Aurora Parks Itself In Pittsburgh, Now Its Sole Corporate Headquarters

Aurora Innovation Inc. announced it will be adopting Pittsburgh as its sole corporate headquarters, dropping its dual headquarters status with Mountain View, California, as the autonomous vehicle company races to go public toward the end of the year.

As part of that announcement, Aurora also said it will be donating $65,000 to fund STEM-related requests solicited from Allegheny County teachers via the DonorsChoose platform to further support future generations of those looking to enter the science and technology industry.

"With its incredible universities and focus on innovation, Pittsburgh has been home to Aurora since we were founded and we’re committed to continued growth right here in this community," said Aurora VP of Government Relations Gerardo Interiano in a prepared statement. "With a firm belief in the future of this city and its workforce, we’re excited to have our corporate headquarters here and be making a donation that will help fund the city’s next generation of technologists and roboticists."

In its announcement, Aurora touted Pittsburgh as being home to many of the company's firsts. The city marked the first place the company had a self-driving vehicle operate autonomously on a test track. Pittsburgh also marked the first time Aurora had vehicles autonomously navigate tunnels and drive in the snow, too.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation also awarded Aurora the commonwealth's first official authorization for an AV company to operate on public streets.

“Pittsburgh is the birthplace of automated vehicles and Aurora’s headquarters decision further cements our talent and our industry as leaders in this space,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to further collaboration with Aurora and this industry as we safely and efficiently develop the future of transportation.”

Aurora said the majority of its 1,600-person workforce is already in Pittsburgh and it's continuing to grow its presence in the region. Last year, it expanded into office space on Smallman Street in the Strip District, where it also has operations in the Crucible Building a few blocks down the road, and maintains a location in Robotics Row in Lawrenceville and at its test track in Hazelwood, which it acquired from its merger with Uber's self-driving division, Uber ATG, back in January 2021.

"I am incredibly pleased that Aurora has selected Pittsburgh as its corporate headquarters," Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto said in a prepared statement. "Aurora has been an outstanding partner in this city and a critical part of our growing autonomous vehicle economy. Together, we will continue to make Pittsburgh a leader in 21st century mobility."

For Dave Mawhinney, the executive director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, the decision for Aurora to make its corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh doesn't come as a surprise at all. He said the city's low cost of living relative to the Bay Area in California and its ability to attract and grow talent in the region is having a remarkable effect at enticing companies to establish a foundation in Pittsburgh. Mawhinney also took note of the fact that two of Aurora's co-founders, CEO Chris Urmson and Chief Technology Officer Drew Bagnell, are both alums of CMU.

"I think you're seeing that with the density of talent, technical talent that we have here in Pittsburgh and the ability of other senior executives to live in other cities and work remotely, Pittsburgh becomes a very, very attractive place to put your headquarters," Mawhinney said. "I think you're going to see more companies come to Pittsburgh like you've seen go to Austin, Texas, recently, and I'm excited about that."

According to Leon Hoffman, an office managing partner at EY in Pittsburgh, Aurora's decision to establish its official headquarters in Pittsburgh could prove encouraging for future companies looking to do the same.

"When you look at Pittsburgh, we've had a tremendous amount of investment and a tremendous amount of startup companies that have had great success," Hoffman said. "What we haven't (had) though is what we've seen over the last couple of months, which is one, Duolingo becoming a stand-alone public company, and now a company like Aurora that is on the path towards becoming a public company. So I think that's great news for the region."

Aurora now joins Argo AI as the second AV company to establish Pittsburgh as its sole corporate headquarters. Dublin, Ireland-based Aptiv, Boston-based Motional and Mountain View-based Waymo all maintain AV-related operations in Pittsburgh, too. Aurora will continue to maintain operations out of Mountain View and other parts of the Bay Area in addition to its locations in North Texas; Bozeman, Montana; Seattle, Washington; Louisville, Colorado; and Wixom, Michigan.

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