Uber puts another chip on the self-driving roulette table

Self-driving truck startup Waabi's billion-dollar fundraise isn't just about trucks.     The deal, for $750 million up front plus another $250 million from Uber tied to deployment milestones, marks a major expansion into robotaxis for the company founded by former Uber AI chief Raquel Urtasun. It also feels like another chip from Uber on the autonomous vehicle roulette table. With more than 20 AV partners worldwide, the question isn't just whether Waabi can deliver on its plans to deploy over 25,000 robotaxis, but whether Uber's bet-on-everything strategy actually works.    Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Sean O'Kane and Anthony Ha discussed Uber's AV partnership strategy, why Waabi's "simulation-first" approach might be different, and more of the week's headlines.  Listen to the full episode to hear about:  Anduril's drone race recruitment stunt and whether it's the future of hiring or just good PR  Phia’s $35M raise for an AI shopping assistant as brick-and-mortar stores close their doors  Northwood Space's $100M Series B and the booming space infrastructure market  Who’s really winning in TikTok's messy US ownership deal, and the competitors trying to capitalize  The IPO window cracking open, and how SpaceX plans to go through it  Chapters:  00:00 Intro  02:13 Palmer Luckey's bold recruiting strategy  04:04 Phia raises $35M for sustainable shopping  06:27 Browser extensions & the privacy problem  09:59 Northwood Space's $100M Series B & Space Force contract  12:17 The rise of dual-use space companies  14:01 Waabi's $1B valuation & beyond trucking  16:36 Uber's strategy: Betting on every AV partner  19:12 TikTok's US deal & immediate outage  21:46 TikTok competitors gain ground  24:03 IPO window opening: Ethos, Serve, and SpaceX  27:57 Will Elon actually take SpaceX public this time?  29:11 Outro  Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices