The driverless car race is well underway. While Waymo is seen as having a leadership position, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is aiming for robotaxi debuts likely in 2026. Thus far, the race to bring autonomous trucks to life to address driver shortages is a bit more open. Aurora Innovation (AUR) is seen as the leader at this juncture and is backed by Uber (UBER), boasting key partnerships with Paccar (PCAR), Nvidia (NVDA), and Volvo (VOLCAR-B.ST). The company has successfully debuted driverless commercial trucks on select routes in Texas, with plans to expand to more routes in 2026. Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi talks on the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with Aurora Innovation co-founder and Chris Urmson. Urmson led Google's (GOOG) driverless technology unit for several years, which ultimately became Waymo. He shares his vision for Aurora Innovation, the 2026 product roadmap, and why autonomous technology is needed for commercial trucks.

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves, and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor, before the stock market opens.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

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Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered is hosted by Brian Sozzi and produced by Langston Sessoms.

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