Waabi: leading the way to a self-driving future

There’s no mistaking the excitement in Urtasun’s voice when she talks about self-driving technology and her new company Waabi, which she launched in Toronto in June 2021.

A global superstar in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the University of Toronto professor raised $100 million in the first round of financing, one of the largest for any Canadian tech startup.

It’s a vote of confidence in Waabi’s innovative approach to autonomous vehicle development, one that promises to speed up the process, which traditionally eventually gets bogged down in complexity.

“There’s a need for new technology, and I have a very clear vision of what it is,” says Urtasun. Her company uses a “new generation of AI algorithms that combine deep learning, probabilistic inference and complex optimization” that will make it possible to “generalize and learn from a small amount of data.”

“Our novel simulation system is less capital-intensive and requires much less on-road driving to develop and refine,” explains Urtasun. “All of which means we can advance our technology in a faster, cheaper and safer way.”

There was never any doubt in Urtasun’s mind that Waabi would be headquartered in Toronto. The Spanish native was lured to the city in 2014 from Chicago, where she was an assistant professor with the Toyota Technological Institute.

“Toronto is a technology hub,” she says. “I was drawn by the depth of AI experience here, which is really unparalleled.”

Some of that talent is homegrown, thanks to a network of world-class universities, including the University of Toronto, an acknowledged leader in the field of AI. But there are many like Urtasun who are attracted from abroad because Toronto is where transformative technologies are being developed.

Also vital to the success of a startup like Waabi is a good investment environment. Toronto delivers that as well. “Investors here are sophisticated. They understand transformative technologies and the importance of moving them from the academic world to the real world.”

Urtasun is convinced that self-driving is one of the most exciting and important technologies of our generation. “Once solved at scale, it will change the world as we know it,” she contends. “And Waabi is going to be at the forefront of that change.”

If she’s successful—and there’s every reason to believe she will be—one of the most important industries in the world will be based in Ontario.