AEye, Inc.

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the AI fourth quarter 2023 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1-1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To answer your question, please press star 1-1 again. please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker for today, Lee Bannister. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining AI's fourth quarter 2023 earnings call. With me today are Matt Fish, Chief Executive Officer, and Connor Tierney, Chief Financial Officer. Earlier today, we announced our financial results for the fourth quarter 2023. A copy of our press release can be found on our website at investors.ai.ai. Before we begin, I would like to remind participants that today's discussion may include forward-looking statements as defined in the securities laws and regulations of the United States with reference to future events, future operating results, or financial performance. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the industry, and other conditions. These forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties, and changes in circumstances that are difficult or impossible to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. We caution you, therefore, against placing undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. You can find more information about the risks, uncertainties, and other factors in our reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our most recent periodic report. All information discussed today is as of March 26, 2024, and we do not intend and undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by law. In addition, today's discussion will include references to certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures are presented for supplemental information purposes only and should not be considered as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of the measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available in our press release, and you should refer to our reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in our earnings release. Now let me pass the call over to Matt.

Thanks, Lee. And thank you all for joining us for the AI fourth quarter in 2023 year-end conference call. On today's call, I will provide a high-level review of 2023 and also speak to the trends we are seeing in the LIDAR marketplace. Before delving into our review of 2023, I'm pleased to share that we have recently signed a letter of intent with a global Tier 1 automotive ADAS sensor supplier to begin a collaboration focused on OEM ADAS opportunities. These opportunities have already begun to materialize. The LOI aligns with the heightened OEM engagement we are observing as evidenced by a recent influx of RFI and RFQ activity. Additionally, we are excited to announce the inaugural member of our Foresight Flex family, which we call Apollo. You may recall that we announced the Foresight Flex automotive reference design in November of last year. With Apollo, we present OEMs with a compact, ultra-long-range LiDAR sensor that also facilitates diverse mounting options, including unparalleled performance when mounted behind the windshield. Apollo demonstrates the power of 1550 nanometer LiDAR technology and is capable of a 50% range improvement and a 10 times resolution increase compared to our first generation product. Our plan is to unveil the first samples of Apollo to automotive OEMs in Q2. These achievements underscore the scalability of our software-defined architecture. Overall, 2023 was a year of product maturation and strategic realignment for AI. Emerging from the Consumer Electronics Show and the interest we saw in our technology, it is evident that LiDAR remains a cornerstone for enhancing safety and autonomy in the future of mobility. Despite its undeniable potential, broader market conditions have precipitated delays for LIDAR adoption within OEM vehicle programs. However, we remain optimistic and are encouraged by the increased interest in ongoing discussions we are having with OEMs. Our collaboration with NVIDIA resulted in significant advances in high-speed, long-range detection performance, and we believe we are ultimately on track for future integration with their Hyperion platform. At the conclusion of our work with Continental in the fourth quarter, we significantly hardened our HRL 131 product and supply chain, which enabled HRL 131 to be quoted to a major OEM by Continental last year. Most notably, as we end our collaboration, we anticipate obtaining from Continental a full set of design collateral and any of the remaining intellectual property rights to the HRL 131 product and appreciate the ongoing support we are receiving. The current task at hand is to establish a last mile with our next tier one partner in quoting this year's RFQs with OEMs. In tandem with our technological advancements, we also made significant strides in fortifying our financial foundation. We continue to focus on our capital light business model in 2023, which is not only expected to extend our cash runway well into 2025, but also enables us to weather current industry headwinds. Our Capital Light model has been an underpinning of our Tier 1 partnership model, and we believe it gives us the flexibility we'll need to reach the production stage in the automotive space. As we venture into 2024, our primary focus remains on market-leading product performance and go-to-market via Tier 1 partners. By leveraging the maturity of our products and pre-existing supply chain infrastructure, we expect that the integration of new partners will be low friction. AI has effectively created a plug and play model for tier one partnerships, which will enable an efficient transition for new commercial relationships. Now, I'll turn the call over to Connor to discuss our financial performance.