Canadian autonomous truck developer Waabi says US$200 million in funding just raised will allow it to launch fully driverless trucks next year.

The funding round was led by Uber and Khosla Ventures, with Volvo Group Venture Capital  and other investors also taking part. Waabi says just three years from its inception it’s now on the verge of achieving Level 4 autonomy.

“I have spent most of my professional life dedicated to inventing new AI technologies that can deliver on the enormous potential of AI in the physical world in a provably safe and scalable way,” said Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO of Waabi.

“Over the past three years, alongside the incredible team at Waabi, I have had the chance to turn these breakthroughs into a revolutionary product that has far surpassed my expectations. We have everything we need — breakthrough technology, an incredible team, and pioneering partners and investors — to launch fully driverless autonomous trucks in 2025. This is monumental for the industry and truly marks the beginning of the next frontier for AI.”

The company says its differentiator is AI technology that allows human-like reasoning to respond to any situation that may arise on the road, including those never seen before. It claims its technology is fully interpretable and its safety can be validated and verified.

AI-first approach

“We are big believers in the potential for autonomous technology to revolutionize transportation, making a safer and more sustainable future possible,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, of the investment. “Raquel is a visionary in the field and, under her leadership, Waabi’s AI-first approach provides a solution that is extremely exciting in both its scalability and capital efficiency.”

“With autonomy, we are at the forefront of a new and complementary transport mode that will alleviate freight capacity constraints and by that enhance trade and economic growth,” added Nils Jaeger, president of Volvo Autonomous Solutions.

“As Volvo Group we feel confident that continued investment into a competitive autonomous driving landscape will not only stimulate additional technological capabilities- but enable the evolution and maturity of the autonomous vehicle industry. Waabi has shown great progress since the first investment, and we are happy to share our continued support by participation in this round.”