The AI Podcast: Waabi Raises $1B from Uber and VCs – Episode Summary

Date: January 28, 2026
Host: Jayden Schaefer

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights Waabi, a cutting-edge autonomous trucking company, which has recently raised a staggering $1 billion—including a $250 million investment and exclusive partnership with Uber to deploy self-driving robo-taxis and trucks on Uber’s platform. Host Jayden Schaefer discusses Waabi’s unique technology, its competitive advantages, and strategic positioning in the increasingly crowded autonomous vehicle (AV) space, diving into how this move could reshape both trucking and ride-hailing industries.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Waabi’s Landmark Funding and Partnership Deal

• Series C Funding: Waabi raised a total of $1 billion—$750 million led by Coachella Ventures, G2 Ventures, and others, plus $250 million from Uber.
  [02:00]

• Uber Partnership: Waabi’s self-driving system will power over 25,000 robo-taxis exclusively on Uber’s platform, marking Waabi’s move beyond autonomous trucking into ride-hailing.

• Concurrent Announcements: Both the funding and partnership were announced simultaneously, which is atypical and sparked industry attention.

• Expansion Beyond Trucking: This is Waabi’s first major foray into passenger transport, leveraging its trucking experience to scale into new domains.

  "A billion dollars raised is absolutely incredible. A partnership with Uber is incredible... They're deploying about 25,000 or more of Waabi driver-powered robo-taxis. And what's interesting is this is exclusively on Uber's platform."
  — Jayden Schaefer [03:10]

2. Waabi’s Unique Technology and Strategy

• Generalized AI Architecture: Waabi focuses on creating a single autonomous system that works across multiple vehicle types—passenger cars and trucks.

• Capital-Efficient Approach: CEO Raquel Urtasun claims this strategy delivers structural advantages, reducing overhead and complexity.

  “Our core technology enables for the first time a single solution that can operate across multiple verticals at scale. It's not about running two programs or maintaining two stacks.”
  — Raquel Urtasun, quoted by Jayden Schaefer [05:00]

• Wabi World Simulation: Instead of relying heavily on real-world driving data (like Tesla), Waabi uses an advanced simulation environment (“Wabi World”) to train and validate their AI, enabling faster and more human-like reasoning with less data and compute.

  "The Waabi driver is essentially trained and validated inside of what is called Waabi World... It's generating edge case scenarios, it’s allowing the system to learn from its mistakes without human intervention."
  — Jayden Schaefer [08:28]

3. Industry Context and Competitive Analysis

• Past Efforts in AV: Jayden mentions competitors like Waymo and Tesla, noting historical attempts at both trucking and robo-taxis—Waymo exited trucking due to its difficulty.

• Uber’s Broader AV Push: Uber launched “Uber AV Labs” to help all autonomous partners—Waabi, Waymo, Nuro, Auroride, WeRide, Momenta—access and collect more real-world training data, creating a community alternative to Tesla's model.

• Comparative Funding:

  • Aurora Innovations: ~$3.4B raised.
  • Kodiak Robotics: ~$448M.
  • Waabi now: ~$1.28B after this round.

• Waabi’s Go-to-Market: Already piloting commercial trucking (with human operators) in Texas. Planned driverless freight launches have been delayed, but progress continues.

• Vehicle Partnerships: Working closely with Volvo and other OEMs to build vehicles with integrated autonomy tech—no retrofits.

  "We believe in fully integrated redundant platforms built with OEMs. That's how you create technology that is both safe and truly scalable."
  — Raquel Urtasun, quoted by Jayden Schaefer [12:25]

4. Raquel Urtasun’s Full Circle Moment and Leadership

• Career Trajectory: Urtasun was previously Chief Scientist at Uber’s AV division (Uber ATG), which was sold to Aurora Innovation in 2020. Now, Uber is a major Waabi partner and investor.

• Direct-to-Consumer Autonomous Trucks: Waabi offers shippers the ability to purchase autonomous-ready trucks outright, accelerating adoption.

  "She was literally working in Uber, working on this. Uber sells off this kind of autonomous vehicle division to another company. She works there, she starts her own company, and Uber signs a deal with her and gives her $250 million."
  — Jayden Schaefer [06:55]

5. Product Roadmap and Scalability

• Trucking Pilot: Texas-based pilots with safety drivers ongoing. Fully driverless launches have been postponed, echoing the common industry challenge of safety validation.

• Sensor Integration on the Factory Floor: Waabi aims for vertically integrated, redundant safety platforms, collaborating closely with automotive OEMs (including Volvo and Porsche).

• Accelerated by Simulation: Waabi’s simulation-first approach allows learning from fewer on-road examples, potentially a huge cost and time saver.

  “We don't need massive fleets, enormous data centers, or endless numbers of people and chips.”
  — Raquel Urtasun, quoted by Jayden Schaefer [11:25]

6. The Road Ahead

• Robo-taxi Market: Still in the “early innings,” with scale yet to come. No details shared yet on which automaker will provide the cars for Uber robo-taxis.

• Potential for Robotics Expansion: Urtasun hinted that general robotics might become a future vertical for Waabi.

  "We're still in the early innings of robo-taxi deployment. There's a lot more scale to come."
  — Raquel Urtasun, quoted by Jayden Schaefer [12:00]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “A billion dollars raised is absolutely incredible. A partnership with Uber is incredible.”
  — Jayden Schaefer [03:10]
• “Our core technology enables for the first time a single solution that can operate across multiple verticals at scale.”
  — Raquel Urtasun [05:00]
• “The Waabi driver is essentially trained and validated inside of what is called Waabi World... It's generating edge case scenarios, allowing the system to learn from its mistakes without human intervention.”
  — Jayden Schaefer [08:28]
• "She was literally working in Uber... sells off this kind of autonomous vehicle division... she starts her own company, and Uber signs a deal with her and gives her $250 million.”
  — Jayden Schaefer [06:55]
• “We don't need massive fleets, enormous data centers, or endless numbers of people and chips.”
  — Raquel Urtasun [11:25]
• “We believe in fully integrated redundant platforms built with OEMs. That's how you create technology that is both safe and truly scalable.”
  — Raquel Urtasun [12:25]
• “We're still in the early innings of robo-taxi deployment. There's a lot more scale to come.”
  — Raquel Urtasun [12:00]

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|-------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:30 | Episode introduction & context | | 02:00 | Breakdown of Waabi’s billion-dollar raise | | 03:10 | Uber partnership and platform exclusivity | | 05:00 | Waabi’s AI-first approach and quote from Raquel Urtasun | | 06:55 | Raquel Urtasun’s background and “full circle” story | | 08:28 | Waabi World simulation environment and tech deep dive | | 11:25 | Capital efficiency and tech differentiation (Urtasun quote) | | 12:00 | “Early innings” of robo-taxi market (Urtasun quote) | | 12:25 | Importance of OEM integration (Urtasun quote) |

Tone and Style

Jayden keeps the episode insightful, accessible, and relatable for all listeners—using real-world analogies and personal anecdotes to demystify technical concepts, maintaining an enthusiastic and inquisitive tone throughout.

Takeaway

Waabi’s $1B funding round and Uber partnership may signal a pivotal shift in autonomous vehicles, leveraging capital-efficient AI trained in world-class simulations and tight OEM integrations. With an underdog strategy focusing on both freight and passenger verticals, Waabi aims to challenge industry titans—potentially redefining how self-driving technology is developed and deployed.

For more updates on AI and autonomous driving, follow The AI Podcast and host Jayden Schaefer.