Waabi unveils a self-driving truck made in partnership with Volvo

Self-driving truck startup Waabi on Tuesday shared at TechCrunch Disrupt the launch of a new self-driving truck built in partnership with Volvo, the Volvo VNL Self-Driving Truck.

The revelation comes eight months after the Uber and Nvidia-backed startup announced a partnership with Volvo Autonomous Solutions to build a custom-designed truck based on Volvo’s autonomous platform using the Waabi software suite.

The company has the potential to be the first to market self-driving trucks without a driver or human safety monitor, Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun said at the AI ​​stage of TechCrunch Disrupt. The comment was a mild criticism of Aurora, a competitor that launched a commercial driverless service earlier this year. The company later added a human monitor in the truck cab several weeks later.

“We can drive on rolled-out surface streets now in Texas, and you’ll be able to see us across the entire United States over the next few years as well,” said Urtasun, who previously served as chief scientist at Uber ATG before launching Waabi in 2021.

Rival Wabi’s Aurora has a similar deal with Volvo, and both companies unveil a self-driving truck in May 2024. Aurora launched a commercial service, with a human spotter on board, earlier this year on a route between Dallas and Houston, and announced Tuesday that it would expand to El Paso. Waabi uses the same truck, but features Waabi technologies, including the sensor and computing suite and Waabi Driver software.

Waabi’s self-driving system, called Waabi Driver, is a comprehensive AI model that enables the truck to extend its self-driving reach across different geographic areas, including highways and public surface streets. Wabi says this enables scalable business operations, meeting customer needs, and working within existing logistics operations.

“Volvo VNL was designed from the ground up to handle redundancies so you can remove the human driver and you can build a local, safe product,” Urtasun said. “Our sensor columns are very lightweight, and very easy to integrate into a factory line.”

Waabi’s partnership with Volvo is contingent on the automaker investing in the startup in 2023 via its investment arm, Volvo Venture Capital Group. Volvo has participated in Waabi’s $200 million Series B in 2024.

Clarification: Aurora did not initially launch its commercial service with a human observer in the booth.