Waabi

Waabi is a pioneering autonomous trucking company founded in 2021 by renowned AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, a University of Toronto professor and former Uber ATG lead. The company is revolutionizing the autonomous vehicle industry by applying cutting-edge generative AI to develop self-driving trucks that can operate without human safety drivers. Based in Toronto, Canada, Waabi has raised over $280 million in funding, including a $200 million Series B round in June 2024 led by Uber and Khosla Ventures.

Waabi's groundbreaking approach centers on its Waabi Driver, an end-to-end AI system that reasons like a human using a single interpretable and verifiable neural network. Unlike competitors that rely on massive fleets for real-world data collection, Waabi uses its revolutionary simulator, Waabi World, which automatically generates realistic scenarios that autonomous vehicles might encounter. This AI-first methodology requires significantly less training data and compute resources while achieving superior performance and safety.

In 2024-2025, Waabi achieved major milestones including demonstrating complete autonomous driving capabilities across highways and general surface streets, opening a new Texas autonomous vehicle trucking terminal, and unveiling the Volvo VNL Autonomous truck in partnership with Volvo Autonomous Solutions. The company has an ongoing partnership with Uber Freight, running autonomous shipments for Fortune 500 companies and top-tier shippers in Texas. Waabi is on track to launch fully driverless commercial operations in 2025, positioning itself as a leader in the race to commercialize autonomous trucking.

The company's technology integration with NVIDIA DRIVE Thor and collaboration with major industry players like Volvo, Uber, and leading logistics companies demonstrates strong industry validation. CEO Raquel Urtasun has received endorsements from prominent figures including NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, underscoring Waabi's technical leadership and potential to transform the $800 billion trucking industry through generative AI innovation.