Fully autonomous vehicles are closer to commonplace than you might expect, as cars and big rigs gain the ability to operate safely on our streets and highways.

As one of the pioneers in the field, Chris Urmson has been there from the beginning, competing in the landmark DARPA Grand Challenge before going on to lead Google’s self-driving car initiative.

Now he’s following through on the vision as the CEO of Aurora, which is developing self-driving technology for use by a variety of car and truck makers.

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we're playing highlights from our conversation with Urmson at the recent GeekWire Summit.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.