LiDAR Market Darling Luminar Goes Under: Supplier to Mercedes-Benz and Tesla Files for Bankruptcy

Founded in 2017, Luminar Technologies built its business around the development and production of LiDAR sensors—optical radar systems used to detect objects, measure distances, and map shapes for advanced driver-assistance and autonomous driving technologies. The company has now filed for bankruptcy protection and announced plans to sell its assets.

Luminar went public in 2020 through a SPAC merger, at which point the company was valued at roughly $3 billion. This year, however, a conflict of interest led to the removal of founder and CEO Austin Russell, who at one stage attempted to regain control of the company through a takeover bid. Luminar has also gone through multiple rounds of layoffs, while production volumes dropped sharply. As a result, Volvo confirmed it would stop using Luminar’s LiDAR systems in its 2026 model-year vehicles.

Under the bankruptcy protection process, Luminar will continue supplying products and providing technical support to existing customers. At the same time, the company is seeking regulatory approval in the U.S. to sell off its businesses, including both its LiDAR operations and its semiconductor-related assets. A buyer has already been lined up for the semiconductor unit: Quantum Computing plans to acquire it for $110 million. Once the bankruptcy proceedings and asset sales are completed, Luminar will cease to exist as an independent company.

Before its collapse, Luminar managed to secure LiDAR supply agreements with major names such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Audi, Toyota, Caterpillar, and even Tesla. At one point, Tesla was reportedly Luminar’s largest customer—despite CEO Elon Musk’s well-known opposition to using LiDAR in driver-assistance systems. Tesla has never disclosed exactly how Luminar’s sensors were used, but they may have served for prototype calibration or for development work related to the company’s Optimus humanoid robot program.