Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron leaves to join self-driving startup Waabi as COO

Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron is leaving his role to become COO of Waabi, a self-driving truck startup focused on commercializing autonomous freight technology. Rebecca Tinucci, who previously helped build Tesla’s charging network, will succeed Ron as head of Uber Freight, while Ron will remain chairman. Waabi’s founder and CEO, Raquel Urtasun, highlighted Ron’s experience scaling Uber Freight to $5 billion in revenue and emphasized his role in driving Waabi’s go-to-market strategy and partnerships. Ron’s move reflects his belief in the transformative potential of autonomous trucking and Waabi’s positioning to lead that change. Waabi, founded in 2021, has raised $287.7 million and leverages an “AI-first” approach using its proprietary Waabi World simulator to accelerate the training, testing, and validation of its self-driving software. This approach has allowed Waabi to advance efficiently in a capital-intensive industry where competitors like TuSimple and Embark have struggled. The company is on