‘Massive market of US$1 trillion’: Toronto company emerges as AI leader after signing deal with Uber

Raquel Urtasun, CEO & founder of Waabi, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the company's development of AI for autonomous trucks and robotaxis.

A Canadian company, with significant operations in the U.S., is working to clear regulatory hurdles to bring autonomous vehicle technology to Canada after it signed a massive deal with Uber, the CEO says.

Toronto-based Waabi Innovation Inc has secured a US$1 billion deal to “triple down” and commercialize its self-driving trucking system and enter the robotaxi market.

“We are the leader really globally on self-driving trucking, which is really exciting to be doing this from Canada,” Raquel Urtasun, CEO, told BNN Bloomberg in an interview Thursday.

She says she started the company four and a half years ago.

The deal with Uber will see Waabi roll out 25,000 robotaxis.

“What you see with this massive robotaxi deal is their excitement and they are tripling down... in terms of really, Waabi being the provider for the Uber network.”

Urtasun, who previously worked for Uber, says Uber was an early investor in her company.

“They have really seen what our technology can do,” said Urtasun.

She says she would like to bring the same technology to Canada but faces government hurdles here.

She says the company launched in the U.S. because the regulatory framework is ahead of Canada’s but it is working with the government to bring the technology to Canada as soon as possible

“We are working with regulators to make it possible for us to safely deploy the technology here as well,” said Urtasun.

She says the company has been testing its vehicles on roads with safety drivers since 2022.

“We can actually prove our system is safe,” said Urtasun.

Urtasun says the same AI system works for self-driving trucks and robotaxis, which will enable the company to have a fast and seamless entry into the robotaxi market.

“Our autonomous system is really performance-ready for driverless,” said Urtasun.

She says trucks can drive on surface streets in urban environments and that Wabbi has worked with “some of the biggest shippers and carriers in North America.”

Waabi will utilize the full power of AI and its system through reasoning to prove it is safe and it can learn efficiently together with a simulator, Urtasun added.

She says it can teach the system to perform “better than humans” to avoid accidents on the road and the technology‘s advantage has propelled Waabi to make it ready for the next stage.

With competitors such as Waymo and Tesla offering self-driving services, Uratsan says her company has “more than enough space” to have market share for years to come.

“We have the next generation of tech that can really enable us to swiftly and efficiently come into the robotaxi market. It’s a massive market of $1 trillion in the U.S. alone,” said Urtasun.

Urtasun said the company has been operating in Texas since 2023.

With files from the Canadian Press

With files from Pham Hue, BNN Bloomberg