The Self-Driving Startup Nobody Saw Coming | E2289

This Week In Startups is made possible by: IM8 Health: https://IM8health.com/TWIST Squarespace: https://Squarespace.com/TWIST Render -https://Render.com/TWIST Self-driving just stopped being a science problem and became an engineering challenge instead. That's the through-line of today’s double-header with the CEOs of two of the most important AV companies in the world — 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’s GAIA-2 world model: https://wayve.ai/thinking/gaia-2/ Wayve’s 500 city roadshow: https://wayve.ai/thinking/ai-500-roadshow-500-cities/ Wavye’s 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 Other Links: UNECE (United Nations self-driving regulations: https://unece.org/transport/vehicle-regulations Alex Kendall’s most recent TWIST appearance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkvARAUCYZY Timestamps: 0:00 Alex Kendall (Wayve) joins the show 0:33 The contrarian bet on end-to-end AI and world models in 2017 2:19 What is a world model? GAIA-2 and GAIA-3 explained 6:48 Sensor agnosticism: camera, radar, LiDAR and minimum bar for safety 9:10 $1.5B raised — have we cracked self-driving? 9:23 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. 19:52 Squarespace: Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST 24:17 How consumers will actually pay: bundle, subscription, or free trial 27:55 Why robotics applications beyond cars get cheaper after autos 29:29 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%…