With its focus on commercial launch, Aurora names Nat Beuse as Chief Safety Officer

Aurora reaffirms safety’s central role in autonomous vehicle development and deployment as it hits key milestones and validates its trucking product

Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUR) has named Nat Beuse to be its first Chief Safety Officer. Beuse is an internationally recognized safety expert in vehicle technology, policy, and safety standards with over 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors.

Naming a Chief Safety Officer aligns with Aurora’s focus on closing its Aurora Driver Safety Case, which will demonstrate when Aurora’s autonomous semitrucks are acceptably safe for driverless operations on public roads. The role reports directly to CEO Chris Urmson and, in this elevated position, Beuse will continue to grow and enforce safety’s role in the development, deployment, and commercialization of Aurora’s autonomous vehicle products. This includes establishing and managing the organization’s internal and external corporate safety strategies, policies, standards, and programs. Much of this work is organized through the execution of Aurora’s industry-leading safety case and approach to safety risk management.

“Safety is at the core of Aurora’s mission, and we’re deeply invested in autonomous vehicles’ potential to save lives and deliver value to businesses, consumers, and the general public,” said Chris Urmson, Co-Founder and CEO at Aurora. “Nat has helped Aurora set the pace in areas that advance our product, operations, and strong safety culture, and his leadership will continue to play a critical role as we prepare for commercialization.”

Beuse previously served as the company’s Vice President of Safety and, prior to joining Aurora, was the Head of Safety at Uber ATG. He also spent nearly two decades in leadership and executive roles at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including roles related to consumer information, research, and regulation for transportation technology, passenger vehicles, and commercial vehicles. Today, Beuse is also a board member for Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Lifesavers Inc., and will continue to lead Aurora’s safety functions from Pittsburgh.

“The current state of safety on our roads is unacceptable, and I firmly believe autonomous vehicles will help save lives and significantly reduce vehicle collisions,” said Beuse. “We’re committed to setting a high bar for our industry by prioritizing a safety approach with responsibility and transparency at the forefront. There is no team better equipped than Aurora to deploy safe, scalable autonomous vehicles.”

Aurora recently confirmed that the Aurora Driver is Feature Complete, a critical milestone in its path to launching Aurora Horizon, its autonomous trucking subscription service. By the end of 2023, Aurora expects to complete the necessary validation to close the Aurora Driver Safety Case for driverless operations on its Dallas-Houston launch lane.

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