Silicon Valley-based autonomous driving startup Nuro recently announced a significant strategic shift, launching the Nuro Driver autonomous driving system and opening up its technology for licensing to automakers and mobility service providers. This move marks Nuro's transition from focusing on developing its own delivery robots to becoming a broad supplier of autonomous driving technology, potentially venturing into areas ranging from passenger cars to ride-hailing services and delivery robots.
Image source note: The image was generated by AI, with licensing provided by Midjourney.
The Nuro Driver is an autonomous driving system that covers SAE levels 2 to 4 automation, powered by Nvidia Drive Thor chips and Arm Neoverse CPUs. The system combines automotive-grade hardware with AI-driven autonomous software and can be customized for specific use cases. Nuro emphasizes that its technology has proven reliable in over 1 million miles of autonomous driving tests without any fault incidents.
Nuro's co-founder and CEO, Zhu Jiajun, stated: "The普及 of L4 autonomous driving technology is not a question of 'if,' but 'when.' We believe that Nuro will be a major contributor to the future of autonomous technology for the free movement of people and goods." This ambitious declaration reflects the company's confidence in its technology and market prospects.
However, the backdrop of this strategic shift is worth noting. Nuro has previously undergone two rounds of layoffs affecting hundreds of employees and has restructured its business. The company also abandoned its plan to collaborate with BYD to develop the R3 delivery vehicle. Despite this, Nuro insists that its financial situation is sound, describing this transition as a significant expansion of its business model rather than a desperate move under financial pressure.
Nuro's transformation mirrors the approach of UK-based Wayve, which recently partnered with Uber to develop autonomous vehicles. In the autonomous driving technology field, Nuro emphasizes its "commercial independence," which could be an advantage for attracting automakers who do not wish to collaborate with tech giants. After all, leading autonomous driving companies like Waymo, Zoox, and Cruise are respectively affiliated with Alphabet, Amazon, and General Motors.