Iván Hernández Dalas: Waabi raises $1B to advance autonomous trucks and robotaxis

A Uber Freight truck with Waabi technology. Waabi will apply its Physical AI Platform developed for trucks to robotaxis in an expanded partnership with Uber.

Waabi will apply its Physical AI Platform developed for trucks to robotaxis in an expanded partnership with Uber. Source: Waabi

More AI-enabled vehicles are coming to the roads, as Waabi today said it has closed an oversubscribed $750 million Series C round to accelerate its commercialization of autonomous trucks. The company has also secured additional investment from Uber Technologies Inc. and said the strategic partnership will support its expansion into robotaxis.

“Waabi’s Physical AI Platform has enabled us to hit an industry-leading pace in the development and commercialization of autonomous trucks over the past few years,” stated Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO of Waabi.

“Our current self-driving capabilities across highways and generalized surface streets have unlocked a new direct-to-customer model that for the first time solves the pain points of the industry and provides an unprecedented opportunity to quickly and seamlessly enter the robotaxi market, delivering a truly scalable solution for both verticals,” she added.

Founded in 2021, Waabi said its Physical AI Platform generalizes to different form factors, geographies, and environments. The platform “combines a verifiable end-to-end AI model capable of reasoning alongside the world’s most advanced neural simulator,” claimed the Toronto-based company.

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Waabi and Uber to bring AI brain to both trucks and taxis

Waabi said its approach enables the same AI model to act as a “shared brain” for both autonomous trucks and robotaxis. The company asserted that its expansion into self-driving passenger vehicles will ultimately improve the Waabi Driver’s overall capabilities.

Under the partnership, Uber will invest additional milestone-based capital to support the development of robotaxis using the Waabi Driver. The companies said they plan to deploy 25,000 or more autonomous vehicles (AVs).

“We are thrilled to partner with the best-in-class ridesharing platform to bring about a safer, more efficient, and sustainable future,” said Urtasun.

Waabi previously partnered with Uber Freight in 2023, and Uber participated in its $200 million Series B round in 2024.

“Waabi’s expanded focus on robotaxis marks an important milestone for their team and the AV industry more broadly,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. “We’re very excited to deepen our partnership with Waabi as they significantly scale their Physical AI Platform and enter a new phase of an already remarkable journey.”

While it sold its Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) to Aurora Innovation in 2020, Uber has also invested in other AV developers, including Nuro, Lucid, and Wayve, and it has partnered with robotaxi providers Motional, Waymo, and WeRide.

Automotive leaders, Canadian investors join Waabi round

Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture partners co-led Waabi’s Series C round, which the company said is the largest fundraise in Canadian history.

“We invest in the companies that are leading the AI era,” said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures. “Waabi has developed a truly groundbreaking physical AI platform that represents a fundamental leap forward in how next-generation driverless technology is being developed.”

Other strategic investors included NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Volvo Group Venture Capital, and Porsche Automobil Holding SE.

“Waabi is fundamentally changing the trajectory of autonomous transportation,” said Brook Porter, co-founder and partner at G2 Venture Partners. “Their simulation-first, end-to-end AI is a powerful enabler, accelerating commercial adoption while dramatically reducing capital needs to scale. Waabi is unlocking the potential for autonomy to drive vehicle efficiency and utilization, catalyzing the shift to a more sustainable transportation system.”

In addition, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Radical Ventures, HarbourVest Partners, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Linse Capital, Incharge Capital, and others participated in the investment. Waabi noted that Canadian firms such as BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund, Export Development Canada (EDC), TELUS Global Ventures, and BMO Global Asset Management were among its backers.

Waabi’s Series C round joins other large robotaxi investments, including Waymo’s $5.6 billion Series C in 2024, Cruise’s $2.75 billion round in 2021, and Aurora’s $820 million stock sale in 2024. In autonomous trucking, Einride raised $100 million in October 2025, while Plus Automation and Kodiak Robotics went public via special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) last year.

The post Waabi raises $1B to advance autonomous trucks and robotaxis appeared first on The Robot Report.



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