🧔♂️ A friendly human may check it before it goes live. More news here
Canadian AI vehicle startup nets $750m series C, partners with Uber
Waabi, a Canadian company specializing in physical AI for autonomous vehicles, said it raised US$750 million in a series C funding round co-led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners.
The Toronto-based firm also secured additional milestone-based investment from Uber. This comes as the partnership with Uber marks Waabi’s entry into robotaxis, with plans to accelerate commercialization and deployment.
The funding is the largest in Canadian history and aims to support the company’s growth in autonomous trucking and the development of robotaxis.
Waabi’s platform uses a unified AI model that can operate across trucks and robotaxis, enabling faster expansion into new markets.
Uber plans to invest further based on milestones to deploy over 25,000 robotaxis powered by Waabi’s AI on its platform.
The new funding also involves participation from Nvidia’s venture arm, Volvo, Porsche, BlackRock, and several Canadian investors.
Waabi is founded by Raquel Urtasun, a Spanish-Canadian computer scientist and professor at the University of Toronto.
🔗 Source: Waabi
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Key operational details and timelines are not specified in the announcement
- “Commercial progress” in autonomous trucking is cited, and “current self-driving capabilities across highways and generalized surface streets” are described, yet it is left unclear whether fully driverless freight hauling on public roads or paid customer loads are included.
- An exclusive partnership with Uber is described for robotaxis using the Waabi Driver on the Uber platform, and deployment of 25,000 or more robotaxis over time is contemplated, but no launch date or target cities are provided.
- Regulatory or permitting standing in any jurisdiction for commercial driverless operations for autonomous trucks or robotaxis is not addressed.
Business implications for shippers and logistics carriers are speculative and should be framed as such
- Shippers and carriers outside the funding group could see a path to hands-on testing through real freight, though the announcement does not mention third-party freight partners or a defined testing program.
- Companies that can offer steady freight routes or access to distribution centers may look like practical early collaborators, yet the announcement does not lay out pilots, lane criteria, or onboarding steps.
- Claims about priority access to autonomous freight capacity or better long-term shipping rates go beyond what is described, so they should be treated as conjecture.
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.