{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"The Self-Driving Startup Nobody Saw Coming | E2289","description":"This Week In Startups is made possible by:  IM8 Health: IM8health.com\/TWIST Squarespace: Squarespace.com\/TWIST Render - Render.com\/TWIST  Self-driving just stopped being a science problem and became an engineering challenge instead. That's the through-line of today\u2019s double-header with the CEOs of two of the most important AV companies in the world \u2014 Wayve's Alex Kendall and Waabi's Raquel Urtasun. Between them: ~$2B raised in the last six months, Uber as a partner, Nissan and Volvo as OEMs, and a shared bet that end-to-end AI plus world models beats Waymo's city-by-city map-and-pray approach. If you want to understand the state of the self-driving industry beyond recent Waymo announcements, this is the episode for you. Guest Links: Wayve: wayve.ai\/ Waabi: http:\/\/waabi.ai\/ Alex Kendall https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/alexgkendall\/ Raquel Uratsun: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/raquel-urtasun-298400139\/ Company Links: Wayve\u2019s GAIA-2 world model: https:\/\/wayve.ai\/thinking\/gaia-2\/ Wayve\u2019s 500 city roadshow: https:\/\/wayve.ai\/thinking\/ai-500-roadshow-500-cities\/ Wavye\u2019s most recent funding round: https:\/\/wayve.ai\/press\/series-d\/ Waybe + Uber:  https:\/\/wayve.ai\/press\/wayve-nissan-uber-robotaxi-collaboration\/ Waabi closed-loop simulator: https:\/\/waabi.ai\/insights\/waabi-world Waabi + Volvo:  https:\/\/waabi.ai\/insights\/waabi-and-volvo-autonomous-solutions-partner-to-jointly-develop-and-deploy-autonomous-transportation-solutions Waabi + Uber:  https:\/\/www.uberfreight.com\/en-US\/blog\/uber-freight-and-waabi-introduce-industry-first-autonomous-truck-deployment-solution  Timestamps: 0:00 Alex Kendall (Wayve) joins the show 1:19 The contrarian bet on end-to-end AI and world models in 2017 3:05 What is a world model? GAIA-2 and GAIA-3 explained 7:34 Sensor agnosticism: camera, radar, LiDAR and minimum bar for safety 9:56 $1.5B raised \u2014 have we cracked self-driving? 10:09 Render: Find out why 5 million developers are already using the all-in-one cloud platform, Render. Go to https:\/\/render.com\/twist and apply for the Render Startup Program to get $500-$100,000 in free credits, depending on your stage and backers. 20:38 Squarespace: Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https:\/\/www.Squarespace.com\/TWIST 25:03 How consumers will actually pay: bundle, subscription, or free trial 30:15 IM8 Health: Start feeling like your best self every day. Go to https:\/\/IM8health.com\/twist and use the code TWiST to get a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets, and 10% off your order. 35:59 Raquel Urtasun (Waabi) joins the show 36:25 World models as controllable simulators for physical AI 43:34 One AI brain across trucks, robotaxis, and beyond 47:35 What changed in AI to make 2026 the deployment year 52:28 Why Waabi raised $1B when they're capital-efficient 58:52 Where Waabi is today: Volvo VNL Autonomous, Dallas-Houston, Uber Freight 1:00:50 Per-mile pricing and the Driver-as-a-Service model 1:07:20 Has Uber tried to buy Waabi? &quot;Not for sale&quot;  Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https:\/\/ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https:\/\/www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https:\/\/rb.gy\/v19fcp Follow Lon: X: https:\/\/x.com\/lons Follow Alex: X: https:\/\/x.com\/alex LinkedIn: \u2060https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/alexwilhelm Follow Jason: X: https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jason LinkedIn: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jasoncalacanis  Check out all our partner offers: https:\/\/partners.launch.co\/ Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe,  Steve Huffman,  Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta,  Aaron Levie,  Sophia Amoruso,  Reid Hoffman,  Frank Slootman,  Billy McFarland Check out Jason\u2019s suite of newsletters: https:\/\/substack.com\/@calacanis Follow TWiST: Twitter: https:\/\/twitter.com\/TWiStartups YouTube: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/thisweekin Instagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https:\/\/twistartups.substack.com  ","author_name":"This Week in Startups","author_url":"https:\/\/thisweekinstartups.com","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/41997945\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/203884325"}