Self-driving truck startup Waabi unveiled the Volvo VNL Autonomous truck on Tuesday, marking a major milestone in its partnership with Volvo Autonomous Solutions to commercialize driverless freight technology.
The announcement comes eight months after Waabi, which is backed by Uber and Nvidia, revealed its collaboration with Volvo to develop a custom autonomous truck using Volvo’s autonomy platform and Waabi’s proprietary software stack. The truck integrates Waabi’s AI-based Waabi Driver, sensor suite, and compute systems, forming what the company calls an end-to-end platform for scalable autonomous operations.
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Speaking on the AI stage at the event, Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun said the company is on track to be the first to deploy fully autonomous trucks without a human safety driver or onboard observer. “We can drive in generalized surface streets across right now in Texas, and you will be able to see us across the entire U.S. over the next few years as well,” Urtasun said.
Waabi’s system stands apart for its ability to generalize driving behavior across both highways and surface streets, allowing for rapid scaling across diverse geographies. The company says this approach will enable safe and efficient commercial operations that integrate smoothly into existing logistics networks.
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“Volvo VNL has been built from the ground up for the redundancies so that you can remove the human driver and you can build a global, safe, robust product,” Urtasun added. “Our sensor pods are super lightweight; it’s very easy to integrate at the factory line.”
The debut follows growing momentum in the autonomous freight sector, where competitors such as Aurora Innovation have also partnered with Volvo to advance similar technology. Aurora, which launched its own commercial self-driving service earlier this year on a Dallas-to-Houston route, said Tuesday it was expanding operations to El Paso.
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Waabi’s partnership with Volvo extends beyond technology integration. The Swedish truck maker invested in Waabi through its venture arm, Volvo Group Venture Capital, participating in the startup’s $200 million Series B round in 2024.
With its combination of physical AI and purpose-built hardware, Waabi said the Volvo VNL Autonomous truck represents a step toward “a safer, more efficient era of transportation” as it prepares for large-scale commercial deployment in the coming years.