Podcasts about waabi

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss their road trip to Forward Forth Worth, Waymo's expansion to Washington, D.C. and the emerging opportunity in autonomous trucking.Texas is thriving capital of autonomous trucking with Aurora, Bot Auto, Kodiak, Torc and Waabi all having a presence in the state. Now autonomous vehicle companies are flocking to the state with Avride, May Mobility, Waymo and Zoox all having a presence in the state.While Texas emerges as the capital of autonomy, Waymo continues to solidify its lead as the world leader in robotaxis. With their lead in tact and the demand for their service growing, Waymo announced this week that they are expanding service to Washington, D.C. in 2026. As both Waymo continues to grow and expand, the economic impact of autonomy is only just beginning to be felt.Episode Chapters0:00 Waymo Subreddit01:17 Forward Fort Worth03:10 Insurance06:55 Investing in Autonomous Trucking11:56 May Mobility Arlington Deployment13:56 Autonomy Markets on the Road17:28 Waymo Announces Service is Coming to D.C. in 202621:41 Waymo / Uber Relationship26:50 Waymo Testing Zeekr Robotaxis on I-85 in Atlanta27:44 Waymo, The World Leader in Robotaxis30:46 London31:56 New York33:34 Autonomy Markets Confessions34:34 Waymo Scheduled Rides38:05 Waymo Pricing41:08 Tesla's June Robotaxi Launch48:03 Next WeekRecorded on Tuesday, March 25, 2025--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Autonomy is transforming industries and creating an entirely new economy that we call the autonomy economy™. The Road to Autonomy provides advisory and market intelligence services that helps you better understand the market and stay ahead of what's coming next. To learn more, say hello (at) roadtoautonomy.com.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In today's episode Raquel Urtasun, co-founder and CEO joins us to talk about Waabi's recent partnership Volvo autonomous transportation solutions and how Waabi's tech is powering the production-ready Volvo VNL autonomous trucks. Follow the Truck Tech Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raquel Urtasun came to the AV sector from academia, first leading research for Uber's Advanced Technology Group, and for the last four years with her own startup Waabi. She joins the show to cast light on Waabi's unique approach to Level 4 trucking, some of the differences between so-called "AV 2.0" approaches, and where AI breakthroughs are poised to change AV development.

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Lyft's autonomous vehicle manifesto, the impending consolidation of the LiDAR market, the emerging personally-owned autonomous vehicle fleet market, and Waabi's driver-out strategy.Lyft's manifesto highlights the potential for private car owners to integrate their personally-owned autonomous vehicles into the Lyft network, a concept similar to Elon Musk's vision for Tesla owners. For this to become a reality and for autonomous vehicles to scale effectively, a national regulatory framework is essential.During his Senate confirmation hearing for Deputy Secretary of Transportation this week, Steven Bradbury expressed enthusiasm for autonomous vehicles and advocated for a federal framework. Mr. Bradbury also emphasized a market-driven approach to technology adoption, rather than government-mandated solutions such as LiDAR.Currently, the LiDAR market is dominated by Hesai, but consolidation looms a majority of the publicly-traded pure-play LiDAR companies face dwindling cash reserves and limited revenues.In the autonomous trucking market, Waabi aims to go driver-out on public roads by the end of the year. But can they pull it off? And if Volvo isn't their OEM partner, who will be? Grayson and Walt debate the challenges ahead and the role of autonomous driving retrofit kits in the industry's future.Episode Chapters0:00 Lyft's Autonomous Vehicle Manifesto5:39 Personally-Owned Autonomous Vehicles11:22 Fleet Management16:11 Waymo / Lyft Relationship18:05 Credit Card and Telco Partnerships20:10 May Mobility, Mobileye / Lyft Partnership22:02 Autonomous Vehicle Policy24:41 LiDAR Market31:05 Waabi Driver-Out Plans39:52 Autonomous Driving Technology47:04 Unforced Error of The Week49:08 Next WeekRecorded on Thursday, February 20, 2025--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Stellantis has paused retooling Brampton Assembly Plant; Polestar Canada has big plans for 2025; and Toyota Canada is committed to this country “for the long haul.” Plus, Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun discusses a new partnership with Volvo Autonomous Solutions. She also details the generative AI advances at the heart of the company's end-to-end AI stack and approach to developing “AV 2.0.”

Les notícies que et mouen. - Honda i Nissan parteixen peres. - Mobilitat sostenible. Tesla es desploma a Europa. S'aturen les ajudes per carregadors als EUA. - Mobilitat autònoma. Waabi i Volvo Trucks. - Aeroespacial. Lillium.

January saw a spike in new-vehicle sales; the Kia EV5 is set to arrive; and Waabi partners with Volvo on self-driving trucks. Plus, Canadian International AutoShow General Manager Jason Campbell previews the 2025 edition of the show.

GenLogs secures $14.6 million, Waabi teams up with Volvo, and spot rates rise 0.5%. We break down everything you need to know. Want it in your inbox? Subscribe at FreightCaviar.com.

Transport Topics is the news leader in trucking and freight transportation. Today's briefing covers which industries could be affected most by tariffs on Mexico and Canada, a design unveiling for the Key Bridge in Baltimore, and a partnership between Volvo Group and Waabi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Self-driving truck startup Waabi is partnering with Volvo Autonomous Solutions to jointly develop and deploy autonomous trucks, an important milestone as it gets closer to a commercial launch.  The tie up also marks Volvo's second partnership to co-develop self-driving big rigs with a startup partner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Dom and Becca dive into the future of trucking with Raquel Urtasun, CEO and co-founder of Waabi, a company pioneering driverless, long-haul trucks powered by generative AI. They talked about Waabi's unique simulation-based training approach, its vision for autonomous technology, and how it could redefine the trucking industry and workforce.   Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:On TwitterOn InstagramVia email: found@techcrunch.com

This week, John Ruffolo of Maverix Private Equity is back with Matt to talk about the latest news in the tech and capital ecosystem.They discuss the end of the Collision Conference in Toronto, TD Bank's new initiative for tech entrepreneurs, and big moves in AI.They also cover Jerome Nycz's retirement from BDC Capital and Raquel Urtasun's new funding round for her company, Waabi.In this episode, we discuss:(00:00) Impact of Collision Conference on Toronto Ecosystem(01:33) Opportunities for Vancouver Ecosystem(05:52) TD Innovation Partners launch(08:28) Jerome Nycz' retirement from BDC Capital(10:34) Apple Intelligence Product Announcement(11:24) Partnership between Apple and OpenAI(14:54) Ilya Sutskever's new company, Safe AI(17:35) OpenAI's governance structure change(18:48) Raquel Urtasun's Waabi Series B fundingFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

With Kirsten taking a well-deserved vacation, Alex and Ed run wild, discussing a wide variety of recent news. From Ed's recent OpEd on Tesla in the Washington Post to GM's new cash injection into Cruise, and from "AI first" automated trucking company Waabi's new funding round to questions around transparency in China's AV development, and much more, the lads have their hands full this week.

Funding for autonomous driving startups has surged significantly after a slow start to the year. From January to April, less than 800 million dollars was raised, but since May 1, nearly 2.7 billion dollars has been invested. Key deals include Wayve raising 1.05 billion dollars, General Motors investing 850 million dollars into Cruise, and Waabi securing 200 million dollars. These investments position the sector for its best year since 2021, with startups already raising nearly 3.5 billion dollars, surpassing last year's 5.7 billion dollars and 2022's 5.9 billion dollars.Learn more on this news visit us at: https://greyjournal.net/news/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, co-hosts Mary-Ann Azavedo and Haje Kamps were joined by the ever-insightful Kirsten Korosec to dive into the latest and greatest happenings in the startup world. Kicking things off, our trio of hosts break down three major deals of the week. First, there's Waabi, an autonomous trucking startup that just closed a whopping $200 million Series B round. Kirsten Korosec provides an inside look into how Waabi's AI-first approach is setting it apart in the crowded autonomous vehicle space and why investors are still willing to back big bets in this field despite the market's ups and downs.Next, they explore the intriguing case of Gynger, a fintech company that has raised $20 million led by PayPal Ventures. Mary-Ann explains how Gynger is shaking up the way startups handle tech purchases with its buy-now-pay-later model, working both with buyers and sellers to offer flexible payment terms. Kirsten and your trusty correspondent weigh in on the potential risks and rewards of this unique business model, especially in today's volatile economic environment.The third deal takes us into the realm of artificial intelligence with Safe Superintelligence. I'm delving into the story of OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever's new venture, which aims to develop general AI with a focus on safety. We discuss the ambitious goals of this startup and the challenges of balancing rapid advancement with the ethical considerations of creating superintelligent AI.After dissecting these deals, the conversation shifts to a sobering topic: the wave of bankruptcies that have hit the startup world in 2024. Kirsten provides a detailed analysis of the factors leading to these failures, with a spotlight on high-profile cases like EV startup Fisker and fintech service Synapse. The team discusses the common pitfalls that led to these companies' downfalls and what other startups can learn from their mistakes.But it's not all doom and gloom—our hosts wrap up with an exciting discussion about the future. They dive into Voodoo's acquisition of social media startup BeReal for $537 million. Mary-Ann explores the reasons behind this bold move, how Voodoo plans to integrate ads into BeReal's platform, and what this could mean for the landscape of social media. Kirsten and myself debate the potential success of this strategy and the broader implications for user engagement and authenticity in the age of digital advertising.Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Transport Topics is the news leader in trucking and freight transportation. Today's daily briefing includes news on truck tonnage, medium-duty sales, and the completion of a funding round for Waabi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus Generative AI Drives You (subscribe below) Like this? Get AIDAILY, delivered to your inbox, every weekday. Subscribe to our newsletter at https://aidaily.us Generative AI Could Power the Next Wave of Self-Driving Cars The advancements in AI are driving a new phase in autonomous vehicle (AV) development, termed "AV 2.0," aiming for a faster and cost-effective way to teach robots to drive. Companies like Waabi and Wayve are using AI for intuitive learning, making rapid progress with significant investments. Despite advancements, AI in AVs still faces challenges in ensuring safety and reliability.  Lawmakers Address Deepfake AI Porn Boom with New Bill Lawmakers are introducing the "Take It Down Act," aiming to hold social media companies accountable for removing deepfake pornographic images. Sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, the bill mandates platforms remove such images within 48 hours of a victim's request and make efforts to delete other copies. The Federal Trade Commission will enforce the rules. The bill seeks to protect victims, including celebrities and high school students, from non-consensual AI-generated images. While there is bipartisan support for action, two competing Senate bills propose different approaches to address the issue. Google DeepMind Unveils AI Tech to Generate Video Soundtracks Google DeepMind's new AI tech generates soundtracks for videos. This AI, designed to enhance video experiences, uses machine learning to create music that matches the video's mood and context. This innovation aims to streamline the process for content creators, potentially revolutionizing how soundtracks are produced for various multimedia projects. Why Artists Are Becoming Less Afraid of AI Artists are becoming less fearful of AI as they realize its limitations and potential benefits. AI can help with initial drafts and structuring, but it struggles to produce original, stimulating, and funny content. With increasing awareness of data-scraping practices and copyright concerns, artists are leveraging AI to augment creativity while ensuring ethical use. Why Does AI Hallucinate? AI chatbots often generate incorrect information, known as "hallucinations," because they predict words based on statistical patterns from large datasets rather than retrieving factual data. Techniques like training on more data and chain-of-thought prompting can improve accuracy, but errors are inevitable due to the probabilistic nature of these models.  Keep HILT Human-in-the-loop (HILT) and reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) are essential for AI safety and reliability. HILT involves human oversight to correct AI errors, while RLHF helps AI learn from human feedback. This combination ensures accurate decision-making in high-stakes areas like security, balancing automation with human judgment to mitigate risks. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aidaily/message

Timothy Dooner, Host, WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discus the rise and fall of digital freight brokerages and the growth of autonomous truckingThe conversation begins with Dooner discussing his outlook for the freight market.There is 8. 1% less brokerages than there were a year ago at the start of this year. But there's still 17% more brokerages than we started at the pandemic. Everyone's been waiting for not just volumes to go up, but the way freight works, it's volume plus capacity. They've been waiting for the capacity to go down. Volumes are looking a little bit better. Things are receding and this year I'm hearing a lot more optimism. – Timothy DoonerThe optimism is being shared by Walmart as there are rumors circulating that Walmart is looking to develop a digital freight brokerage. Since Walmart operates their own fleet, they have a unique data set that could potentially help them leapfrog the competition when and if they are introduce a digital freight brokerage service. The freight market is currently turbulent as the demand for freight and the capacity to haul the freight are not in sync. Then there is the California electric truck mandate which will ultimately end up increasing the costs to ship freight, hurting both the carriers and the consumer. Could these mandates help to accelerate the adoption of autonomous truck as they are cheaper to operate? It's possible and as we are seeing in California, autonomous vehicle technology is not always welcome. in San Francisco vandals set fire to a Waymo autonomous vehicle with a firework, burning the vehicle to the ground. If the regulatory environment in California eventually allows autonomous trucks to operate, will similar vandals also try to cause damage to autonomous trucks? Autonomous trucking is going to play a major role in the future of trucking and the global economy. As the technology is developed different business models are going to come to fruition and one of those is the licensing model. Kodiak has the potential to license their SensorPods technology, creating a lucrative revenue stream as they develop their autonomous trucking platform. This is in addition to their growing defense business.Then there is Uber. Uber has investments in Aurora and Waabi, and has the Uber Freight division. Yet they do not operate an autonomous trucking fleet. Grayson and Dooner go onto dicuss Uber's autonomous trucking investment strategy and who ultimately owns the asset.Wrapping up the conversation, Dooner shares his 2024 outlook for the trucking market. Recorded on Wednesday, February 14, 2023Episode Chapters0:00 Introduction 1:34 Freight Market Outlook 7:31 Walmart's Rumored Digital Freight Brokerage 10:42 Are Electric Truck Mandates Accelerating the Adoption of Autonomous Trucks 13:57 Vandals in San Fransisco Set Fire to a Waymo Autonomous Vehicle 18:20 Commercializing Autonomous Trucking 25:32 The Business of Kodiak Robotics28:15 Autonomous Delivery Drones 31:55 Uber's Autonomous Trucking Investment Strategy 39:18 Who Owns the Asset? 42:59 Tesla Cybertruck 43:52 Apple Vision Pro 51:08 2024 Trucking Outlook--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and analysis on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor's Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy podcast and This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Vivian Sun is the Head of Automated Driving at Amazon and an accomplished autonomous vehicle and AI expert. Vivian previously served as the Chief Commercial Officers at Waabi and the VP of Business Development at TuSimple, two leaders in autonomous trucking. In this episode, Vivian shares more about the current state of the AV industry, the potential of generative AI, and how her upbringing shaped her career path. Chapters: (00:01) Autonomous Vehicles (14:08) Hardware and Software Integration in Self-Driving (19:03) Future of Self-Driving Trucks in Industry (24:37) Curiosity, Industry Connections, and Staying Ahead (30:29) Importance of Deep Conversations and Reflection (45:20) Self-Growth and Future Plans ------------------------------------- Transcript https://justinpang.com/vivian-podcast-transcript ------------------------------------- Follow Vivian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivian-sun-0a22772a/ Learn more about Amazon's Middle Mile Product: https://www.amazon.science/latest-news/how-amazons-middle-mile-team-helps-packages-make-the-journey-to-your-doorstep

Olivia Hu, Head of Autonomous Trucking, Uber Freight joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss how autonomous trucking is going to complement and accelerate the growth of Uber Freight's $18 billion of freight under management platform. The conversation begins with Olivia discussing the current state of the autonomous trucking industry. The autonomous trucking industry right now is just at this very exciting moment, when its going from purely a technology and R&D pilot or project to let's look at go to market. What is the long-term strategy? How do we bring different ecosystem players from OEMs, Tier 1s, autonomous trucking developers, maintenance providers, fleets, shippers, networks like ourselves all together to start planing that long-term commercialization strategy? – Olivia HuCollectivity the autonomous trucking industry is preparing for the next phase — commercialization. When commercialization begins in earnest, Uber Freight stands to benefit as they will be the platform that connects the autonomous trucking companies with the freight. The first autonomous trucking lanes to come online will be in the Texas Triangle, from Dallas/Fort Worth to Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth to El Paso. These lanes will be used to learn how autonomous trucks operate in a commercial environment and what the operations will look like when at scale. When autonomous trucks are operating at scale, the industry will have to build and maintain public trust. One of the best ways in our opinion to build public trust is to host an “Autonomous Trucking Grocery Store Day” where everything in the store is 20% off for one-day because it was delivered by an autonomous truck. Autonomous Trucking Grocery Store Daydemonstrates to the public the positive economic that autonomous trucks will have on the cost of living as they suffer under high inflation. As it relates to professional drivers, fleets and shippers, Uber Freight is also working to build trust and educate them about how autonomous trucks could fit into and compliment their existing operations. For me, what's most important about building trust is being very transparent, honest and giving them the time to ask questions. – Olivia HuWhen Uber Freight brings autonomous trucking partners onto the platform they engage in a KYC process (Know Your Customer) that evaluates the company's safety framework including the safety culture, technical capabilities, leadership team and the go-to-market strategy. We think having the right go-to-market strategy will be really critical and that includes working with other ecosystem players like OEMs, like ourselves, network providers, shippers and fleets. – Olivia HuUber Freight's KYC policy was developed and implemented to limit the potential risks that might arise if and when regulation takes hold in the industry. Today, Uber Freight has partnerships with Aurora and Waabi and previously had a partnership with Waymo Via prior to the division being shutdown. In the future, Uber Freight will look to add more partners to the platform, but they will not partner with every autonomous trucking company.We only partner if it makes sense. If we truly believe that they have a safe reliable product with a long-term strategy that is the right commercial application for our customers. – Olivia HuThe right long-term strategy is one that is grounded in economics that enables pricing power. Uber Freight's Insights AI tool gives their customers to optimize their operations, pricing structure and what lanes make the most sense to deploy autonomous trucks.Wrapping up the conversation, Olivia discusses the role the Uber Freight will play as autonomous trucking scales. Recorded on Thursday, November 30, 2023--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles and logistics. The company has three businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor's Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy Podcast and The Road to Autonomy's This Week In The Index; and The Road to Autonomy Research and Consulting Services.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO, Waabi Innovation Topic: The newer players in autonomous trucking are leaning into generative AI as a differentiator for their robotic driving systems. Waabi trains its data to create simulations that might not occur anytime soon in the real world. Follow the Truck Tech Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is talking about a massive plunge in outbound tender volumes nationwide. What's causing it? A bad market, the UAW strike or Ozempic? Uber Freight and Waabi are teaming up on autonomous loads with a new 10-year deal. Waabi's Dustin Koehl talks about drivers-as-a-service robotics and how that will factor into digital brokerage services.  The Scheduling Standards Consortium announced the achievement of a landmark milestone — the publication of its technical standard for developing scheduling APIs for transportation management systems. Now that it's live, Raj Subbiah at Uber Freight and Chirag Modi at Blue Yonder get us up to speed on how it works. Booking per-load insurance has historically been time-consuming and frustrating for motor carriers and freight brokers, so Reliance Partners and McLeod Software have teamed up to streamline the process. Per-load shipper's interest insurance is now integrated directly with McLeod. Reliance Partners' Mark Vickers tells us everything we need to know. Josh Gonzalez co-founded a freight market in one of the worst markets in history. We'll find out why this Amazon alum is bullish on his new trucking company, TJG Logistics.  Plus, why Georgia police got a semi; emergency alert snitches on the Amish; bad trucking investments; and why you should always wear a hardhat.  Watch on YouTube Visit our sponsor Subscribe to the WTT newsletter Apple Podcasts Spotify More FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is talking about a massive plunge in outbound tender volumes nationwide. What's causing it? A bad market, the UAW strike or Ozempic? Uber Freight and Waabi are teaming up on autonomous loads with a new 10-year deal. Waabi's Dustin Koehl talks about drivers-as-a-service robotics and how that will factor into digital brokerage services.  The Scheduling Standards Consortium announced the achievement of a landmark milestone — the publication of its technical standard for developing scheduling APIs for transportation management systems. Now that it's live, Raj Subbiah at Uber Freight and Chirag Modi at Blue Yonder get us up to speed on how it works. Booking per-load insurance has historically been time-consuming and frustrating for motor carriers and freight brokers, so Reliance Partners and McLeod Software have teamed up to streamline the process. Per-load shipper's interest insurance is now integrated directly with McLeod. Reliance Partners' Mark Vickers tells us everything we need to know. Josh Gonzalez co-founded a freight market in one of the worst markets in history. We'll find out why this Amazon alum is bullish on his new trucking company, TJG Logistics.  Plus, why Georgia police got a semi; emergency alert snitches on the Amish; bad trucking investments; and why you should always wear a hardhat.  Watch on YouTube Visit our sponsor Subscribe to the WTT newsletter Apple Podcasts Spotify More FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bo Davis is the Co-Founder and CEO of MarginEdge. Bo Davis studied philosophy as na undergrad and left school to develop Prometheus, an educational software company. He sold the company, joined the Peace Corps., and received two Masters degrees. He Cofounded the conveyor sushi concept Waabi in 2005 which still operates today. From 2015-2018 he developed MarginEdge, a restaurant management software. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your first 30 days on me!  Connect with my past guest and a community of superfans. Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!) Favorite success quote/mantra: "The unexamined life is not worth living." Today's sponsor: RestaurantUnstoppableNetwork.com- Where we pull back the layers of what we're learning in the field. Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast's job is to seek out leading restaurateurs, get to the core of what makes them successful, deconstruct how they're evolving with time, and close the knowledge gap by sharing my findings. But where are we going to unpackage it all?! RestaurantUnstoppableNetwork.com that's where. When you join the network you'll get access to past guests, industry experts, and a community of passionate restaurant owners to support and hold you accountable. Click the link or the banner and get your first 30 days on us! At Popmenu, we know that in today's world, a great hospitality experience usually begins online. Keeping the conversation with guests going beyond the meal also requires simple, powerful, fun technology capable of expression through all kinds of channels. Our team takes pride in helping restaurants put their best foot forward digitally so they can focus on what they do best. We think PDF menus are super boring, we believe 3rd party platforms have had too much say in how consumers find their next dining experience and we deeply feel that sharing your beautiful menu doesn't have to be so difficult, time-consuming and expensive. As a listener of the Restaurant Unstoppable, you'll receive $100 off your first month of Popmenu! CORE: Children of Restaurant Employees is a national non-profit and direct provider that is dedicated to serving food and beverage operations employees with children. CORE provides financial relief when the restaurant employee, their partner, or child faces a life-altering medical crisis, injury, death, or natural disaster. To learn more about how CORE helps, and how you and your company can get involved in their important mission, visit www.COREgives.org. Restaurant Systems Pro - Join the 60-day Restaurant Systems Pro FREE TRAINING. This is something that has never been done before. This 60-day event is at no cost to you, but it is not for everyone. Fred Langley, CEO of Restaurant Systems Pro, will lead a group of restaurateurs through the Restaurant Systems Pro software and set up the systems for your restaurant. During the 60 days, Fred will walk you through the Restaurant Systems Pro Process and help you crush the following goals: Recipe Costing Cards; Guidance in your books for accounting; Cash controls; Sales Forecasting(With Accuracy); Checklists; Budgeting for the entire year; Scheduling for profit; More butts in seats and more… Click Here to learn more. Contact: Website Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post. Also, please leave an honest review for the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them. And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Huge thanks to Bo Davis for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

Transport Topics is the news leader in trucking and freight transportation. Today's daily briefing includes news about a partnership between Uber Freight and Waabi, cargo theft in Kentucky, and trailer order figures for August.

Alan Adler - Midwest Bureau Chief - FreightWaves - Nunica, MI https://www.freightwaves.com/news/waabi-signs-10-year-autonomous-trucking-pact-with-uber-freight

Autonomous trucking startup Waabi is committing billions of miles of driverless capacity to the Uber Freight network as part of a 10-year strategic partnership between the two companies.

As autonomous trucking scales, what role will professional drivers play? According to one company, the answer is a big one.  . As world-leading experts in self-driving, Waabi is speeding up the curve of autonomous trucking with their generative AI simulation platform. But their leadership in the AV space goes beyond their revolutionary technology. By creating the industry's first Million Mile Driver Advisory Board, Waabi is tapping into the knowledge of the world's most experienced truck drivers—and giving them a long-overdue seat at the AV development table. . To learn more, we sat down with Sam Loesche, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Waabi, to discuss the state of autonomous trucking, the importance of partnering closely with truck drivers, and how autonomy will change the way we move goods in this country forever. .  We'd love to hear from you. Share your comments, questions and ideas for future topics and guests to podcast@sae.org. Don't forget to take a moment to follow SAE Tomorrow Today—a podcast where we discuss emerging technology and trends in mobility with the leaders, innovators and strategists making it all happen—and give us a review on your preferred podcasting platform. . Follow SAE on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Follow host Grayson Brulte on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

Today we sit down with accomplished author Colin Mustful to discuss his upcoming alternate history novel, "Reclaiming Mni Sota." As we dive into a conversation about the largely overlooked US-Dakota War of 1862, we explore the unique narrative styles used to bring to life two characters, Samuel and Waabi. Mustful enlightens us about his background, his experience with a vanity press, and his subsequent journey to launching History Through Fiction Publishing. Further, we explore the nuances of revisionist history and alternate history, breaking down the differences with Mustful's insights. He elaborates on the painstaking process of blending history and fiction to create a compelling narrative. Not only do we dive into the details of the book, but also discuss broader topics such as the treatment of Dakota and Ojibwe people. As we wind down, we shift gears to talk about the often overlooked topic of coffee pricing, ignited by a humorous incident involving Warren Buffet's wife. We also recommend a charming South Korean Netflix show "Would You Like A Cup of Coffee?" to our audience. Be sure to listen till the end for a teaser about our special guest in the next episode. Remember to pre-order Mustful's captivating novel, visit his website, and check out other books by History Through Fiction Publishing. Press play, and let's explore history together. _ Produced by Podcast Studio X. Find my book reviews on ViewsOnBooks.com.

On today's episode of WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is talking about one of the biggest issues plaguing our industry: double brokering and load board fraud. Truckstop found reports of fraud jumped by 400% from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2022. How can shippers and carriers fight back?  We'll hear from Metafora's Ryan Schreiber and FreightWaves' Rachel Premack and Justin Martin as they shine a light on the problem.  Waabi promises a safe and scalable new paradigm in autonomous trucks with its solution. We'll meet Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun, who, aside from being a professor at the University of Toronto, spent nearly four years as Uber's chief scientist in its Advanced Technologies Group.  Plus, is the freight market getting less volatile; Florida immigrant trucking protest flops; blitz week begins; Tesla's new robots; awful TikTok recipes; and a new method to strap with.  Visit our sponsor Watch on YouTube Subscribe to the WTT newsletter Apple Podcasts Spotify More FreightWaves Podcasts

On today's episode of WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is talking about one of the biggest issues plaguing our industry: double brokering and load board fraud. Truckstop found reports of fraud jumped by 400% from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2022. How can shippers and carriers fight back?  We'll hear from Metafora's Ryan Schreiber and FreightWaves' Rachel Premack and Justin Martin as they shine a light on the problem.  Waabi promises a safe and scalable new paradigm in autonomous trucks with its solution. We'll meet Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun, who, aside from being a professor at the University of Toronto, spent nearly four years as Uber's chief scientist in its Advanced Technologies Group.  Plus, is the freight market getting less volatile; Florida immigrant trucking protest flops; blitz week begins; Tesla's new robots; awful TikTok recipes; and a new method to strap with.  Visit our sponsor Watch on YouTube Subscribe to the WTT newsletter Apple Podcasts Spotify More FreightWaves Podcasts

It's recently appeared that self-driving trucks are not going to be hauling freight down the road without a driver as quickly as some developers and investors had expected. But startup tech company Waabi says its AI-focused approach will allow it to commercialize the technology faster. HDT Editor in Chief Deborah Lockridge talks to Waabi's Dustin Koehl, a former fleet manager and HDT Emerging Leader, about how the company's approach differs and why they call themselves the next generation of autonomous trucks. Note: In the interview, Koehl hints at a big OEM announcement. Since our interview, Volvo Group Venture Capital announced an investment in Waabi Innovation Inc. In This Episode: Has autonomous-truck development hit a wall? Using AI to train Waabi Driver Where is Waabi in the development process? Working with truck makers Will autonomous trucks put drivers out of work? Path to commercialization What needs to happen for self-driving trucks to become an everyday reality in logistics?

Autonomous trucks are still in the early days. Tech companies, startups, and companies like Daimler, TuSimple, Paccar, Aurora, Waymo, and Volvo continue to invest — making this transformative technology a reality. For this technology to succeed, however, it must integrate into real-world freight operations. In this episode, host Seth Clevenger wonders how autonomous trucks can fit into the freight transportation industry? What are the potential use cases and business models for self-driving commercial vehicles? To find answers, we step into Waabi World with Waabi's chief commercial officer, Vivian Sun, and later we hear from autonomous vehicle pioneer, Jan Becker, CEO and co-founder of Apex.ai. Tune in. For more information: https://roadsigns.ttnews.com/episodes/where-do-autonomous-trucks-fit-into-truckings-future/ For more information visit: https://roadsigns.ttnews.com/episodes/2023-year-in-preview/ How'd we do? Give us your listening experience feedback here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdE2YN79GA4zB5BdD7qJoL11xYEqrVrXpZcwhARZgY03D9ntA/viewform?usp=sf_link Follow the RoadSigns: Twitter: @ttroadsigns LinkedIn: RoadSignspodcast Instagram: @roadsignspodcast Join RoadSigns mailing list: roadsigns.ttnews.com/join-the-mailing-list/ For sponsorship and guest inquires please visit: https://roadsigns.ttnews.com/roadsigns-contact/ Find out more about our guests here: https://art19.com/shows/the-road-to-autonomy/episodes/013f5fce-845f-4008-9d08-a94f0540b285/embed https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/waabi-world/id1502184916?i=1000560285812 https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2022/05/09/ai-upstart-waabi-adding-self-driving-veterans-in-race-to-commercialize-robot-trucks/?sh=3b9773075ea2 https://medium.com/toyota-ventures/q-a-with-jan-becker-co-founder-and-ceo-of-apex-ai-17ffd81c8e79 https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/21068040

Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun launched her AV company in 2021 with the vision to bring a next-generation self-driving solution to the market with interpretable AI and sophisticated simulation.  For the 100th edition of our PAVE virtual panel series, Raquel will join PAVE Executive Director Tara Andringa for a fireside chat to reflect on her 20-year career in artificial intelligence, to share her predictions for the AV industry, and for a special announcement of what's next for Waabi.

As connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technologies evolve, these vehicles will become increasingly common in our communities, and the public will have an opportunity to experience the technology first-hand. And Canada is getting ready: all levels of government, industry and the public are planning for this transportation future.  But the introduction of this new technology raises many questions:  What autonomous vehicles will we see first? Who is liable if things go wrong? And what does the public think?  We've assembled CAV experts from across Canada to address these questions and share their insights into the CAV evolution.  We hope you enjoy this all-star discussion, sponsored by Waabi, NuPort Robotics, CAVCOE, Marsh, and PAVE Canada.

AI and simulations have been used throughout the development of autonomous vehicles, but the technology still requires millions of miles on the highways before mass commercialization. Bringing AI and simulation to the forefront allows for safer development of autonomous vehicles, while also cutting down on the number of highway miles required to implement self-driving technology. Raquel Urtasun, Founder and CEO at Waabi, is joined by Tony Mulvey, Analyst at FreightWaves, in this fireside chat. Love's Truck Care & Speedco is the nation's largest preventative maintenance network over the road. With more than 1,500 maintenance bays offering light mechanical services and DOT inspections, Love's and Speedco are invested in getting drivers back on the road quickly and safely. Visit www.loves.com to learn more about our services.Follow FreightWaves LIVE on Apple PodcastsFollow FreightWaves LIVE on SpotifyMore FreightWaves PodcastsJoin The Autonomous & Electric Vehicle Summit

AI and simulations have been used throughout the development of autonomous vehicles, but the technology still requires millions of miles on the highways before mass commercialization. Bringing AI and simulation to the forefront allows for safer development of autonomous vehicles, while also cutting down on the number of highway miles required to implement self-driving technology. Raquel Urtasun, Founder and CEO at Waabi, is joined by Tony Mulvey, Analyst at FreightWaves, in this fireside chat. Love's Truck Care & Speedco is the nation's largest preventative maintenance network over the road. With more than 1,500 maintenance bays offering light mechanical services and DOT inspections, Love's and Speedco are invested in getting drivers back on the road quickly and safely. Visit www.loves.com to learn more about our services.Follow FreightWaves LIVE on Apple PodcastsFollow FreightWaves LIVE on SpotifyMore FreightWaves PodcastsJoin The Autonomous & Electric Vehicle Summit

A driving school for self-driving vehicles? It's here and proving to be a game-changer. . Waabi World is the most scalable, highest fidelity, closed-loop simulator for autonomous vehicles. Powered by AI, it's an immersive and reactive environment that can design tests, assess skills, and teach the self-driving “brain” to learn to drive on its own. This technology significantly reduces the need to test drive in the real world resulting in a safer, more affordable solution. . When AI trailblazer & CEO Raquel Urtasun founded Waabi, she set out to scale one of the most important technologies of our generation. By taking an AI-first approach, Raquel and her team are unlocking the potential of self-driving technology and accelerating the commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles. And their work is changing the world for the better.  . We'd love to hear from you. Share your comments, questions and ideas for future topics and guests to podcast@sae.org. Don't forget to take a moment to follow SAE Tomorrow Today (and give us a review) on your preferred podcasting platform. . Follow SAE on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Follow host Grayson Brulte on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. . Sign up for the SAE SmartBrief

Raquel Urtasun founded Waabi in 2021 after spending nearly three years as Uber's R&D head of Advanced Technology Group (ATG). Waabi's mission is to develop an AI-first approach to speed up the commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles, starting with long-haul trucks. To do so, her company raised an $83.5 million Series A with Khosla Venture's Sven Strohband leading the round. Both will speak to Urtasun's unique (and commanding) perspective, and what allowed the company to raise the massive Series A.TechCrunch Live records weekly on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. PDT/2:30 p.m. EDT. Join us! Click here to register for free and gain access to Waabi's pitch deck, enter the pitch practice session and access the livestream where you can ask the speakers questions.

Canary Cry News Talk #482 - 05.09.2022 HYBRID EXTREMISM  LINKTREE: CanaryCry.Party SHOW NOTES: CanaryCryNewsTalk.com CLIP CHANNEL: CanaryCry.Tube SUPPLY DROP: CanaryCrySupplyDrop.com SUPPORT: CanaryCryRadio.com/Support MEET UPS: CanaryCryMeetUps.com Basil's other podcast: ravel Gonz' YT: Facelikethesun Resurrection Gonz Archive Youtube: Facelikethesun.Live App Made by Canary Cry Producer: Truther Dating App   LEAD 6:46 V ELON Internet on fire, Clinton speculation from Elon's cryptic tweet (Fox News)   IT WILL KILL 11:49 V/  Clip: “Christian extremists behind anti-abortion terrorism” Wisconsin anti-abortion center targeted by arson, police say (Reuters) → White House scolds pro-abortion protesters targeting Justices' home (NY Post) → Psaki tweet defending Judge right to personal safety **Law Enforcement fully unleash data surveillance on abortion (Wapo)   INTRO (M-W-F) 34:43 B&G Update V4V/Exec./Asso./Support   FLIPPY 42:41 Giant humanoid robot cleans, maintains railway power lines (Engineering 360)   [Party Pitch/Ravel/CCClips/text alerts]  52:26   UKRAINE/RUSSIA  55:27 Decoding Putin's Victory Day (Telegraph) → CIA using Instagram to teach Russians how to share state secrets (Insider/Yahoo)   [TREASURE/SPEAKPIPE/BYE YOUTUBE]  1:26:00   COVID/WACCINE  1:58:26 Explained: Counting India's Covid death (Indian Express)   GREAT RESET  2:14:36 TikTok may be more dangerous than it looks, “Trump was right” (NY Times Opinion)    NEWSOM SCIENCE  2:32:31 → CA just shy of 100% renewable energy! (DesertSun, Tweet from BTC) → CA warns of blackouts from another hot summer (Sac Bee)   [TALENT]  2:37:57   ALIENS  2:49:13 NASA Astro-biologist, Lynn Rothschild, support shadow biosphere ID alien thesis (DailyStar) → Mysterious black cube appears on sun before NASA cuts feed (News AU)   ANTARCTICA/SPACE  3:02:20 Entrepreneurs complete first “carbon negative” trip to Antarctica (AsiaOne) → Ethereum logo on unofficial flag (Reddit) → Nude polar plunge as Madame Gandhi protests climate (elle.in)   [TIME/OUTRO]  3:20:49   EPISODE 482 WAS PRODUCED BY… Executive Producers Sir Captain RedBeard Pirate King of the Demoochers** LIBERTYB4AUTHORITY** Dustin H**   Producers Sir Sammon Knights of the Fishes, Ely P, Harold D, MORV, Onelousypetunia, Malik W, Runksmash, Sir JC Knight of the Technosquatch, Benjamin S, James M, Jonathan F, Veronica D, Gail M, Jackie U, Sir Casey the Shield Knight, Sir Scott Knight of Truth, Sir James knight and servant of the Lion of Judah   AUDIO PRODUCTION (Jingles, Iso, Music): Psalm40   ART PRODUCTION (Drawing, Painting, Graphics): Dame Allie of the Skillet Nation, Sir Dove Knight of Rusbeltia   CONTENT PRODUCTION (Microfiction etc.): Runksmash: As the husky and hairy Runksmash dons his robes for his second inauguration as an Illuminated Lizard Master Shill he is unaware what I, Technically Anonymous, have laying in wait for him. The simple fool steps into my snare. It's truly a Great Reset!   The Sentinel: Basil stares at the old box. “It is for you, open” Skate-sei Gonz says in a caring way. Basil's hand wipes off a layer of dust, revealing a symbol of winged roller blades treading on a serpent. He opens the box slowly. Inside he sees an old pair of glossy white “JOSHUA'S” roller blades. The golden lacing and wheels catch the light and shimmer brightly. Basil's heart leaps from his chest, he knows only 144 pairs had ever been made of this specific kind. He begins to cry softly, “Thank you… Skate-sei.” “Let the training continue.” Skate-sei Gonz replies.   CLIP PRODUCER Emsworth, FaeLivrin, Epsilon   Timestamps: Mondays: Jackie U Wednesdays: Jade Bouncerson Fridays: Christine C   Social Media: Twitter @TylerSears2 @Zanrkend @TheLightInThis1   Instagram @samsonruby @2fishes_art    ADDITIONAL STORIES: Madison Cawthorne video of “thrusting” questions future (DailyMail) Chinese super drones chase humans in packs (The Sun) Durham dismissal of Clinton corruption is comical (Tweet) Narcan, must have for going out (Wired) Spirit rejects JetBlue $33 per share offer (Reuters) North Korea launches ballistic missiles from submarines (Space) Seattle museum allows NFTs to be on display  Hillary Clinton says 2024 is about the rise of authoritarianism (Blaze) Genetically Modified Pig Heart transplant patient dies from animal virus (BreezyScroll) Remote learning widened racial, economic achievement gap (Harvard) …more Great Reset Nigeria's top telecom companies are getting banking licenses (Quartz) St. Louis aggressively pursuing Afghan refugees to boost population (ABC) HL → South Korea breaks with China, hunts tungsten treasure (Reuters) HL → Saudi Arabia invests millions into Israeli tech via Jared Kushner's new fund (Times of Israel) …more Flippy AI startup Waabi advances in race to commercialize robot trucks (Forbes/MSN) Robot painted my nails at Target for $10, weird future (CNN) Life-like child robot helps dentists in Japan (KVUE)

Vivian Sun, Chief Commercial Officer, Waabi, joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss Waabi World and a simulation-first approach to autonomous trucking. The conversation begins with Vivian sharing her thoughts on when consolidation comes to the autonomous trucking industry. While consolidation is on the horizon, Waabi (which was founded in June 2021) is taking a different path to developing and scaling autonomous trucks. Autonomy is a marathon. – Vivian SunTheir approach to autonomy using a simulation-first approach is one that could completely change the end-to-end development process of autonomous trucks. As Waabi prepares to scale, Vivian shares some of the lessons that she learned earlier in her career and how Waabi can avoid those situations. It is really important that we have a scalable, adaptable technology. – Vivian SunA simulation-first approach to autonomy is allowing Waabi to operate a leaner corporate structure with less overhead as they develop the technology. From an economic standpoint, with the Federal Reserve raising rates as well as the European Central Bank, operating an autonomous trucking with a lean overhead will become a completive advantage as credit markets tighten.There are huge advantages of a more cost efficient way of developing self-driving technology. – Vivian SunThe key technology enabling this approach to autonomy is Waabi World, a high fidelity driving simulator. Inside of Waabi World, weather elements such as rain, fog, wind, ice and snow can be simulated to create real-world driving scenarios. These scenarios, combined with real-world traffic data, will help to develop a confident and safe Waabi Driver. While the Waabi Driver is being developed in simulation, professional truck drivers are playing a key role in the system ⁠— the Waabi Driver is learning from million plus miler drivers. We want to create a new paradigm to solve autonomy. – Vivian SunWrapping up the conversation, Vivian discusses Waabi's partnership strategy and the company's plans for commercialization. Recorded on Tuesday, April 19, 2021.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Teaching the AI brains of autonomous vehicles to understand the world as humans do requires billions of miles of driving experience. The road to achieving this astronomical level of driving leads to the virtual world. On the latest episode of the AI Podcast, Waabi CEO and founder Raquel Urtasun joins NVIDIA's Katie Burke Washabaugh to talk about the role simulation technology plays in developing production-level autonomous vehicles. Waabi is an autonomous-vehicle system startup that uses powerful, high-fidelity simulation to run multiple scenarios simultaneously and tailor training to rare and dangerous situations that are difficult to encounter in the real world. Urtasun is also a professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. Before starting Waabi, she led the Uber Advanced Technologies Group as chief scientist and head of research and development.

For more details about Waabi World: https://waabi.ai/waabi-world/

Clip: Raquel Urtasun "Waabi World" by Marwa ElDiwiny

Today we're joined by Julieta Martinez, a senior research scientist at recently announced startup Waabi.  Julieta was a keynote speaker at the recent LatinX in AI workshop at CVPR, and our conversation focuses on her talk “What do Large-Scale Visual Search and Neural Network Compression have in Common,” which shows that multiple ideas from large-scale visual search can be used to achieve state-of-the-art neural network compression. We explore the commonality between large databases and dealing with high dimensional, many-parameter neural networks, the advantages of using product quantization, and how that plays out when using it to compress a neural network.  We also dig into another paper Julieta presented at the conference, Deep Multi-Task Learning for Joint Localization, Perception, and Prediction, which details an architecture that is able to reuse computation between the three tasks, and is thus able to correct localization errors efficiently. The complete show notes for this episode can be found at twimlai.com/go/498.

Raquel Urtasun "Waabi: The next generation of self-driving technology" by Marwa ElDiwiny

Clip: Raquel Urtasun "Waabi" by Marwa ElDiwiny

Have questions about Waymo's partnership with JB Hunt to test autonomous trucks in Texas? So do we…and Waymo's Product Manager, Xinfeng Le joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin to provide answers. Plus.. Waymo raises 2 and a half billion dollars, MacKenzie Scott gives away billions, start-up Waabi comes out of stealth, Argo AI plans an IPO and more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/smart-driving-cars-podcast/support

It's Thursday June 10th 2021, and today we're talking about: Sequoia Capital makes a high end investment in SSENSE. Waabi drives into $83.5m from Khosla. Lightspeed HQ continues its shopping spree. Trulioo identifies $394m USD; and this week in early stage funding: Poka Inc., Kepler, and VRScheduler.