Self-driving truck startupWaabi’s billion-dollar fundraiseisn’tjust about trucks.
The deal, for $750 million up front plus another $250 million from Uber tied to deployment milestones, marks a major expansion into robotaxis for the company founded by former Uber AI chief Raquel Urtasun. It also feels like another chip from Uber on theautonomous vehicleroulette table. With more than 20 AV partners worldwide, the question isn’t just whetherWaabicandeliver onits plans to deploy over 25,000 robotaxis, but whether Uber’s bet-on-everything strategy actually works.
Today on TechCrunch’sEquitypodcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane and Anthony Ha discussed Uber’s AV partnership strategy, whyWaabi’s“simulation-first” approach might be different, and more of the week’s headlines.
Listen to the full episode to hear about:
- Anduril’sdrone race recruitmentstunt and whetherit’sthe future of hiring orjust goodPR
- Phia’s $35M raisefor an AI shopping assistant asbrick-and-mortarstores closetheir doors
- Northwood Space’s $100M Series Band the booming space infrastructure market
- Who’sreally winning inTikTok’s messy US ownership deal, and thecompetitorstrying to capitalize
- TheIPO windowcracking open, and howSpaceX plans to go through it
Subscribe to Equity onYouTube,Apple Podcasts,Overcast,Spotifyand all the casts. Youalso canfollow Equity onXandThreads, at @EquityPod.
Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University.
You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing [email protected].
Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, “The Autonocast.” She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive.
You can contact or verify outreach from Kirsten by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at kkorosec.07 on Signal.
Anthony Ha is TechCrunch’s weekend editor. Previously, he worked as a tech reporter at Adweek, a senior editor at VentureBeat, a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, and vice president of content at a VC firm. He lives in New York City.
You can contact or verify outreach from Anthony by emailing [email protected].
Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.
You can contact or verify outreach from Sean by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at okane.01 on Signal.