Jiajun Zhu (Nuro): 10 Key Things You Must Know

Overview

Jiajun Zhu is a Chinese-American entrepreneur and engineer best known as the co-founder and CEO of Nuro, a robotics company specializing in autonomous delivery vehicles. Founded in 2016 by Zhu and Dave Ferguson, also a former Google engineer, Nuro has distinguished itself by focusing on autonomous goods delivery rather than passenger transportation, aiming to revolutionize local commerce and improve everyday life through robotics and AI innovation. Under Zhu’s leadership, Nuro has advanced from developing custom delivery vehicles to licensing its AI driving technology to automakers and mobility providers. As the company gains strategic partnerships and significant funding, Zhu stands at the forefront of the evolving autonomous vehicle industry. This article highlights key insights into Zhu’s background, Nuro’s technological advancements, strategic shifts, and their impact on the autonomous vehicle ecosystem.

1. Early Life and Education of Jiajun Zhu

Jiajun Zhu grew up in Shanghai, China, where he developed interests in art, physics, and artificial intelligence at an early age. Pursuing his passion for computer science, Zhu earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Fudan University, and subsequently completed his Master’s degree at the University of Virginia. His early career included internships and positions at Intel and Microsoft Research Asia, gaining vital experience before joining Google in 2008. Zhu’s educational and professional foundation in AI, computer vision, and robotics shaped his expertise, facilitating his pivotal role in autonomous vehicle development.

2. Technical Career and Google Self-Driving Car Project

At Google, Zhu served as a principal software engineer and was one of the founding members involved in the company’s self-driving car project, now known as Waymo. He led the perception team, focusing on enabling vehicles to sense and interpret the environment using advanced sensor fusion and AI algorithms. Additionally, Zhu contributed to the development of large-scale simulation systems, critical for training and validating autonomous-driving models through millions of virtual miles. This experience enabled him to master the complexities of autonomous systems, laying groundwork for his entrepreneurial journey.

3. Founding Nuro and Vision for Autonomous Delivery

In 2016, motivated by a vision to impact local commerce rather than passenger transport, Zhu co-founded Nuro with Dave Ferguson. They designed Nuro’s first product to be a small, fully autonomous electric vehicle dedicated exclusively to goods delivery, rejecting the traditional car model by omitting driver seats, steering wheels, and mirrors. Zhu and Ferguson aimed to create safer, more efficient delivery systems that reduce traffic congestion, environmental impact, and delivery costs. Their robots target everyday errands, such as grocery delivery, food, and pharmaceutical transport, thereby enhancing accessibility, especially in underserved areas known as food deserts.

4. Nuro’s Technological Innovations: The Nuro Driver and AI-First Approach

Nuro’s flagship technology, the Nuro Driver™, is an AI-first autonomous driving system that integrates automotive-grade hardware with cutting-edge self-driving software. It has been validated with over 1.4 million autonomous miles driven with zero at-fault incidents across several U.S. states such as California, Arizona, and Texas. The system is vehicle-agnostic and designed for scalability, enabling integration into multiple vehicle platforms for goods delivery and, more recently, robotaxis. Nuro’s hardware embraces sensors including cameras, LiDAR, radar, and inertial measurement units, supported by powerful onboard compute modules powered by Nvidia’s DRIVE AGX Thor platform. Their AI-first architecture enables rapid adaptation and drives ongoing improvements through the Nuro AI Platform.

5. Strategic Pivot: From Custom Delivery Vehicles to Licensing Autonomous Technology

After initial years devoted to manufacturing and operating its own delivery bots, Nuro announced in 2024 a strategic pivot. Rather than continuing to build and deploy custom autonomous delivery vehicles, the company increasingly focuses on licensing its autonomous driving stack to automakers and mobility providers. This shift reflects market realities of capital intensity and scalability, extending Nuro’s financial runway and positioning it as a technology provider for a broader range of applications, including robotaxis and personal vehicles. This transition aims to leverage Nuro’s software expertise while partnering with vehicle manufacturers for efficient deployment.

6. Nuro’s Major Partnerships and Business Expansion

Nuro has formed partnerships with notable brands such as Kroger, Domino’s Pizza, FedEx, 7-Eleven, Walmart, Uber Eats, and Lucid Motors. Particularly notable is the 2025 collaboration with Uber and Lucid to launch a global robotaxi service, targeting a major U.S. city launch in 2026. Uber plans to deploy at least 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with Nuro’s self-driving system over six years, integrating scalable Level 4 autonomy into Uber’s vast ride-hailing network. These partnerships both validate Nuro’s technology and serve as an important commercial channel for expansion.

7. Nuro Valuation and Financial Overview

Nuro has raised a total of approximately $2.3 billion from high-profile investors, including SoftBank Vision Fund, Tiger Global, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, Nvidia, and strategic partners such as Uber. After peaking at an $8.6 billion valuation in 2021 during a Series D funding round, Nuro’s valuation adjusted to $6 billion by 2025, reflecting broader market shifts and the company’s strategic pivot. Multiple rounds of layoffs in 2022 and 2023 were part of efforts to optimize operations and extend financial runway. The Series E funding rounds in April and August 2025 have accelerated development and commercial partnerships for Nuro’s AI-first licensing model.

8. Nuro Headquarters and Operational Locations

Nuro is headquartered in Mountain View, California, with expanded office and testing sites across multiple U.S. cities including Houston, Texas; Scottsdale, Arizona; Los Angeles, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Detroit, Michigan; Austin, Texas; and Seattle, Washington. Mountain View serves as the innovation hub where engineering, design, and product development teams collaborate. Test deployments across these locations allow Nuro to refine its technology in diverse urban and suburban environments, supporting regulatory approvals and scaling.

9. Collaborator Dave Ferguson’s Role and Background

Co-founder and President Dave Ferguson, a New Zealander with MS and PhD degrees in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, complemented Zhu’s expertise with significant contributions in computer vision, machine learning, behavior prediction, and planning. Ferguson led teams at Google’s self-driving car project and was instrumental in DARPA Grand Challenge successes, bringing a wealth of robotics research experience. Within Nuro, Ferguson focuses on strategic partnerships, organizational leadership, and commercialization, driving the company’s growth alongside Zhu.

10. Challenges and Future Prospects Amid Industry Competition and Regulations

Despite significant progress, Nuro faces challenges common to the autonomous vehicle industry, including regulatory hurdles, market competition from Waymo, Tesla, Cruise, and others, and public acceptance of AV technologies. Zhu and Ferguson have adapted their strategy to prioritize capital efficiency and technology licensing, helping Nuro stay competitive. The evolving regulatory environment increasingly supports AV deployment, as seen with historic exemptions granted to Nuro by the U.S. Department of Transportation and permits from California DMV. Looking ahead, Nuro aims to expand geographically and functionally, potentially revolutionizing both goods delivery and passenger transport, with AI-driven autonomy at scale.

Conclusion

Jiajun Zhu’s journey from a curious student in Shanghai to CEO of one of the most promising autonomous vehicle startups exemplifies a blend of visionary leadership and deep technical expertise. Under his stewardship, Nuro has pioneered goods-focused autonomous vehicles and embraced an AI-first, scalable approach, transitioning its business model to licensing core technology for wider adoption. Strategic partnerships with industry leaders like Uber, Lucid, and Nvidia position Nuro as a key player in the burgeoning autonomous mobility landscape. While challenges remain, Nuro’s proven autonomous driving technology, combined with its adaptive business strategy, underlines its potential to transform urban delivery and robotaxi services worldwide. Zhu’s story highlights how innovation, resilience, and collaboration drive the future of autonomous transportation.