Autonomous trucking startup Waabi just closed a billion-dollar fundraise that's reshaping the self-driving landscape. The deal - $750 million upfront plus another $250 million from Uber tied to hitting deployment milestones - marks a dramatic pivot for the company founded by former Uber AI chief Raquel Urtasun. But this isn't just about Waabi's expansion into robotaxis. It's another bet in Uber's sprawling autonomous vehicle portfolio, raising questions about whether the rideshare giant's strategy of backing every horse in the race will actually pay off.
Waabi just made one of the biggest funding announcements in autonomous vehicle history, but the real story is what it says about the future of self-driving cars and who's controlling the steering wheel. The Toronto-based startup closed a $1 billion round this week, with Uber putting up $250 million of that total - but only if Waabi hits specific deployment targets. The remaining $750 million comes from other investors betting that Waabi can deliver on its ambitious promise to put over 25,000 robotaxis on the road.
The funding represents a dramatic expansion for a company that's spent the past few years focused squarely on autonomous trucking. Raquel Urtasun, who founded Waabi after leading AI development at Uber, built the company around what she calls a "simulation-first" approach to training self-driving systems. Instead of logging millions of real-world miles like competitors, Waabi uses advanced AI simulations to test edge cases and train its systems faster and cheaper. Now that technology is jumping from highways to city streets.
For Uber, the investment is just the latest chip on the autonomous vehicle roulette table. The company that famously shut down its own self-driving program after a fatal 2018 crash has reinvented itself as the Switzerland of AV development - partnering with everyone rather than building its own technology. According to TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Uber now counts more than 20 AV partnerships worldwide, from Waymo to smaller startups betting on different technical approaches.
