TORONTO, MARCH 18, 2024 — Waabi, a Toronto-based company, is developing the next generation of self-driving trucks using artificial intelligence, announced it is collaborating with NVIDIA to deliver the first generative AI-powered autonomous trucking solution to market. Working together, Waabi will integrate the next-generation NVIDIA DRIVE Thor into its breakthrough autonomous trucking solution. The generative AI component will allow the system to continuously improve over time, based on real-time data and feedback from the trucks and the roads they travel on.
“To realize the promise of self-driving at scale, we need to rethink how we are building autonomous systems,” said Raquel Urtasun, Founder and CEO of Waabi. “Waabi has developed a generative AI system enhancing autonomous trucks, equipping them with vital decision-making abilities for safe real-world operation. Bringing together our technology and best-in-class engineering teams, who are operating at the cutting edge of AI. This will rapidly advance the development and production of autonomous trucks at scale.”
Waabi and NVIDIA are working together to develop and deploy the NVIDIA DRIVE Thor next-generation compute platform. This platform will be integrated into generative AI-powered self-driving applications. DRIVE Thor offers the performance and reliability needed to help safely achieve billions of driverless miles. It delivers an industry-leading 1000 teraflops of compute, along with an inference transformer engine purpose-built for AI.
The successor to NVIDIA DRIVE Orin, DRIVE Thor, integrates numerous intelligent functions into a unified AI compute platform. It will integrate the new NVIDIA Blackwell architecture, designed for transformer, LLM, and generative AI workloads. The team designed its software stack for automotive safety and reliability, complying with rigorous specifications such as ISO 26262. The DRIVE Thor platform will help scale the production of Waabi’s next-generation autonomous solution, the Waabi Driver, beginning in 2025.
“Accelerated computing and generative AI will redefine the transportation industry, including the trucking sector,” said Rishi Dhall, Vice President of Automotive at NVIDIA. “The integration of DRIVE Thor is purpose-built to support the massive onboard AI workloads critical for safe self-driving. This will help advance Waabi’s generative AI-powered autonomous trucking system.”
The collaboration was announced during NVIDIA GTC, a global AI conference running March 18-21 at the San Jose Convention Center and online. Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun will be presenting on March 19. The news marks the latest sign of tremendous momentum for Waabi over the past year. This includes an industry-first partnership with Uber Freight, committing billions of miles of driverless capacity, and the launch of the company’s first commercial autonomous trucking routes in the U.S.
