Aurora Innovation NASDAQ: AUR executives said the company expects to reach at least 200 commercially operating, fully driverless trucks on public roads in 2026, supported by contracted capacity and growing customer demand for its Driver-as-a-Service offering. During a town hall with retail investors, CEO and Chairman Chris Urmson and CFO Dave Maday discussed Aurora’s technology position, production plans, financing approach, customer adoption and operational expansion. The company said it would not provide financial outlook beyond its previously issued 2026 guidance. Technology and competitive position Urmson said advances in artificial intelligence are helping Aurora’s business but argued that AI alone does not solve the challenge of deploying autonomous technology in safety-critical trucking applications. “There’s a big gap between a demo you could vibe code together” and industrializing autonomous driving for an 80,000-pound vehicle traveling at highway speeds, Urmson said. He pointed to Aurora’s investments in three generations of hardware, its supply-chain relationships, customer network and operating experience as elements of a defensible competitive advantage. Urmson said Aurora is currently the only company operating driverless trucks on public roads and believes its first-mover position will compound as customers gain experience with the Aurora Driver. He said the company expects its technology to continue improving in areas including dynamic rerouting, operating efficiency, weather capability and fleet availability. Aurora expects to operate in light snow and colder weather by the end of the year, Urmson said. For severe conditions such as flooding, black ice or heavy storms, he said the system continuously monitors its environment and can slow down, seek a safe location, pull over or stop when appropriate. Aurora also uses a command-center function to proactively avoid routes affected by significant weather events, according to Urmson. Production capacity and route growth Maday said Aurora is fully contracted to support its 2026 target of