The chief executive of autonomous vehicle developer Aurora Innovation presented a swath of cost-cutting and cash-generating options to its board, ranging from a hiring freeze and spinning out assets to a small capital raise, going private and even selling itself to high-profile tech companies Apple and Microsoft.

The ideas, all aimed at shoring up its cash position and extending its runway in tough market conditions, were laid out in an internal memo first reported by Bloomberg and also viewed by TechCrunch. The internal memo, which was intended for the board ahead of its August 3 meeting, was mistakenly sent to all Aurora employees, which today numbers around 1,600 people.

Aurora has a "cash runway" that will allow it to continue operations through mid-2024, according to its second-quarter letter to shareholders and noted in the memo. However, Aurora is still a pre-revenue company. And the memo written by co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson acknowledged a two-fold problem: a challenging financial market that makes it difficult to raise additional capital and shifting timelines by its OEM partners that delays revenue.

Aurora, which has prioritized commercializing self-driving trucks, has pilot partnerships with FedEx, Paccar, Schneider, Werner and Xpress.

Aurora held a board meeting after the email was shared. An Aurora spokesperson declined to comment on what was discussed during the meeting. The company did provide an emailed statement stating,"Given the current macro conditions, every company should be going through the exercise of evaluating its options and long-term strategy. We think that thinking through things like this is a positive sign and a mark of good governance."

Urmson noted that market conditions make it unlikely that the company could raise $1 billion. Instead, he laid out a long list of options — each one noting pros and cons as well as his biggest concern of maintaining employee morale — and said there was value in finding a "path to raise $300 million in the next year to add around six months to our runway."