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Uber Freight and Waabi launched a commercial autonomous truck pilot route in Texas last week, with plans to offer billions of miles on autonomous flights with airline partners over the next decade.
The logistics provider and AV technology startup have signed a 10-year deal for trucks using AI Generative Waabi Driver technology to transport cargo on Uber Freight’s network. The pilot route between Dallas and Houston is expected to “expand rapidly to other key lanes in Texas and beyond,” according to Waabi.
“Uber Freight has the scalable freight network and market expertise needed to efficiently and safely deploy our AI self-driving technology at scale,” said Waabi Founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun. “The unique solution we are building together will enable carriers to dynamically and efficiently deploy Waabi Driver, while unlocking critical capacity for shippers and increasing value across the supply chain.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Its goal is to allow carriers with Waabi Driver-equipped trucks to use the Uber Freight network’s optimized routes, transportation hub infrastructure and other services, and give more shippers a way to explore autonomous trucking.
This isn’t Uber Freight’s first AV rodeo. The company debuted an autonomous pilot route from Fort Worth to El Paso last year, extending a partnership with Aurora Innovation that began in 2021.
However, Waabi says its AV truck technology is the first to be built around a core AI model, which can automatically learn from data and generalize its knowledge to situations on the road, including those it has never seen before.
The AV startup, which launched in 2021, offers technology that is “more scalable, safer and more flexible” than competitors’ “previous generation” systems, Urtasun told Trucking Dive last fall. The company is looking to eventually phase out the safety driver and human engineer.
Founder and CEO of Uber Freight Lior Ron boasted in a statement about the company’s work with Waabi “it will usher in a new era for our industry.”
“This exciting partnership allows us to bring of Waabi Groundbreaking AI innovation at the forefront of our vast freight network, giving our shippers and carriers nationwide the tools they need to embrace autonomous technology and transform their operations safely and efficiently,” said Ron.
The deal also reunites Urtasun with her old employer. Before founding Waabi, the CEO worked for Uber for more than three years, leaving as chief scientist of Uber’s self-driving unit ATG in 2021, according to LinkedIn. Uber sold the business to Aurora in 2020TechCrunch reported.