Aurora Innovation, Inc. Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Equity Incentive Plans

Equity Incentive Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

The Company has outstanding awards granted under four equity compensation plans: the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), the Legacy Aurora 2017 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2017 Plan”), the Blackmore Sensors & Analytics, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Blackmore Plan”), and the OURS Technology Inc 2017 Stock Incentive Plan (the “OURS Plan”). The Company assumed awards under the 2017 Plan, the Blackmore Plan and the OURS Plan to the extent such employees continued as employees of the Company.

The Plan includes an annual increase in class A common shares available for issuance on the first day of each fiscal year beginning in fiscal 2022 and ending in fiscal 2031 equal to the lesser of (i) 121 million, (ii) 5% of total shares outstanding on the last day of the preceding fiscal year, and (iii) a lesser number of shares determined by the Plans’ administrator. Any stock options, RSUs or other awards from the 2017 Plan, the Blackmore Plan, or the OURS Plan that, on or after the Closing Date, expire or otherwise terminate without having been exercised or issued in full are added to the Plan up to a maximum of 121 million shares. As of December 31, 2023, there were 193 million shares available for grant under the Plan.

Under the Plan, equity-based compensation in the form of RSUs, restricted stock awards, incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, and performance units may be granted to employees, officers, directors, consultants, and others.

Restricted Stock Units

RSUs granted under the 2017 Plan generally are subject to two vesting requirements: (1) a time-based vesting requirement, and (2) a liquidity event. Generally, the time-based vesting requirement is quarterly over four years starting on the vesting commencement date, with a one-year cliff. The liquidity event vesting requirement was satisfied with the Merger.

RSUs granted under the Plan generally are subject to a time-based vesting requirement. Generally, the time-based vesting requirement is quarterly over one to four years starting on the vesting commencement date, with a one-year cliff vesting for new hire awards.

RSUs granted under the Plan and the 2017 Plan were as follows:


	Twelve Months Ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
RSUs granted (in millions)	63		113		45
Weighted average grant date fair value	$	1.74	$	3.62	$	4.56

RSU activity under the Plan and the 2017 Plan was as follows (in millions, except per share amounts):


	Number of shares	Weighted- average grant date fair value
Unvested at December 31, 2022	103	$	3.70
Granted	63	1.74
Vested	(49)	3.27
Forfeited	(17)	3.17
Unvested at December 31, 2023	100	$	2.76

The unrecognized stock-based compensation related to unvested RSUs was $233 million at December 31, 2023 and will be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.4 years. The fair value of RSUs as of their respective vesting dates was $118 million, $90 million and $10 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Stock Options

The exercise price of stock options granted under the Plan and the 2017 Plan may not be less than 100% of the fair value of the Company’s common stock on the date of the grant. Stock options generally vest over one to four years starting on the vesting commencement date and expire, if not exercised, 10 years from the date of grant or, if earlier, three months after the option holder ceases to be a service provider of the Company. Stock options outstanding under the Blackmore Plan and the OURS Plan are not material.

Stock options granted under the Plan and the 2017 Plan were as follows:


	Twelve Months Ended December 31,
	2023			2022			2021
Stock options granted (in millions)	62			9			19
Weighted average grant date fair value	$	0.97		$	1.35		$	1.90
Weighted average grant date fair value assumptions:
Expected term	5.8 years			5.6 years			5.9 years
Risk-free interest rates	4.3		%	3.6		%	0.6		%

Expected volatility	55.0		%	55.0		%	55.0		%

Stock option activity under the Plan and the 2017 Plan was as follows (in millions, except per share amounts):


	Number of shares	Weighted average exercise price		Weighted average remaining contractual term (in years)	Aggregate intrinsic value
Outstanding at December 31, 2022	63	$	1.76
Granted	62	1.75
Exercised	(11)	1.05
Forfeited	(7)	1.96
Expired	(3)	3.05
Outstanding at December 31, 2023	104	$	1.78	7.8	$	269
Exercisable at December 31, 2023	53	$	1.66	6.4	$	143

The unrecognized stock-based compensation related to unvested stock options was $49 million as of December 31, 2023 and will be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.6 years. The intrinsic value of stock options exercised was $20 million, $62 million and $53 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Related Party RSUs

Prior to the ATG acquisition, employees of ATG received grants of RSUs in the former ultimate parent company of ATG, which became a related party of the Company after the closing of the transaction. These awards were modified after the transaction to allow the awards to continue to vest for the first year subsequent to the closing of the acquisition as long as personnel remain employees of the Company. These awards are compensation for services provided to the Company and accounted for as stock-based compensation.

Awards representing 3 million shares were modified on the acquisition date and 1 million shares were forfeited before the final vesting in January 2022. The fair value of these awards was equal to the market value of the related party’s common stock on the date of modification.

Stock-based compensation recognized for related party RSUs was $—, $6 million and $128 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. No unrecognized stock-based compensation remains for the related party RSUs as of December 31, 2023.

Stock-based Compensation Expense

Stock-based compensation is allocated on a departmental basis, based on the classification of the option holder or grant recipient. No income tax benefits have been recognized in the statement of operations for stock-based compensation arrangements and no stock-based compensation has been capitalized as of December 31, 2023.

Total stock-based compensation expense by function was as follows (in millions):


	Twelve Months Ended December 31,
		2023		2022		2021
Research and development		$	139	$	137	$	207
Selling, general, and administrative		21		19		13
Total		$	160	$	156	$	220