Robot Trucker Waabi Wades Into Robotaxi Battle With Billion Dollar Raise |
There’s a new competitor in the war for robotaxi supremacy and it’s an unlikely one: Waabi, a Canadian self-driving truck startup created by AI scientist Raquel Urtasan. The company says it’s raised up to $1 billion from venture firms and Uber to help commercialize its robotic big rig business and fund a surprise foray into the robotaxi market currently led by Alphabet’s Waymo.
The Toronto-based company, which is supplying autonomous-driving software to Volvo to deploy large numbers of robot semis in the U.S., will also work exclusively with Uber to put tens of thousands of robotaxis on its ridehail platform, powered by its tech, Urtasan told Forbes. She declined to say when vehicles operated by the “Waabi Driver” would hit the road and which carmaker will produce them.
“Uber is the largest ride-sharing network globally, so that enables an incredible market for........