Uber puts another chip on the self-driving roulette table
Equity
Intro
Kirsten, Anthony and Sean introduce the episode and outline topics including AVs, space, TikTok, and IPOs.
Self-driving truck startup Waabi's billion-dollar fundraise isn't just about trucks.
The deal, for $750 million up front plus another $250 million from Uber tied to deployment milestones, marks a major expansion into robotaxis for the company founded by former Uber AI chief Raquel Urtasun. It also 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.
Today 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.
Listen to the full episode to hear about:
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Anduril's drone race recruitment stunt and whether it's the future of hiring or just good PR
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Phia’s $35M raise for an AI shopping assistant as brick-and-mortar stores close their doors
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Northwood Space's $100M Series B and the booming space infrastructure market
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Who’s really winning in TikTok's messy US ownership deal, and the competitors trying to capitalize
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The IPO window cracking open, and how SpaceX plans to go through it
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:13 Palmer Luckey's bold recruiting strategy
04:04 Phia raises $35M for sustainable shopping
06:27 Browser extensions & the privacy problem
09:59 Northwood Space's $100M Series B & Space Force contract
12:17 The rise of dual-use space companies
14:01 Waabi's $1B valuation & beyond trucking
16:36 Uber's strategy: Betting on every AV partner
19:12 TikTok's US deal & immediate outage
21:46 TikTok competitors gain ground
24:03 IPO window opening: Ethos, Serve, and SpaceX
27:57 Will Elon actually take SpaceX public this time?
29:11 Outro
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