Latest news with #Waabi
CNBC
4 days ago
- Automotive
- CNBC
35. Waabi
Founder: Raquel Urtasun (CEO)Launched: 2021Headquarters: TorontoFunding: $280 millionValuation: N/AKey Technologies: Artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, deep neural networks/deep learning, augmented reality/virtual reality/mixed reality, generative AI, machine learning, digital twinsIndustry: AutomotivePrevious appearances on Disruptor 50 list: 0 Waabi is part of a new generation of autonomous vehicle startups focusing on the long-haul trucking market rather than around town and airport passenger pickups. With more than 70 percent of freight in the U.S. moving via truck, a difficult working environment in the cab with grueling hours, and the industry facing consistent driver shortages, it is a market ripe for technological disruption. Waabi's core proposition rests on its proprietary "Waabi World," a closed-loop simulator designed to train and test autonomous vehicle systems almost entirely in a virtual environment, using generative AI. This allows its autonomous vehicles to experience millions of different driving scenarios without putting anyone in the real world at risk. It also released CoPilot 4D, an AI foundational model that can envision the world in 3D to improve decision-making for AV trucks. "A system like this has astounding abilities to generalize and handle the unknown, is more efficient to train, and its safety can be mathematically validated and verified," Waabi founder & CEO Raquel Urtasun said in an interview with CNBC. Urtasun was formerly R&D head at Uber Advanced Technologies Group, which was acquired by Waabi rival Aurora in 2020, and was also named to the 2024 CNBC Changemakers list. In June of last year, the company completed its largest VC round, a $200 million Series B fundraising led by Uber and Khosla Ventures. It was also the largest VC raise in Canadian startup history, and added new investors Nvidia, Porsche, and the venture capital arm of Volvo. Investors have also announced partnerships, with Volvo saying in February it will deploy Waabi's technology on its self-driving trucks, and Waabi's generative AI-powered self-driving applications using NVIDIA DRIVE Thor autonomous vehicle chip technology. An earlier 10-year collaboration between Waabi Driver and Uber Freight's logistics system for U.S. shipments started in Dallas and Houston, and is expected to expand throughout Texas and beyond. However, Waabi has yet to deploy vehicles commercially without safety drivers. It is working towards that goal by the end of 2025. The company is working with Volvo to produce autonomous trucks at its factories that can be sold to freight shippers and carriers, and would operate as a service subscription with the client paying Waabi on a per-mile basis.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Autonomous Volvo Trucks Will Use This Firm's Tech
Autonomous tech developer Waabi reveals new partnership with Volvo Autonomous Solutions, with the company's AI tech slated to be used in the development of production SAE Level 4 trucks in the US. Waabi's generative AI system will train Volvo's SAE Level 4 software as the truck maker inches toward the commercial launch of its autonomous trucks this year. The Toronto-based company has recently launched a hub for driverless trucks in Texas, as work intensifies to automate the Houston to Dallas truck route. If it feels like robotaxi tech is finally gathering momentum after a few years of small-scale rollouts, a similar trend is unfolding in the driverless truck sphere, which is a few years behind the currently unfolding robotaxi revolution. Toronto-based autonomous tech developer Waabi, which recently opened an autonomous trucking terminal near Dallas with facilities tailor-made for a fleet of driverless trucks, is perhaps best known in the industry for its AI training model for autonomous vehicles. And now it is teaming up with Volvo Autonomous Solutions to vertically integrate Waabi Driver—its virtual driver system—into Volvo's upcoming VNL Autonomous semi truck. This integration will also allow Volvo to train its own autonomous trucks using Waabi's generative AI system, which the company says can safely generalize to many scenarios encountered in traffic. The autonomous developer calls its system an AI-first approach, with Waabi World being an AI-generated closed-loop simulation engine offering countless scenarios for training driverless systems, both in everyday driving and rare edge cases. "At Waabi, we believe that vertically integrating next-generation AI technology directly into an OEM's vehicle production is the path forward to bring safe, robust autonomous vehicles to the road, at scale," said Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO of Waabi. The SAE Level 4 trucks themselves face a different set of traffic challenges than robotaxis, needing to see and interpret events unfolding much further down the road, up to a half mile in some circumstances. They also need truck terminals specially suited to autonomous vehicles, as well as a remote command center that monitors the fleet in real time and makes adjustments as necessary. Most of autonomous truck development efforts are centered on the Dallas to Houston route, which has already seen on-road testing by a number of developers and truck makers. This is due in large part to Texas' embrace of autonomous testing, along with Nevada, but most of the efforts contemplate purely intra-state routes of just a few hours between warehouse centers. But it's a start. Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Waabi plan to begin testing the Waabi Driver system in its trucks later this year, with Volvo's VNL Autonomous trucks themselves slated to enter production at the company's main plant in New River Valley, Virginia, in 2025. "Waabi is at the forefront of developing self-driving technologies leveraging the full power of AI," said Shahrukh Kazmi, chief product officer at Volvo Autonomous Solutions. It remains to be seen just how quickly Volvo and other hopefuls can scale their SAE Level 4 trucks in Texas. But a number of major fleets are already getting ready for a future where driverless trucks will be a common sight, at least in a handful southwest states. Will even 10% of truck routes in the US be served by autonomous trucks by 2030, or will this transition take far longer to gather momentum? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
USA Today
04-02-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Waabi ties up with Volvo to roll out self-driving trucks
Akash Sriram Reuters Self-driving technology company Waabi said on Tuesday it has partnered with truckmaker Volvo's VOLVb.S driverless systems unit to develop and deploy big rigs that drive themselves. Fleets and truck manufacturers have been looking towards self-driving vehicle technologies to reduce costs and increase the time a truck can be on the road amid a driver shortage. Waabi, which is backed by Nvidia NVDA.O and Uber UBER.N, and Volvo Autonomous Solutions will integrate the startup's virtual driver system, sensors and computers into the Volvo VNL Autonomous truck that will be made at the Swedish giant's New River Valley factory in Dublin, Virginia. "The technology we are building is technology that can be actually used for many verticals, trucking being one. But you will see Waabi in the future doing robotaxis, humanoid robots, et cetera," Waabi's founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun told Reuters. The startup uses a digital simulator system called Waabi World for most of its training, testing and validation, enabling the company to launch commercial pilots in Texas, with a human driver, within four years through a partnership with Uber Freight. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. More autonomous vehicles:Alphabet's Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities In contrast, Tesla TSLA.O uses a vision-only approach and imitation learning for its Full Self-Driving advanced driver assistance system, which learns from humans driving on the road and requires the analysis of millions of real-world driving situations. Waabi said its deal with Volvo was not exclusive and is looking to integrate its technology with trucks made by other manufacturers. "We selected trucking as the first use case because, you know, the market is really ripe for this solution," Urtasun said. Volvo Group's venture capital arm became a strategic investor in Waabi in 2023 and also participated in the startup's $200 million Series B fundraising round last year. Waabi counts Khosla Ventures and Porsche Automobil Holding PSHG_p.DE as investors. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Volvo is teaming up with a Nvidia-backed firm to deploy more self-driving trucks
Volvo on Tuesday announced it was teaming up with Waabi, the self-driving truck startup backed by players like Nvidia (NVDA) and Uber (UBER), to jointly develop and deploy autonomous vehicles. The companies said they would integrate Waabi's generative artificial intelligence-based technology into the trucks being developed by Volvo Autonomous Solutions, a unit of the Swedish luxury automaker. The trucks, Volvo's VNL Autonomous, will be made at Volvo's assembly plant in Virginia's New River Valley. Testing is expected to begin later this year. 'We are excited to integrate Waabi's cutting-edge technology into our autonomous truck platform,' Volvo Autonomous Solutions' chief product officer, Shahrukh Kazmi, said in a statement. Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun said that 'vertically integrating next-generation AI technology directly into an OEM's vehicle production is the path forward' to making safe autonomous vehicles at scale. Last May, Waabi signed a multi-year lease on a trucking terminal in Dallas County, Texas, which will be the base for its operations in the state. The company first entered Texas in 2023, making trips between Dallas and Houston through its partnership with Uber Freight. It plans to expand testing in the state this year. In 2024, the company drew $200 million for its Series B funding round from investors such as Nvidia, Khosla Ventures, and Uber. Volvo has also invested in Waabi, participating in both the Series A and Series B rounds. Autonomous trucks have become an increasingly popular concept, potentially reducing the time it takes to transport goods and allowing companies to bypass the limitations of human workers. The industry is also mired in a debate over whether it has a shortage of human drivers or just difficulty retaining workers, largely thanks to long hours and poor wages. According to the consultancy McKinsey & Co., use cases for autonomous trucks could translate into a $616 billion global market in 2035. By that time, the U.S.'s autonomous heavy-duty trucking market could reach a roughly $178 billion valuation, with such vehicles accounting for 13% of all trucks on the road. Volvo has been working on autonomy for years, having developed an autonomous truck concept as early as 2017. A concept electric truck named Vera was unveiled in 2019 and put to work in a Swedish pilot program that year. Volvo has also partnered with Aurora Innovation (AUR), a self-driving vehicle company based in Pittsburgh that works with several other companies, including Uber Freight and Continental. In May 2024, the companies debuted the VNL Autonomous at the ACT Expo in Las Vegas, describing the truck as a 'purpose-designed and purpose-built' vehicle using Aurora's hardware and software. In December, Volvo began hauling freight on autonomous trucks on two lanes, Dallas to Houston and Fort Worth to El Paso, as part of a partnership with DHL Supply Chain. Since the technology is still being tested, a safety driver is behind the wheel of those vehicles. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sign in to access your portfolio
