Aurora Co-Founder Sterling Anderson Exits Self-Driving Truck Venture

Sterling Anderson, a veteran in the early autonomous vehicle sector and co-founder of Aurora, is resigning just a week after the company’s launch of its commercial self-driving truck service in Texas.

Anderson held the position of chief product officer at Aurora. His resignation was announced in a regulatory filing accompanying the company’s first-quarter earnings report. It will take effect on June 1, and he will exit the board on August 31.

In the filing, the company noted that his resignation from the board “did not result from any disagreement with the Company concerning its operations, policies, or practices. The Company and the entire Board extend their sincere thanks for Mr. Anderson’s service and significant contributions over the years as a founder, Chief Product Officer, and board member.”

Anderson is reportedly transitioning to a senior leadership position at a prominent global corporation, as mentioned during the company’s earnings call.

Although he was not available for comments, he did provide insights during the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

“Leaving Aurora is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made, particularly given the exciting phase Aurora is currently in,” he stated during Thursday’s call. “This is precisely what reassured me that now is the right time. Aurora has reached a crucial juncture; our product strategy is well-established, the technology is operational, the team is ready to scale, and the momentum we’ve built within the industry is undeniable.”

Before co-founding Aurora in 2017 with CEO Chris Urmson, the former leader of Google’s self-driving initiative, and Drew Bagnell, formerly responsible for Uber’s autonomy and perception team, Anderson was the director of Tesla’s Autopilot program. This trio is acknowledged as pioneers in the autonomous vehicle field, bringing significant attention to Aurora and attracting notable investors such as Sequoia Capital, Amazon, and T. Rowe Price Associates, along with various partnerships.

Aurora gained further visibility in December 2020 when it struck a deal with Uber to acquire the ride-hailing company’s self-driving unit, in a complex arrangement valuing the combined entity at $10 billion. As part of this acquisition, Aurora did not pay cash for Uber ATG, which had been valued at $7.25 billion following a $1 billion investment from Toyota, DENSO, and SoftBank’s Vision Fund in 2019. Instead, Uber transferred its equity in ATG and invested $400 million into Aurora, obtaining a 26% stake in the merged company, as per a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In just four years, the company evolved from a promising startup to a publicly traded entity via a merger with the special purpose acquisition company Reinvent Technology Partners Y, which was founded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Zynga founder Mark Pincus, and managing partner Michael Thompson.

Aurora, still in the development phase and years away from consistent revenue, has faced challenges since going public in 2021, focusing on self-driving trucks while sidelining other ventures such as robotaxis.

At the end of last month, Aurora announced the successful launch of its self-driving truck service in Texas, narrowly meeting its self-imposed deadline.