球最受尊敬的公司度過策略轉折點。當我們進入業務的商業階段時，他在技術和客戶體驗交叉領域的深厚專業知識將發揮無價的作用。

With our achievement of commercial launch and transition to this next phase, Sterling Anderson, our Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, has made the decision to leave Aurora at the end of May to pursue an exciting external opportunity in a senior leadership role at an iconic global company. Co-founding this company with Sterling and Drew has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and I'm immensely grateful for every step we've taken together. From the earliest days of whiteboard sketches to shaping our product into what it is today and forging some of the most impactful partnerships, Sterling has been instrumental in putting Aurora on a trajectory of tremendous growth. Beyond the milestones and achievements, it's Sterling's passion, creativity and sheer grit that leave the most lasting impact on all of us. As he begins his next chapter, I know he'll continue to break new boundaries and do amazing things.

隨著我們成功實現商業發布並過渡到下一階段，我們的聯合創始人兼首席產品官斯特林·安德森 (Sterling Anderson) 決定在 5 月底離開 Aurora，去一家標誌性的全球公司擔任高級領導職務，尋求令人興奮的外部機會。與 Sterling 和 Drew 共同創立這家公司是我一生中最有意義的經歷之一，我非常感激我們共同走過的每一步。從最早的白板草圖到將我們的產品塑造成今天的樣子，再到建立一些最具影響力的合作夥伴關係，Sterling 在 Aurora 走上巨大成長軌道方面發揮了重要作用。除了里程碑和成就之外，史特林的熱情、創造力和毅力給我們所有人留下了最持久的影響。當他開始人生的下一個篇章時，我知道他將繼續突破新的界限並做出驚人的事情。

With that, I'll turn it over to Sterling to share a few words.

說完這些，我就把時間交給史特林來分享幾句話。

Thanks, Chris. After eight phenomenal years working with Chris, Drew and the rest of Aurora's remarkable team, I'm embarking on a new adventure. Laving Aurora is one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made, especially given the exciting stage Aurora is at. But it is precisely what gave me the confidence that now is the right time. Aurora has reached a critical inflection point. The product strategy is firmly established, the technology is on the road, the team is in place to scale it and the momentum we've created in the industry is palpable. Watching the Aurora Driver evolve from bold idea to a commercial reality has been nothing short of all inspiring. From our first truck demo to where we are today, it's been a heck of a ride, and I'm so proud of what we've built together.

謝謝，克里斯。在與克里斯、德魯以及奧羅拉其他優秀團隊成員共事八年後，我將展開一段新的冒險。離開 Aurora 是我做過的最艱難的決定之一，尤其是考慮到 Aurora 正處於令人興奮的階段。但正是這一點讓我相信現在是正確的時機。Aurora 已經到達了一個關鍵的轉折點。產品策略已經牢固確立，技術正在路上，團隊已經到位以擴大規模，我們在行業中創造的勢頭是顯而易見的。看著 Aurora Driver 從大膽的想法演變為商業現實，真是令人鼓舞。從我們的第一次卡車演示到今天，這是一個艱難的歷程，我為我們共同創造的一切感到自豪。

More than anything, I've loved working alongside our brilliant and relentlessly driven team, and I'm profoundly grateful to our investors who believed in what we're building and supported Aurora every step of the way. We founded Aurora with the mission to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly and broadly. Aurora and its mission will always remain dear to my heart, and I know Chris and this incredible team will continue to build something enduring. As Aurora transitions into a new commercial chapter, I'll remain a proud co-founder and a significant shareholder. And while we will be from the sidelines, I'll be cheering loudly for everything that's yet to come on Aurora's commercial journey.

最重要的是，我喜歡與我們才華橫溢、不懈努力的團隊一起工作，我非常感謝我們的投資者，他們相信我們正在建立的一切，並在每一步都支持 Aurora。我們創立 Aurora 的使命是安全、快速、廣泛地提供自動駕駛技術的優勢。奧羅拉和它的使命將永遠在我心中珍視，我知道克里斯和這個不可思議的團隊將繼續創造持久的東西。隨著 Aurora 進入新的商業篇章，我將繼續作為公司的聯合創始人和重要股東而感到自豪。雖然我們只是旁觀者，但我會為 Aurora 商業之旅即將發生的一切大聲歡呼。

Now back to Chris.

現在回到克里斯。

Thanks, Sterling. In closing, there have been countless pivotal moments along our journey, and now we can officially say we did it. We set out with an audacious goal to bring safe, self-driving trucking to life, and that vision has become reality. We've developed and validated world-changing technology. We formed industry-leading partnerships. We've earned the trust of our customers who move America's freight and collaborated with government and safety leaders. And importantly, we've executed with integrity at every step. None of this would have been possible without the belief and dedication of our team, partners and investors. This launch milestone marks the beginning of our commercial chapter, and it's also a powerful reflection of what makes Aurora the industry leader, the ability to imagine the future and deliver it. Thank you for being with us on this journey.

謝謝，斯特林。最後，在我們的旅程中經歷了無數的關鍵時刻，現在我們可以正式宣布我們做到了。我們制定了一個大膽的目標，那就是實現安全的自動駕駛卡車運輸，而這個願景已經成為現實。我們已經開發並驗證了改變世界的技術。我們建立了行業領先的合作夥伴關係。我們贏得了運輸美國貨物的客戶的信任，並與政府和安全領導人合作。重要的是，我們每一步都誠信執行。如果沒有我們團隊、合作夥伴和投資者的信念和奉獻，這一切都不可能實現。此次發布里程碑標誌著我們商業篇章的開始，也有力地體現了 Aurora 成為行業領導者的原因，即想像未來並實現未來的能力。感謝您與我們一起踏上這段旅程。

With that, I'll now pass it over to Dave, who will review our financial results.

現在，我將把會議交給戴夫，他將審查我們的財務結果。

Thank you, Chris. It's truly an exciting time in our young history and our continued focus to demonstrate strong, meaningful financial results remains critically important. Let's discuss our quarterly financial results for which we have provided a summary on page 14 of the slide deck for reference.

謝謝你，克里斯。這是我們年輕歷史上真正令人興奮的時刻，我們繼續致力於展示強勁、有意義的財務表現仍然至關重要。讓我們討論一下我們的季度財務業績，我們在投影片第 14 頁提供了摘要以供參考。

During the first quarter of 2025, we continue to demonstrate strong fiscal discipline. First quarter 2025 operating expenses, including stock-based comp, totaled $211 million. Excluding stock-based comp, operating expenses totaled $177 million. Within operating expenses, our R&D expenses, excluding stock-based comp, totaled $153 million. This amount includes $871,000 in pilot revenue, which was up 22% quarter-over-quarter and 54% year-over-year. In the first quarter, this was recorded as a contra R&D expense. Coinciding with the launch of the Aurora Driver in April, we have begun recognizing revenue, which will be reflected on our income statement when we report second quarter results. As a reminder, this will include driverless revenue as well as continued pilot revenue.

2025 年第一季度，我們將持續展現強而有力的財政紀律。2025 年第一季的營運費用（包括股票補償）總計 2.11 億美元。不包括股票補償，營運費用總計 1.77 億美元。在營運費用中，我們的研發費用（不包括股票補償）總計 1.53 億美元。該金額包括 871,000 美元的試點收入，季增 22%，年增 54%。在第一季度，這被記錄為抵消研發費用。在四月 Aurora Driver 上市之際，我們已開始確認收入，這將在我們報告第二季業績時反映在我們的損益表中。提醒一下，這將包括無人駕駛收入以及持續的試點收入。

During the first quarter, SG&A expenses, excluding stock-based comp, totaled $24 million. We used approximately $142 million in operating cash during the first quarter. Capital expenditures totaled $8 million. This cash spend was meaningfully below our externally communicated target, reflecting our continued commitment to fiscal prudence. For the remainder of 2025, we continue to expect quarterly cash use of $175 million to $185 million on average. This reflects an increase in capital expenditures and continued development of our new hardware programs as we prepare to scale our business.

第一季度，銷售、一般及行政費用（不包括股票補償）總計 2,400 萬美元。我們在第一季使用了大約 1.42 億美元的營運現金。資本支出總計800萬美元。這項現金支出明顯低於我們對外傳達的目標，反映了我們對財政審慎的持續承諾。對於 2025 年剩餘時間，我們預計每季現金使用量平均為 1.75 億至 1.85 億美元。這反映了我們在準備擴大業務規模時資本支出的增加和新硬體項目的持續開發。

We ended the first quarter with a very strong balance sheet, including nearly $1.2 billion in cash and short-term investments. This includes $68 million in net proceeds from the issuance of 10 million shares of Class A common stock through our at-the-market program during the first quarter. With this additional capital as well as efficiencies we have found in the business and cash preservation decisions that we have made, we now expect this liquidity to fund our operations into the fourth quarter of 2026.

我們在第一季結束時擁有非常強勁的資產負債表，其中包括近 12 億美元的現金和短期投資。其中包括第一季透過我們的市場發行計畫發行 1,000 萬股 A​​ 類普通股所獲得的 6,800 萬美元淨收益。憑藉這些額外的資本以及我們在業務和現金保留決策中發現的效率，我們現在預計這些流動資金將為我們的營運提供資金，直至 2026 年第四季。

As the only autonomous trucking company operating a driverless commercial product and with the partnership ecosystem in place to scale this technology, we have refreshed our near-term capital strategy to ensure a level of financial flexibility that maintains both our technology and commercial lead. In addition to our core growth initiatives, growing the Aurora Driver-powered fleet, expanding the lanes we operate and unlocking customer endpoints as well as introducing lower-cost hardware, we will continue to evaluate opportunities to further advance our competitive position and/or derisk certain elements of our business.

作為唯一一家經營無人駕駛商業產品的自動駕駛卡車公司，並且擁有擴展該技術的合作夥伴生態系統，我們更新了近期資本策略，以確保一定的財務靈活性，從而保持我們的技術和商業領先地位。除了我們的核心成長計畫、擴大由 Aurora Driver 驅動的車隊、擴大我們營運的車道、解鎖客戶端以及推出低成本硬體之外，我們還將繼續評估進一步提升我們的競爭地位和/或降低某些業務要素風險的機會。

Taking these factors into account, we now expect to raise $650 million to $850 million prior to achieving positive free cash flow, which is anticipated in 2028. We intend to remain opportunistic in our approach to future fundraising and have various mechanisms available, including our at-the-market program. We will continue to maintain a disciplined financial strategy, balancing prudent cost management with growth investments to strengthen our multiyear structural lead and support our path to self-funding.

考慮到這些因素，我們現在預計在實現正自由現金流之前籌集 6.5 億至 8.5 億美元，預計在 2028 年實現。我們打算在未來的籌款方式中繼續保持機會主義，並提供各種機制，包括我們的市場計劃。我們將繼續保持嚴謹的財務策略，在審慎的成本管理和成長投資之間取得平衡，以加強我們多年的結構性領先地位並支持我們走上自籌資金的道路。

With that, we will now open the call to Q&A.

現在，我們將開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of George Gianarikas with Canaccord Genuity.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 Canaccord Genuity 的 George Gianarikas。

Congratulations on the first runs. So my question is, there continues to be a pretty robust conversation in the market around how advancements in AI and outsourced methods to reach simulated miles have accelerated the path for competitors in autonomy, whether it's a trucking or robotaxi. What do you think these competitors may not appreciate about the complexity of bringing an autonomous solution to market regardless of the improvements in AI or a robust marketplace?

恭喜您第一次跑步成功。所以我的問題是，市場上關於人工智慧的進步和實現模擬里程的外包方法如何加速自動駕駛競爭對手的發展（無論是卡車還是機器人出租車）的討論仍在繼續。無論人工智慧如何進步或市場如何強勁，您認為這些競爭對手可能沒有意識到將自主解決方案推向市場的複雜性嗎？

Thanks for the question, George. Yes. We are really excited about having trucks on the road, right? I think people have been talking about this for a long time. And I can tell you, it's just incredible that every day, these are out there and they're just doing it and we've now got two of them doing it on a daily basis. I think that you're right that there's at times a bit of a naivety around how hard it is to actually deliver a real safe product that the core software is obviously critically important. We're doing some very exciting and interesting and innovative things there. But that's only one part of the story. The ecosystem, whether it's the fact that we're partnering with companies that manufacture half the trucks sold in the US market, and we're working with them already on how do we line sight this technology so that it can come out of the factory for their customers. That's a multiyear engagement that even if a competitor will start today, they are literally years behind us.

謝謝你的提問，喬治。是的。我們真的很高興卡車能上路，對吧？我認為人們已經談論這個問題很長一段時間了。我可以告訴你，這真是令人難以置信，每天都有這樣的人存在，他們正在做這件事，現在我們有兩個人每天都在做這件事。我認為您說得對，有時人們會有點天真地認為交付真正安全的產品有多麼困難，而核心軟體顯然至關重要。我們在那裡做一些非常令人興奮、有趣和創新的事情。但這只是故事的一部分。生態系統，無論是我們與生產美國市場上一半卡車的公司合作，還是我們已經在與他們合作，研究如何瞄準這項技術，以便它可以從工廠出來供他們的客戶使用。這是一項多年的合作，即使競爭對手今天開始，他們已經落後我們好幾年了。

Taking the hardware that we have in our first generation, industrializing that into our second and then building -- industrializing that further into the scale hardware is, again, a multiyear endeavor where we've been working with Continental for two years now on the pipeline to launching that in '27. And so again, our competitors have to actually build that relationship and then actually start executing it. And we just -- we don't see anyone who seems to be making progress in that direction at this point. So -- and then we spent a lot of time talking about the kind of the cool technology part of this, but the process to validate and convince ourselves that the product is truly safe and robust to put on the road. That, I think, is an underappreciated bit of secret sauce that we have at Aurora. And it's one of the things that we've been investing heavily in over the last 1.5 years.

將我們第一代硬體工業化應用於第二代硬件，然後進一步建立工業化規模硬件，這也是一項多年的努力，我們已與大陸航空合作兩年，準備在 27 年推出該產品。因此，我們的競爭對手必須真正建立這種關係，然後真正開始執行它。而我們只是──我們目前還沒有看到任何人朝這個方向取得進展。所以——然後我們花了很多時間談論這個產品的酷炫技術部分，但驗證和說服我們自己產品在道路上真正安全且堅固的過程。我認為這是我們 Aurora 未被充分重視的秘密武器。這是我們過去一年半來大力投資的項目之一。

I liken this to the advantage I see SpaceX having over Boeing in the launch business. One of the key elements of their advantage is they can validate their flight software in a week rather than a year, and they've done that through automated testing. That gives them way more shots on goal than the opposition. And we've taken a very similar strategy to how we validate our software here at Aurora so that we can do that rapidly so that we can iterate and continue to respond to customer need and continue to advance our product on the road. And again, years before we see other people even having a product on the road. So we see a structural advantage that we're only going to accelerate away from.

我將此比喻為 SpaceX 在發射業務方面相對於波音的優勢。他們的優勢之一在於他們可以在一周內而不是一年內驗證他們的飛行軟體，而且他們已經通過自動化測試做到了這一點。這使得他們的射門次數比對手多得多。我們採取了與 Aurora 軟體驗證非常相似的策略，以便我們能夠快速完成驗證，從而能夠進行迭代並繼續響應客戶需求，並繼續在路上推進我們的產品。再說一次，早在幾年之前我們就能看到其他人的產品在路上。因此，我們看到了一種結構性優勢，而我們只會加速擺脫它。

So thanks for the question, George.

謝謝你的提問，喬治。

May I just ask one follow-up. I'm going to put Dave a little bit on the spot here. I know it's very early, but based on what you're seeing right now, at your Analyst Day, you gave some guidance out to 2028. Is that still something we could use in terms of thinking about the financial profile of the firm over the next few years?

我可以問一個後續問題嗎？我要讓戴夫在這裡有點為難。我知道現在還為時過早，但根據您目前看到的情況，在分析師日上，您給出了到 2028 年的一些指導。在考慮未來幾年公司的財務狀況時，我們是否仍可以參考這一點？

Yes. If you think about what we said in our Analyst Day in '24, I think everything that we talked about is still generally correct. Obviously, we were a little delayed in when we thought we were going to start to launch by a couple of months. But -- so there's a little bit of a shift to the right. And we're not reaffirming any numbers today, but directionally, the financial ambitions that we talked about before were there. And with the latest estimate that we provided today of $650 million to $850 million, that's still a confident number for the capital that we think we will raise prior to achieving a positive free cash flow.

是的。如果你回想一下我們在 24 年分析師日上說過的話，我認為我們所談論的一切總體上仍然是正確的。顯然，我們原以為要晚幾個月才能開始推出產品，但時間卻被耽擱了一點。但是 — — 因此有一點向右移動。我們今天不會重申任何數字，但從方向上看，我們之前談到的財務目標是存在的。根據我們今天提供的最新估計，即 6.5 億美元至 8.5 億美元，我們認為在實現正自由現金流之前，我們將籌集到這個資金，這仍然是一個有信心的數字。

Our next question is coming from the line of Ravi Shanker with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Ravi Shanker。

And again, congratulations on this pretty incredible achievement. Would love to get any color on the customer and industry feedback you've got since the launch. Are people paying attention to this? Is your phone ringing off the hook admitting that phones don't have hooks anymore?

再次恭喜您取得這項令人難以置信的成就。我很想了解自產品推出以來收到的客戶和產業回饋。人們關注這個嗎？您的電話是否響個不停，表示您已經意識到電話不再有掛機功能了？

Agreed. Yes. Thanks, Ravi. Yes, I think we have heard universal enthusiasm and excitement from our partners, the ecosystem we've built, our customers. And I think it's galvanizing, right, that we've been talking about this. The industry has been talking about this for a while. Our partners have had confidence in us, but there's a difference between having belief and confidence and actually seeing it on the road. And we're seeing that really crystallize conversations with folks. So we're very excited about it. Our customers seem incredibly excited about it. We -- the future moved forward a couple of weeks ago. And so we're excited for that.

同意。是的。謝謝，拉維。是的，我認為我們已經聽到了來自我們的合作夥伴、我們建立的生態系統和客戶的普遍熱情和興奮。我認為我們討論這個問題是令人興奮的。業界已經討論此事有一段時間了。我們的伴侶對我們充滿信心，但擁有信念和信心與在實際中看到它之間還是有差距的。我們看到這確實使與人們的對話更加具體化。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。我們的客戶似乎對此感到非常興奮。我們——未來在幾週前就已經向前邁進了。因此我們對此感到興奮。

I would add, if you talk to our Head of Business Development since the launch, I'd say the phone -- the proverbial phone has been ringing a little bit off the hook. There are a lot of interest in this and demonstrating and showing that is real has been a cornerstone of how we've approached this. And so we're really excited about it. And there is a ton of excitement just in the customer base to learn more.

我想補充一點，如果你自產品推出以來就與我們的業務發展主管交談，我會說電話——眾所周知的電話一直響個不停。人們對此很感興趣，並且展示和表明這是真實的，這是我們處理這個問題的基石。因此我們對此感到非常興奮。客戶群非常渴望了解更多。

Great. And maybe as a quick follow-up, kind of great to see the expansion already to two trucks. How do you determine the next steps of expansion from here? Kind of how do you go from the 2 to 10 to 10s? How do you -- because you already are at autonomous readiness indicator of 100%. So kind of what are the gating catalysts here that determine that? And also, have you decided what metrics you're going to share with us on a quarterly basis?

偉大的。也許作為快速的後續行動，很高興看到已經擴展到兩輛卡車。您如何確定下一步的擴張計劃？那麼你是如何從 2 到 10 再到 10 的呢？您如何—因為您的自主準備指標已經達到 100%。那麼，決定這一點的門控催化劑是什麼呢？此外，您是否已經決定每季與我們分享哪些指標？

Well, I can take the first half of that, and then I'll hand it to Dave for the second half. So we're really looking at our operational execution, right? The product today is limited in a number of ways. So it operates in inclement weather in the daytime, and we've shared our road map through the rest of the year to basically unlock those. No one's really run commercial trucks before. And so we're getting feedback from our operations team on the limitations of that. And those are really what's bounding our ability to scale. It's just making sure we are kind of exercising this and then being able to scale it confidently with that experience under our belt.

好吧，我可以負責前半部分，然後我會把後半部分交給戴夫。所以我們真正關注的是我們的營運執行情況，對嗎？目前的產品在許多方面都受到限制。因此，它可以在白天的惡劣天氣下運行，我們已經分享了今年剩餘時間的路線圖，以基本上解決這些問題。以前沒有人真正駕駛過商用卡車。因此，我們從營運團隊那裡得到了有關其局限性的回饋。這些確實限制了我們擴展能力。這只是為了確保我們能夠練習這一點，然後能夠憑藉我們所累積的經驗自信地擴大規模。

Yes. Relative to the metrics, just a couple of things, right? Our focus for the rest of '25 is really on proving the promise of the technology, right, and increasing the value of the product for our customers, right, and ultimately becoming really essential for the industry. There were a couple of metrics that we used before in terms of the ARM and the API. We'll retire those. Those are development metrics. I think we've went past that stage in terms of how we think about the world. We think about the world in terms of demonstrating value.

是的。相對於指標來說，只有幾件事，對嗎？在 2025 年剩餘時間裡，我們的重點實際上是證明這項技術的前景，對吧，並為我們的客戶提高產品的價值，對吧，並最終成為行業中真正不可或缺的一部分。我們之前使用過一些有關 ARM 和 API 的指標。我們將不再使用這些。這些都是發展指標。我認為，就我們看待世界的方式而言，我們已經過了那個階段。我們從展示價值的角度思考世界。

We haven't finalized all the numbers we're going to have yet, but I would say that you'll get a regular update on our driverless miles, which we talked about today, which frankly, is a little bit dated because it was 4,000 before a couple of runs yet today. So it's always great to see continued progress. So we'll talk more about how are we delivering the promise and part of that is miles, and we'll save some of it for later. But obviously, we will also measure ourselves based on the revenue, which we said before, we expect to be in the mid-single digits throughout 2025.

我們還沒有最終確定所有的數字，但我想說，你會定期收到我們今天討論過的無人駕駛里程的更新信息，坦率地說，這有點過時了，因為在今天的幾次運行之前，這個數字是 4,000。因此，看到持續的進步總是令人高興的。因此，我們將更多地討論我們如何兌現承諾，其中一部分是里程，我們將保留其中一部分以備後用。但顯然，我們也會根據收入來衡量自己，我們之前說過，我們預計到 2025 年收入將維持在中等個位數。

Our next question is coming from the line of Andres Sheppard with Cantor Fitzgerald.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cantor Fitzgerald 的 Andres Sheppard。

Congratulations on the quarter and congratulations on commercialization and very, very exciting and incredible times we're living in. So kudos to the whole team. I know how hard you've all been working for it and how long you've all been working for. So congrats there. Just first question, going back to the crawl versus walk approach. You touched on this a little bit in your prepared remarks. But wondering if you can maybe elaborate a bit on your vision for this year as you ramp up the pensive trucks, what kind of progress should we be looking at? And how should we be thinking about that quarterly progress throughout the year?

恭喜本季度，恭喜商業化，恭喜我們生活在一個非常非常令人興奮和令人難以置信的時代。因此，向整個團隊表示敬意。我知道你們為此付出了多大的努力以及付出了多長時間的努力。恭喜你。第一個問題，回到爬行與行走的方法。您在準備好的發言中稍微談到了這一點。但是我想知道您是否可以詳細說明您對今年的願景，當您增加沉思卡車時，我們應該看到什麼樣的進展？那麼我們該如何看待全年每季的進展呢？

Yes. So as Dave said, really this year is about us taking -- going from the technology didn't exist and to iterating and demonstrating the expansibility of that and increasing the value for customers. So we've shared in the letter our kind of road map for the year, and it's going to be about expanding the places the driver can operate and expanding the availability of the driver, which will make it more valuable for our customers. And so that's really the way to think about it. We expect by the end of the year to be operating on multiple lanes, and we expect to be operating in day and night and in the rain at an increased wind. And so that, at that point, as we continue to build the operational muscle as we continue to get customers more exposure to the product is really setting us up for scale and growth in '26.

是的。正如戴夫所說，今年我們真正要做的事情是——從不存在的技術開始，到迭代和展示其可擴展性，並為客戶增加價值。因此，我們在信中分享了我們今年的路線圖，它將涉及擴大司機可以駕駛的地方以及擴大司機的可用性，這將為我們的客戶帶來更多價值。這就是真正思考這個問題的方式。我們預計到今年年底可以在多條車道上運營，並且我們預計可以在白天和夜晚以及在風力增強的雨天運行。因此，在那個時候，隨著我們繼續增強營運實力，繼續讓客戶更多地接觸產品，我們確實為 26 年的規模和成長做好了準備。

Wonderful. That's super helpful. Really appreciate that. And maybe just as a quick follow-up, maybe a question for David. As we fast forward to 2027, and obviously, I'm aware we're not guiding anything there yet. But just conceptually and maybe fundamentally, just remind us how much of a dramatic improvement in the economics you expect to experience in 2027 through the high-scale manufacturing with Continental, particularly what that means for CapEx, gross margins and anything else you can share?

精彩的。這非常有幫助。真的很感激。也許只是為了快速跟進一下，也許是問大衛一個問題。隨著我們快進到 2027 年，顯然，我知道我們還沒有指導任何事情。但從概念上甚至從根本上來說，請提醒我們，透過與大陸集團的大規模製造，您預計 2027 年經濟狀況將有多大顯著改善，特別是這對資本支出、毛利率以及其他您可以分享的內容意味著什麼？

Thanks, and I appreciate your continued support here. That's a lot to unpack, but let me take a shot. And again, I would refer everybody to kind of the Analyst Day that we did before just to guide ourselves towards that. And we're not kind of reaffirming any of this yet. But I think like what we've said is still very true. There are some significant enablers that we have in place that we expect will allow us to achieve high gross margins in the 2027 time frame. That hasn't changed at all. Our capital allocation needs haven't changed at all as we shift to a Driver-as-a-Service business in the future.

謝謝，謝謝您一直以來的支持。要解開的東西很多，但請讓我試試看。再次，我想讓大家參考一下我們之前舉辦的分析師日活動，以便引導我們實現這一目標。我們還沒有重申這一點。但我認為我們所說的話仍然非常正確。我們已具備一些重要的推動因素，預計這些因素將使我們在 2027 年實現高毛利率。這一點一點都沒有改變。隨著我們未來轉向「駕駛員即服務」業務，我們的資本配置需求根本沒有改變。

We expect in 2027 to have our third-generation hardware kit that is being manufactured by our Continental partnership. We expect to be delivering those line side. And again, we expect to be in the tens of thousands of trucks in the '27 starting from a run rate perspective in the '27 time frame. We think with all of those enablers and our continued focus on our technology rollout, the self similarity of the highway systems that we have, we have all the enablers in place to be able to deliver to these high gross margins and really drive a meaningful value to our customers. I think for us, this is such a pivotal year on the technology promise, and that's what we're laser-focused on. We've spent -- Chris mentioned it before with our OEM partners and with Continental. We've spent the last several years setting ourselves up for the next several years. And that's really something that we think is going to distinguish and allow us to succeed.

我們預計在 2027 年推出由我們與大陸集團合作生產的第三代硬體套件。我們期望能夠將這些交付到生產線上。再次，從 2027 年的運行率來看，我們預計 2027 年卡車產量將達到數萬輛。我們認為，憑藉所有這些推動因素以及我們對技術推廣的持續關注，以及我們擁有的高速公路系統的自相似性，我們擁有所有推動因素，能夠實現這些高毛利率並真正為我們的客戶帶來有意義的價值。我認為對我們來說，這是技術承諾的關鍵一年，也是我們關注的重點。我們已經花費了——克里斯之前與我們的 OEM 合作夥伴和大陸集團提到過這一點。過去幾年我們一直在為未來幾年做準備。我們認為這確實能讓我們脫穎而出並取得成功。

We will take our next question from Chris McNally with Evercore.

我們將回答 Evercore 的 Chris McNally 提出的下一個問題。

Congratulations again, long time coming. Two questions. One AI for Chris and one scaling question for Dave. So Chris, maybe we can talk about what improvements in your hybrid AI approach are next, the 3-year road map, so super helpful. Is it fair to say that the heavy focus here is increased ODD and the weather areas you've been highlighting? And maybe from an AI perspective, are the recent advances in end-to-end and foundational models, is that going to be the help in achieving that progress? Or is it more hardware rather than software?

再次祝賀，好久不見了。兩個問題。一個針對 Chris 的 AI 問題和一個針對 Dave 的擴展問題。所以克里斯，也許我們可以談談你的混合人工智慧方法下一步會有哪些改進，以及三年路線圖，這非常有幫助。是否可以說這裡的重點是增加 ODD 和您一直強調的天氣區域？也許從人工智慧的角度來看，端到端和基礎模型的最新進展是否有助於實現這一進步？或者它更多的是硬體而不是軟體？

Yes, that's a great question. And thank you. Like I said, we continue to be super excited about getting this thing on the road and starting to serve customers with it. On the AI front, we have been -- this is one of the kind of misnomers in the industry. It's like old and new -- like many of the advances that you're seeing in large language models that you're seeing kind of light up the world, the concepts of those are already engaged in the Aurora Driver and have been part of what we've been developing. When we think about night and weather, our trucks are actually operating in these conditions on a daily basis already.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。謝謝你。就像我說的，我們仍然對這款產品上路並開始為客戶提供服務感到非常興奮。在人工智慧方面，我們一直——這是業界一種誤稱。就像新與舊一樣——就像您在大型語言模型中看到的許多進步照亮了世界一樣，這些概念已經融入 Aurora Driver 中，並且已經成為我們一直在開發的一部分。當我們考慮夜晚和天氣時，我們的卡車實際上每天都在這樣的條件下運行。

And as we talked about in the past, it's a matter of getting to the point where we've validated that performance and resolving any of the minor issues that might remain there. And so we're going to continue to evolve the Aurora Driver. We're going to be moving platforms as we go through our future generations of hardware. And so there'll be effort involved with that. There is some increased capability that we've talked about that we need to add, but it's not a -- there's no kind of fundamental change in the way we have to develop anything. We're actually in a very strong position to begin with.

正如我們過去所討論的，問題在於驗證效能並解決可能仍然存在的任何小問題。因此我們將繼續改進 Aurora Driver。隨著我們未來硬體的更新換代，我們將會轉變平台。因此這需要付出努力。我們談到了需要增加一些功能，但這並不是——我們開發任何東西的方式都沒有根本性的改變。事實上，我們一開始就處於非常有利的地位。

That's excellent. So basically on march of the nines, on maybe weather. Dave -- yes, sorry.

太棒了。所以基本上是九月的行軍，也許是天氣。戴夫——是的，對不起。

I would say I wouldn't really characterize it a march of the nines, right? We've now -- the way I would think about it is we have to build the system, we have to build the tooling and the framework to get conviction that really across the vast variety of environmental conditions and -- sorry, on-road conditions that we have to encounter that we can validate that. And that's -- I think we have 2.7 million-some tests that we use to validate the system today. When we move to nighttime, an immense amount of that is the same. It turns out that the way the truck responds to the road and the way we should respond to other operators of the road is basically the same during day or night. There's a narrow part of the system that we need to enhance to deal with the fact that the sun isn't shining, right?

我想說，我不會真的把它描述成九人的遊行，對嗎？我們現在——我的想法是，我們必須建立系統，我們必須建立工具和框架，以便真正確保在各種各樣的環境條件和——抱歉，我們必須遇到的道路條件下，我們能夠驗證這一點。這就是——我認為我們今天已經進行了大約 270 萬次測試來驗證系統。當我們進入夜間時，大部分情況都是一樣的。事實證明，卡車對道路的反應方式和我們對其他道路操作員的反應方式在白天或晚上基本上相同。我們需要增強系統的一小部分來應對太陽不照耀的事實，對嗎？

And then similarly, some of the other advancements we want to make, it's not about corner cases. It's about incremental continuous improvement of the capabilities we already have. So sorry about that. I just -- the march of the nines gives a connotation that's not quite accurate as you're thinking about this.

同樣地，我們想要取得的其他一些進步也與極端情況無關。這是關於我們已有能力的不斷改進。對此我深感抱歉。我只是——九的進行曲所給出的含義並不十分準確，正如您所想的那樣。

Super appreciate. Dave, on Uber Freight, it seems like they're a great partner. It sounds like there's many potential customers within that ecosystem. Maybe we could talk about the ramp road map and it's more of a framework that I'm curious about is the idea to sort of take on 10 or 20 new customers over x number of years, I guess, each to tens of vehicles? Or is there a benefit of scale to getting one to five customers at a very large amount, more than tens of vehicles to get to the hundreds that you want in the fleet over the next two years. So it's more about -- is it large operators or 10 to 20 medium-sized ones, which makes more sense?

非常感謝。戴夫，就 Uber Freight 而言，他們似乎是一個很好的合作夥伴。聽起來該生態系中有很多潛在客戶。也許我們可以談談坡道路線圖，它更像是一個框架，我很好奇這個想法是在 x 年內接納 10 或 20 個新客戶，我想每個客戶有幾十輛車？或者說，透過獲得一到五個客戶的大量車輛（比數十輛汽車多）來達到未來兩年內所需的數百輛汽車數量，是否存在規模效益？所以更重要的是——是大型營運商還是 10 到 20 家中型營運商，哪個更有意義？

I think it's a bit mixed. I think density within a lane for a carrier is something that the carriers look at and that we think about in terms of it. And so some of our carrier partners have a lot of traffic on a lane, and they'd like to supplement it with autonomous trucking to better enable more consistent flow on a lane, pick up new business, et cetera. There are some customers that don't have a great driver supply on a specific lane that would like to use autonomous trucks there to go into new markets. I think every one of them is going to be a little unique. I think the larger carriers that we talk to generally think in larger numbers. So like five trucks is interesting in everything, but it's not going to materially change their business. That's what we're trying to do.

我覺得有點混亂。我認為，對承運人來說，航線內的密度是承運人所關注的，也是我們考慮的因素。因此，我們的一些承運合作夥伴在一條車道上有大量交通流量，他們希望透過自動駕駛卡車運輸來補充，以更好地實現車道上更一致的流量，獲得新業務等等。有些客戶在特定車道上沒有足夠的司機供應，他們希望使用自動駕駛卡車進入新市場。我認為他們每個人都會有點獨特。我認為，我們交談過的大型承運商一般會考慮更大的數字。因此，五輛卡車在各方面都很有趣，但它不會從根本上改變他們的業務。這正是我們正在努力做的事情。

The benefit of the Uber Freight relationship is really to help reach that middle market group that you've mentioned, where we can start to leverage the relationship we have with Uber Freight to create dedicated shipping lanes where we're matching like autonomous trucking capabilities for a specific lane and trying to match that up with shipping needs and Uber Freight has got a network of carriers that they can go work at that are in this 10 to 25 fleet. And so I think that will be our focus in the long term for Uber Freight as one of the mechanisms to get to other carriers. Obviously, it's better for us and a little bit simpler to start at the bigger level numbers. But like our goal is to make sure that the technology helps transform the industry for all players, not just for those really large players.

與 Uber Freight 合作的好處在於，我們能夠真正接觸到您提到的中端市場群體，我們可以開始利用與 Uber Freight 的關係來創建專用航線，為特定航線匹配自動駕駛卡車運輸能力，並嘗試將其與運輸需求相匹配，而 Uber Freight 擁有一個由 10 到 25 個卡車組成的承運商網絡，他們可以在其中開展工作。因此，我認為這將是我們長期關注的重點，Uber Freight 將成為我們與其他承運商合作的機制之一。顯然，從更大層次的數字開始對我們來說更好，也更簡單一些。但我們的目標是確保科技能夠幫助所有參與者改變產業，而不僅僅是那些大型參與者。

Excellent. So sort of a combo of Uber Freight middle market and maybe direct to some of the larger carriers.

出色的。因此，Uber Freight 有點像是中端市場和一些大型承運商的結合。

Our next question is coming from Colin Rusch with Oppenheimer.

我們的下一個問題來自奧本海默公司的 Colin Rusch。

As you look at expanding routes, can you talk about how critical the simulation technology is in terms of being able to get into some of those new routes a little bit faster than some of your peers?

當您考慮擴展航線時，能否談談模擬技術對於比同行更快地進入一些新航線有多重要？

Yes. Well, some of the peer parts fun, but.

是的。嗯，一些同齡人的部分很有趣，但是。

Yes, we can take that offline.

是的，我們可以將其離線。

No. But in terms of our ability to do simulation, it's a critical part of how we approach validation, right? Just trying to drive a bunch of miles just won't get you there, right? That what we need to be able to do is systematically have conviction that we understand the conditions that the vehicle will operate in and that it will respond safely to them. And we've talked in the past about our approach to simulation and where we have these kind of three regions where there's stuff that we can just get instantly from driving for a few hours on the road, stuff that happens all the time.

不。但就我們進行模擬的能力而言，這是我們進行驗證的關鍵部分，對嗎？只是嘗試開車行駛幾英里是無法到達目的地的，對嗎？我們需要做的就是有系統地確信我們了解車輛的運作條件，並且車輛能夠安全地應對這些條件。我們過去曾討論過我們的模擬方法，我們有三個這樣的區域，在這些區域裡，我們可以透過在路上駕駛幾個小時就能立即獲得一些東西，這些東西是一直在發生的事情。

There's things that we've experienced over the 3 million miles we've driven on the road that we can then amplify the rare elements of. And then fortunately, there's a whole lot of bad things that happen in the road that we've never seen. And that's where those last two categories are particularly critical to delivering a safe product and are really where we lean into our simulation capability to give us conviction that the vehicle will handle things that, fortunately, our test engineers do think about that maybe you or I wouldn't even incur to worry about.

我們在路上行駛了 300 萬英里，經歷了一些事情，我們可以放大其中的罕見元素。幸運的是，路上還發生了許多我們從未見過的壞事。最後兩類對於交付安全的產品尤其重要，我們真正依靠的是模擬能力，讓我們確信車輛能夠處理好一些事情，幸運的是，我們的測試工程師確實考慮到了，也許你或我什至不需要擔心。

That's super helpful. And then just given -- you've talked about the driver expense and insurance going higher, but also we're seeing some pretty extreme labor productivity moves. As you think about the pricing model on a medium and long-term basis, how quickly can you start to start pushing forward some incremental price? Is that a consideration yet at this point?

這非常有幫助。然後，剛才您談到了駕駛員費用和保險費用的上漲，但我們也看到了一些相當極端的勞動生產力變動。當您從中長期角度考慮定價模型時，您可以多快開始推動一些增量價格？現在是否已經考慮到這一點了？

Yes. I think maybe it's a bit premature to think about that. I think we have to focus on the technology promise again. I think pricing is going to work itself out. I mean we are going to demonstrate substantial value. And I think we're pretty confident in that. And we're going to be able to deliver cost savings for our carrier partners as well as provide really high margins for us. So if you think about it, it's not just obviously, being safe is amazing, and it is the thing that drives us, and that's why we're here. And there is substantial value in that. But there are so many other things that we're able to do. We talk about the fuel efficiency, our ability to deliver anywhere from 12% to up to 32%, 34% fuel efficiency is really an important aspect and really critical for our partners.

是的。我認為現在考慮這個問題可能有點為時過早。我認為我們必須再次關注技術前景。我認為定價會自行解決。我的意思是我們將展示巨大的價值。我認為我們對此非常有信心。我們將能夠為我們的承運合作夥伴節省成本，並為我們提供真正高的利潤。所以，如果你仔細想想，你會發現安全顯然是件好事，它是我們前進的動力，也是我們來到這裡的原因。這具有重大價值。但我們還能做很多其他的事情。我們談論燃油效率，我們能夠提供從 12% 到 32% 的燃油效率，34% 的燃油效率對於我們的合作夥伴來說確實是一個重要方面，而且非常關鍵。

If you think about our ability to be safer to drive down insurance costs and reduce their liabilities and risk is something that's incredibly important to us. The flexibility of how we drive, whether it be our ability to go longer than the 11 hours of service on a daily basis, that allows our carrier partners to get higher asset utilization. So we think we'll deliver tremendous value, and that will provide us potential to price somewhat equivalent to a human-driven comparison. But even with a slight discount to that, I think we're going to have really robust margins. And I think there is an opportunity to transform the industry, make it safer and also create tremendous value for everybody. And kind of that's our focus.

如果您考慮我們提高安全性的能力，降低保險成本並減少責任和風險，這對我們來說非常重要。我們的駕駛方式非常靈活，無論是每天提供超過 11 小時的服務時間，或是讓我們的承運合作夥伴獲得更高的資產利用率。因此，我們認為我們將提供巨大的價值，這將為我們提供與人工驅動的比較相當的定價潛力。但即使略有折扣，我認為我們的利潤率仍然非常可觀。我認為這是一個改變行業、使其更安全並為每個人創造巨大價值的機會。這就是我們的重點。

And what I'd add to what Dave said is it's kind of I think you led off with like does this create an opportunity for premium pricing. And I think you're astute to observe that this will be a premium product, and it will create a lot of value for customers. And so we will be kind of navigating pricing on how much is it we're trying to expand and grow and deploy our market share versus optimizing for price. And so we'll figure that out. I think that's going to be actually one of the really fun and enjoyable parts of what we do over the next decade.

我想補充戴夫所說的內容，我認為您一開始就問過，這是否為溢價創造了機會。我認為您很敏銳地觀察到這將是一款優質產品，它將為客戶創造很多價值。因此，我們將根據我們試圖擴大、成長和部署市場份額的程度而不是優化價格來決定定價。所以我們會弄清楚的。我認為這實際上將成為我們未來十年所做工作的真正有趣和令人愉快的部分之一。

Our next question is coming from the line of Chris Pierce with Needham.

我們的下一個問題來自 Needham 的 Chris Pierce。

Can you guys give us some detail on -- mapping has sort of become a hot button topic and kind of related back to the incremental validation you talked about on new lanes. Like I guess I just want to get a sense of other people talking about mapping being less important, you guys sort of lean into maps. That's what Waymo does as well. I'd love to hear kind of your view.

你們能否向我們詳細介紹一下——地圖繪製已經成為一個熱門話題，並且與您在新車道上談到的增量驗證有點相關。就像我猜我只是想了解其他人談論地圖不太重要，你們有點傾向於地圖。Waymo 也是這麼做的。我很想聽聽你的看法。

Yes. So the intuition I'd give you to start with is if -- I apologize because I don't know where you live. But if you think about driving around in your neighborhood versus hopping to some other major city that you don't go to very often and start driving there, you feel a heck of a lot more confidence and you'll be a heck of a lot safer driver in an environment where you understand the surroundings and you can anticipate traffic patterns and be ready to be in the left lane here because it's always backed up in the right, but I'm going to go to the right after that because I need to make the turn, right? That understanding that you bake in driving around your neighborhood and you don't have in other places, is what the map allows the truck to have. And it's one of these things that if done poorly, is complicated and hard. If done well, it's a light operational lift and becomes a massive strategic advantage.

是的。因此，我首先要給你的直覺是──我很抱歉，因為我不知道你住在哪裡。但是，如果你想在自己附近開車，而不是跳到其他不常去的大城市開始開車，你會感到更加自信，而且在熟悉周圍環境、預測交通模式的環境中，你會成為一個更安全的司機，並準備好在左車道行駛，因為右邊總是堵車，但之後我會向右轉，因為我需要轉彎，對嗎？地圖可以讓卡車了解你在附近駕駛時所了解的信息，而在其他地方則無法了解。這是其中之一，如果做得不好，就會變得複雜和困難。如果做得好，它將是一個輕鬆的行動提升並成為一個巨大的戰略優勢。

We're already demonstrating to ourselves that we can provide updates to our map in a matter of small number of hours to hour. And so that level of flexibility and for knowledge and leaning into a thing that computers are good at, they're good at storing massive amounts of information and then accessing them. It seems just goofy to brag about not using the thing that they're good at, particularly when we see all these strategic advantages from it. So cool, go do it without a map, if you think you can, but we're pretty excited about our approach we're taking.

我們已經證明，我們可以在短短幾個小時內更新我們的地圖。因此，這種靈活性和知識水平是電腦擅長的事情，它們擅長儲存大量信息，然後訪問它們。吹噓自己沒有使用自己擅長的東西似乎很愚蠢，特別是當我們看到它所帶來的所有這些戰略優勢時。太酷了，如果你認為可以的話，就不用地圖去做吧，但我們對我們採取的方法感到非常興奮。

Okay. And we've talked about fuel efficiency a couple of times. Is there a way to quantify how much longer these trucks can drive in terms of miles or how much farther they can drive before service or before they need to be turned over? Because like what's the right way to think about that benefit versus just the per hour benefit that someone can get from utilizing the Aurora Driver?

好的。我們已經討論過幾次燃油效率問題。有沒有辦法量化這些卡車還能行駛多少英里，或是在維修或需要交還之前還能行駛多遠？因為像那種認為這種好處與人們使用 Aurora Driver 所能獲得的每小時好處相比正確的方式是什麼？

So I think the short answer on that is that we kind of approach every time we send a driverless truck out there a little bit differently. So I think we're more actively managing the trucks and the serviceability of the trucks and ensuring that they have high uptime. So for us, we do regular inspections every time we send them out. It's important for us to do that. But not only that, we're constantly monitoring what's going on with the truck itself, and we're getting indicators and behaviors of what's going on with the truck. So for us, we think that the constant regular attention to the truck is probably where the biggest value proposition is. Trucks are going to have a very similar kind of use pattern between a human driver and a regular driver.

所以我認為，簡短的回答是，我們每次派出無人駕駛卡車時，採取的方法都會有點不同。因此我認為我們正在更加積極地管理卡車及其可維護性並確保它們具有較高的正常運行時間。因此對於我們來說，每次發送時我們都會進行定期檢查。對我們來說，這樣做很重要。但不僅如此，我們還在不斷監控卡車本身的狀況，並獲得卡車狀況的指標和行為。因此，對我們來說，我們認為對卡車的持續定期關注可能是最大的價值主張。卡車在人類駕駛員和普通駕駛員之間的使用模式非常相似。

But the other thing that I would point out is our drivers are consistent. So every time we take off, every time we drive, we always drive the same way. And we're not accelerating because we're trying to get home or meet in hours of service. So we're not going 85 miles an hour when we shouldn't be going 85 miles an hour driving at a constant speed with predictable drive and ship patterns is a very attractive thing for the customers because they know how the wear and tear and how to manage the wear and tear better. So I think we're going to have to prove that out a little bit more for everybody. But we are very confident that like the way we drive, the way we behave, the way we inspect the vehicles is going to be an advantage for service and reliability and warranty of the trucks.

但我想指出的另一件事是我們的驅動力是一致的。因此，我們每次起飛、每次駕駛時，總是以同樣的方式駕駛。我們並沒有加速，因為我們要趕回家或在服務時間內開會。因此，當我們不應該以每小時 85 英里的速度行駛時，我們不會以每小時 85 英里的速度行駛，以可預測的駕駛和航行模式勻速行駛，這對客戶來說非常有吸引力，因為他們知道磨損情況以及如何更好地管理磨損。所以我認為我們必須向所有人進一步證明這一點。但我們非常有信心，我們的駕駛方式、我們的行為方式、我們檢查車輛的方式將對卡車的服務、可靠性和保固產生優勢。

Our next question is coming from the line of Mark Delaney with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的馬克·德萊尼。

A real big congratulations to the entire team and it's something you all have worked on for many, many years. So wonderful to see and also, Sterling, wishing you the best in your next endeavor.

向整個團隊致以誠摯的祝賀，這是你們多年來共同努力的成果。很高興見到你，斯特林，祝你在接下來的努力中一切順利。

Thanks.

謝謝。

David, can you expand on what's leading to the higher level of capital raise you now expect? Is any of that due to an expectation that gross margins might be lower or OpEx needs for the business might be higher than you previously thought? Or is this just about having more flexibility to maybe grow faster and an extra cushion on the balance sheet?

大衛，您能否詳細說明一下導致您現在預期更高水準的融資的原因是什麼？這是否是因為預期毛利率可能會低於預期，或者業務的營運支出需求可能會高於您之前所想的？或者這只是為了擁有更大的靈活性，可能實現更快的成長，並在資產負債表上提供額外的緩衝？

I think -- so no, it is not an indication of deterioration of gross margins. I think there's always going to be a little bit of pressure in terms of our hardware hit costs relative to how the tariffs shake out. So like we're not ignorant of that fact, but we think there's a long way to go for that to play out. And we have -- that's not the issue. If I think about what are some of the fundamental drivers, like first, let's start with, we have $1.2 billion in cash. We've been able to consistently extend our ability to use that money for a longer and longer time period. So we now expect to be able to fund it through 2026. If I look at the last 18 months, our quarterly burn rate has really been well below what we've even expected. So we've got the right discipline in place.

我認為——所以不，這並不表明毛利率下降。我認為，相對於關稅的影響，我們的硬體成本總是面臨一點壓力。所以，我們並非不知道這個事實，但我們認為要實現這一目標還有很長的路要走。我們已經——這不是問題。如果我考慮一些基本驅動因素，例如首先，我們有 12 億美元現金。我們能夠持續延長使用這些資金的時間。因此我們現在預計能夠為其提供資金直至 2026 年。回顧過去 18 個月，我們的季度燒錢率確實遠低於我們的預期。因此，我們已經制定了正確的紀律。

I think we look at it as the last time we really did a thorough how much capital do we need to get to free cash flow positive, that was in 2023. We look at where we are today. We're the only autonomous company out there operating a driverless product. We want to have some flexibility out there to enhance both our technical and our commercial lead. So there is a little bit associated with that. But like I think one of the larger factors is, look, we launched a little bit later, right? We had originally thought we were going to launch at the end of '24. We launched in April. That's an extra four months of -- where everything shifts to the right, and that's just four months of additional spend. So on average, like $50 million a month, that's like $200 million, and that's a large portion of this. So for us, it's merely a reflection of the shift of timing as well as we would like a little bit more flexibility in terms of how we think about expanding our leadership position.

我認為，我們上次真正徹底考慮需要多少資本才能實現自由現金流為正，那是在 2023 年。我們看看我們今天所處的位置。我們是唯一一家經營無人駕駛產品的自主公司。我們希望擁有一定的靈活性，以增強我們的技術和商業領先地位。因此，這有一點關聯。但我認為其中一個更大的因素是，你看，我們推出得晚了一點，對吧？我們原本計劃在 24 年底推出。我們於四月推出。這是額外的四個月——一切都向右移動，這只是四個月的額外支出。因此，平均而言，每月 5000 萬美元，也就是 2 億美元，這是其中很大一部分。因此，對我們來說，這只是時間轉變的反映，我們希望在如何擴大我們的領導地位方面擁有更多的靈活性。

That all makes sense. My other question was thinking about the number of miles your trucks can do. The road map in your presentation today shows that by the end of the year, you expect to expand the types of weather and also the lighting conditions the trucks can operate in. So what would that mean in terms of how many miles on an annualized basis the trucks can do exiting the year? And how does that compare to how many miles the trucks can do currently?

這一切都是有道理的。我的另一個問題是考慮你的卡車可以行駛多少英里。您今天示範中的路線圖顯示，到今年年底，您預計將擴大卡車可在何種天氣類型和照明條件下行駛。那麼，就卡車在年底可以行駛多少英里而言，這意味著什麼？這與卡車目前行駛的里程數相比如何？

So if we're -- if we just think about it in terms of daylight today, right, like we operate on the Dallas to Houston lane. So if you take off in the morning, do a turn and come back, that's roughly 400 miles for a truck. That's roughly an 8-hour sort of time period. That's kind of in the daylight time period. Depending on like summer and winter months, you get some more daytime. So let's call it, 400 to 600 miles that a truck can operate in a daytime condition today, right? So if we didn't make a turn from Houston back up to Dallas, we could drive the Fort Worth-El Paso route and maybe do it in that daytime. We're looking to basically double that. So once you unlock nighttime, we would look to be able to go from, let's call it, eight hours of drive time to 16 hours of drive time. And then we'll just fill the demand that way. And so for me, I think about looking at it like double.

所以如果我們 — — 如果我們只是從今天的白天來考慮，就像我們在達拉斯到休斯頓的航線上行駛一樣。因此，如果您早上出發，轉彎然後返回，那麼對於卡車來說，行駛里程約為 400 英里。這大約是 8 小時的時間段。那有點像白天的時間段。根據夏季和冬季的情況，您會獲得更多的白天時間。那麼，我們可以說，卡車在今天的白天條件下可以行駛 400 到 600 英里，對嗎？因此，如果我們不從休士頓返回達拉斯，我們可以沿著沃斯堡-埃爾帕索路線行駛，也許可以在白天完成。我們希望將這個數字翻倍。因此，一旦解鎖夜間模式，我們希望能夠將駕駛時間從 8 小時延長至 16 小時。然後我們就會以這種方式滿足需求。所以對我來說，我認為應該把它看作雙重的。

And then if I compare it to the industry average, the industry average is kind of on average for an over the road driving on average for a truck to about eight hours a day or maybe a little bit less, right? And so for me, I think we're going to be able to quickly double the utilization. We'll continue to think about like optimizing. We would like to have a high return on asset for every truck that we have. And so we'll try to drive efficiency to get as many miles on as many trucks as fast as possible. But I think the right way to think about it is we should be able to double our drive time as soon as we unlock night. And that's kind of our next key milestone.

然後，如果我將其與行業平均水平進行比較，那麼行業平均水平就是卡車平均每天在路上行駛的時間大約是八小時，或者可能更少一點，對嗎？因此對我來說，我認為我們將能夠迅速使利用率翻倍。我們將繼續思考如何進行優化。我們希望我們擁有的每輛卡車都能獲得高資產回報率。因此，我們將盡力提高效率，讓盡可能多的卡車盡快行駛盡可能多的里程。但我認為正確的思考方式是，一旦解除夜間限制，我們就應該能夠將駕駛時間增加一倍。這就是我們的下一個重要里程碑。

We will take our next question from the line of Itay Michaeli with TD Cowen.

下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Itay Michaeli。

Congrats on the achievement. Just two follow-ups for me. First, hoping you could walk us through just some of the steps you typically take when you expand a lane. And of those steps, how should we think about go-forward acceleration in lane expansion once you go through your first few expansions in the next year or so?

恭喜您取得這項成就。對我來說只有兩個後續問題。首先，希望您能向我們介紹一下擴展車道時通常採取的一些步驟。在這些步驟中，當您在未來一年左右完成前幾次擴張後，我們應該如何考慮加速車道擴張的前進？

Yes. I think each successive lane will become easier and easier. So today, we have basically the vast majority of the driving task. As we unlock the Phoenix, the Fort Worth to El Paso to Phoenix, three lanes, there's a few additional things we want to be able to handle that aren't in today. A big example that I've talked about in the past is the customs and border patrol station. Today, we drive through that autonomously, but we haven't validated for that. So as we validate that, as we validate the ability to drive day at night, that's most of what we need. And then as we unlock new lanes, we'll look at, is there something novel about this environment that we have to open up. And we expect that, that's going to fall off very quickly because, again, the freeway system in the US is intended to be self similar and consistent.

是的。我認為每一條後續路線都會變得越來越容易。所以今天我們基本上承擔了絕大多數的駕駛任務。當我們打通鳳凰城、沃斯堡到埃爾帕索到鳳凰城的三條車道時，我們也想處理一些今天無法處理的其他事情。我過去談到的一個很好的例子就是海關和邊境巡邏站。今天，我們實現了自動駕駛，但尚未驗證這一點。因此，當我們驗證這一點時，當我們驗證夜間白天駕駛的能力時，這就是我們所需要的。然後，當我們開闢新的道路時，我們會看看，這個環境是否有一些我們必須開放的新東西。我們預計，這一數字將會迅速下降，因為美國的高速公路系統旨在實現自相似和一致。

And then the industrial parks that we will travel to are all built really for trucks to go in and out of. So there's kind of a lot of commonality there. So like I said, expected to get faster. Some measure of that, right? It's taken us eight years to get to the first one. By the end of the year, we expect to have four and then going from there, maybe faster still.

然後，我們將要參觀的工業園區實際上都是為卡車進出而建造的。因此，它們之間有很多共同點。所以就像我說的，預計會變得更快。某種程度上是這樣，對吧？我們花了八年的時間才完成第一個。到今年年底，我們預計將擁有四個，然後從那裡開始，也許速度會更快。

Yes, absolutely. That's very helpful. As a quick follow-up, the shareholder letter mentioned some exciting performance gains in the second-generation kit. I was hoping you could elaborate on that and to what (inaudible) expand your ODDs further?

是的，絕對是。這非常有幫助。作為快速跟進，股東信中提到了第二代套件的一些令人興奮的性能提升。我希望您能詳細說明這一點，並進一步擴展您的 ODD？

I'm sorry, I lost the middle part of the question. For whatever reason, the phone seems to be cutting out a little bit. I apologize.

抱歉，我把問題的中間部分弄丟了。不管是什麼原因，電話似乎有點斷線了。我很抱歉。

Sorry about that. Just to elaborate on the performance gains for the second-generation kit mentioned in the shareholder letter and to what extent might those gains help you expand into further ODDs?

很抱歉。只是想詳細說明股東信中提到的第二代套件的效能提升，以及這些提昇在多大程度上可以幫助您擴展到更多的 ODD？

Yes. It's really for that system. We expect that we'll be able to see incrementally farther than we can today. The FirstLight Lidar that we're developing that we have on the road today is incredible and best-in-class, and it will continue to get better, and that will allow us to react earlier and more smoothly even than we do today to hazards on the roadway. The rest of it is really about driving the economic benefit, right, and taking cost out of the system as we take the first step to industrialization and then take another large step as we go to the Continental third-generation hardware kit.

是的。它確實適用於該系統。我們期望我們能夠比現在看得更遠。我們正在開發的、目前在道路上使用的 FirstLight 雷射雷達令人難以置信，是同類產品中最好的，而且它還會繼續改進，這將使我們能夠比現在更早、更平穩地對道路上的危險做出反應。其餘部分實際上是為了推動經濟效益，對吧，並在我們邁出工業化的第一步時降低系統成本，然後在我們轉向大陸第三代硬體套件時邁出另一大步。

One of the elements that's mentioned in there, right, is the scaling aspect. This is -- we built a small number of first-generation hardware kits to demonstrate our initial launch. This is our next generation in addition to driving down the cost and improving the reliability and durability of these hardware kits. It's just the quantum of kits that we can build. And that's what allows us to also expand into other areas. Right now, we just wouldn't have enough trucks to go expand all throughout the lower US.

其中提到的要素之一就是擴展方面。這是——我們製造了少量的第一代硬體套件來展示我們的首次發布。這是我們的下一代產品，除了降低成本之外，還提高了這些硬體套件的可靠性和耐用性。這只是我們可以製造的套件的數量。這也使我們能夠擴展到其他領域。目前，我們沒有足夠的卡車去擴張整個美國南部地區。

We will take our next question from Scott Group with Wolfe Research.

我們將回答來自 Wolfe Research 的 Scott Group 的下一個問題。

This is Cole on for Scott Group. I know you're operating your own fleet right now, and it's good to hear that there's a lot of enthusiasm from partners kind of post the launch. But at this point, are there any firm commitments from carriers looking to utilize the Aurora Driver with their own fleets kind of once the new Fabrinet and Continental hardware goes into place? And -- or said differently, is there any indication about how quickly some of these larger carriers want to scale your technology post the launch?

我是斯科特集團的科爾。我知道您目前正在經營自己的船隊，很高興聽到合作夥伴在推出新船後表現出很大的熱情。但目前，一旦新的 Fabrinet 和 Continental 硬體投入使用，是否有任何承運商做出堅定承諾，希望在自己的車隊中使用 Aurora Driver？或者換句話說，有沒有跡象表明這些大型營運商希望在推出後以多快的速度擴展您的技術？

So our model has been that we will continue to operate a fleet for some amount of time here. And we think that's really important twofold. One is that this is new technology on the road, and it allows us to learn the challenges in operating it. No one's done this before, so that we can kind of clean that up a little bit and provide an amazing experience and value proposition for our customers before we hand it over to them and have to support it remotely. At this point, we have commitments for us to operate trucks for customers. We have lots of positive indications, but they're looking -- some of the larger customers, as Dave mentioned earlier, don't get out of bed for five trucks. It would just be an overhead to their operations that if they can't get hundreds of them, they're not going to be interested. And so that will come along with our second and third-generation hardware.

因此，我們的模式是，我們將在這裡繼續運作一段時間。我們認為這具有雙重重要性。一是，這是一項新技術，它讓我們了解操作它所面臨的挑戰。以前沒有人這樣做過，因此，在將產品交給客戶並提供遠端支援之前，我們可以稍微清理一下，並為客戶提供令人驚嘆的體驗和價值主張。目前，我們已承諾為客戶營運卡車。我們有很多積極的跡象，但他們正在尋找——正如戴夫之前提到的，一些大客戶不會為了五輛卡車而起床。如果他們無法獲得數百個這樣的產品，那麼這對他們的營運來說只是一筆開銷，他們也不會感興趣。這將與我們的第二代和第三代硬體一起推出。

I don't know Dave, if you can add more color.

我不知道戴夫，你是否可以添加更多顏色。

Yes. The only thing I'd say is every one of our pilot partners before we had launched and even the partnerships that we have in place, we've always started with kind of an aligned mission of like the goal of autonomous trucking and making sure that we had an aligned vision of where it would go. And so every single one of them with maybe the exception of Uber Freighter doesn't purchase trucks. Every one of them is with the intention that they will buy trucks equipped a scalable AV platform equipped with the Aurora Driver, and we will provide a driver-as-a-service.

是的。我唯一想說的是，在我們推出之前，我們的每一位試點合作夥伴，甚至我們已經建立的合作夥伴關係，我們總是從一個一致的使命開始，例如自動駕駛卡車的目標，並確保我們對它的發展方向有一個一致的願景。因此，除了 Uber Freighter 之外，其他所有公司都不會購買卡車。他們每個人的意圖都是購買配備有可擴展 AV 平台和 Aurora Driver 的卡車，而我們將提供駕駛員即服務。

So the long-term intention for every partner we have is for that model. It's just -- we just need to continue to demonstrate the technology promise and get to our generations of hardware and our line side installed to enable that for them. But the -- every single one of them wants to do this that way because it integrates within the rest of their business. So it's really valuable for them to be able to integrate within their existing structure.

因此，我們與每個合作夥伴的長期目標都是採用這種模式。只是——我們只需要繼續展示技術前景，並安裝我們的幾代硬體和線路側來實現這一點。但是——他們每個人都想這樣做，因為這可以融入他們的其他業務。因此，對他們來說，能夠融入現有結構確實很有價值。

Okay. That's helpful. And maybe just on the OEM side, you guys already have partnerships with PACCAR and Volvo. But post the launch, have you been approached by Daimler and Navistar to start a conversation about new partnerships? And I know we've kind of heard from a few investors and people have asked us like have you had any conversations with any of the OEMs about potentially consolidating the carrier market at some point once the technology is kind of scaled? I know it's early days and you're kind of focused on what's ahead of you in the next couple of months, but just curious if the conversations have happened.

好的。這很有幫助。也許僅在 OEM 方面，你們已經與 PACCAR 和 Volvo 建立了合作夥伴關係。但在發布之後，戴姆勒和納威司達是否曾與您聯繫過，商談新的合作事宜？我知道我們已經聽到一些投資者的聲音，人們問我們，您是否與任何 OEM 進行過對話，討論一旦技術達到一定規模，是否有可能在某個時候整合運營商市場？我知道現在還為時過早，您主要關注的是未來幾個月要做的事情，但我只是好奇對話是否已經進行。

So on the first part, we have ongoing conversations across the industry, and we would be thrilled to work with every OEM. And that's our aspiration is that a customer who'd like to get access to the Aurora Driver can use that on whatever vehicle they're excited for. So we'll continue to have conversations. And when those become fruitful, we'll be sure to let you know. In terms of how the market evolves over time, as Dave said, we want to be supporting both the large fleets and the midsized fleets, and we'll let the market figure itself out. So far I'm not smart enough to know how that's going to play out.

因此，在第一部分中，我們與整個行業進行了持續的對話，我們很高興與每個 OEM 進行合作。我們的願望是，想要使用 Aurora Driver 的客戶可以在他們喜歡的任何車輛上使用它。因此我們會繼續對話。當這些成果取得成果時，我們一定會通知您。至於市場如何隨時間演變，正如戴夫所說，我們希望同時支援大型車隊和中型車隊，我們會讓市場自行解決。到目前為止我還不夠聰明，我不知道事情會如何發展。

Okay. And if I could squeeze one last question in. I know like you're on your first hardware generation. But as you move to your Fabrinet and your Continental generations, can you maybe talk through the execution risk or how transferable the software is as you kind of integrate with the new hardware?

好的。如果我還能擠出時間問最後一個問題的話。我知道您使用的是第一代硬體。但是，當您轉向 Fabrinet 和 Continental 系列時，您能否談談執行風險，或者軟體在與新硬體整合時的可轉移性如何？

Yes. We have a strategy for how we're evolving from the hardware we have today to the Fabrinet second-generation hardware to the Continental hardware. We've had work streams in flight for some time. This is -- it's not like we're waking up today and discovering we have to do this. And so we've been -- the architectural approach we've taken, the strategy we have for how we move the software forward is understood, and we're continuing to execute that. So of course, there's execution risk, but it's very manageable.

是的。我們有一個策略，關於如何從現有的硬體發展到 Fabrinet 第二代硬件，再到 Continental 硬體。我們的工作流程已經運行了一段時間了。這——並不是我們今天醒來後發現我們必須這樣做。因此，我們一直以來——我們所採取的架構方法，我們推動軟體發展的策略都是已知的，並且我們正在繼續執行。因此，當然存在執行風險，但這是可以控制的。

Thanks, Cole, so much. We're out of time. So we really appreciate everyone's questions. And for anyone that we didn't get into the queue, please feel free to follow up, and we can take it offline.

非常感謝，科爾。我們沒時間了。因此我們非常感謝大家的提問。對於我們未列入隊列的任何人，請隨時跟進，我們可以將其下線。

Thank you. This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

謝謝。今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以隨時斷開連線。