Self-driving truck startup Waabi’s billion-dollar fundraise isn’t just about trucks. <\/p>\n
The deal, for $750 million up front plus another $250 million from Uber tied to deployment milestones, feels like another chip from Uber on the autonomous vehicle roulette table. With more than 20 AV partners worldwide, the question isn’t just whether Waabi can deliver on its plans to deploy over 25,000 robotaxis, but whether Uber’s bet-on-everything strategy actually works. <\/p>\n
On TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane and Anthony Ha discussed Uber’s AV partnership strategy, why Waabi’s “simulation-first” approach might be different, and more of the week’s headlines. <\/p>\n
Chapters: <\/p>\n
00:00 Intro <\/p>\n
02:13 Palmer Luckey’s bold recruiting strategy <\/p>\n
04:04 Phia raises $35M for sustainable shopping <\/p>\n
06:27 Browser extensions & the privacy problem <\/p>\n
09:59 Northwood Space’s $100M Series B & Space Force contract <\/p>\n
12:17 The rise of dual-use space companies <\/p>\n
14:01 Waabi’s $1B valuation & beyond trucking <\/p>\n
16:36 Uber’s strategy: Betting on every AV partner <\/p>\n
19:12 TikTok’s US deal & immediate outage <\/p>\n
21:46 TikTok competitors gain ground <\/p>\n
24:03 IPO window opening: Ethos, Serve, and SpaceX <\/p>\n
27:57 Will Elon actually take SpaceX public this time? <\/p>\n
29:11 Outro <\/p>\n
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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