Self-driving has graduated from science problem to engineering challenge. That’s what Wayve’s @alexgkendall and Waabi’s @RaquelUrtasun told @Alex during today’s autonomous vehicle double-header. Wayve and Waabi are hard at work building the technology needed to bring self-driving to fleets of cars and trucks, potentially accelerating the global evolution away from humans being forced to sit, and steer. The good news? Both companies are making insane progress, and your days of being forced to drive are numbered. 0:00 Alex Kendall (Wayve) joins the show 1:19 The contrarian bet on end-to-end AI and world models in 2017 3:05 What is a world model? GAIA-2 and GAIA-3 explained 7:34 Sensor agnosticism: camera, radar, LiDAR and minimum bar for safety 9:56 $1.5B raised — have we cracked self-driving? 10:09 Render: Find out why 5 million developers are already using the all-in-one cloud platform, Render. Go to and apply for the Render Startup Program to get $500-$100,000 in free credits, depending on your stage and backers. 20:38 Squarespace: Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at 25:03 How consumers will actually pay: bundle, subscription, or free trial 28:41 Why robotics applications beyond cars get cheaper after autos 30:15 IM8 Health: Start feeling like your best self every day. Go to and use the code TWiST to get a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets, and 10% off your order. 35:59 Raquel Urtasun (Waabi) joins the show 36:25 World models as controllable simulators for physical AI 43:34 One AI brain across trucks, robotaxis, and beyond 47:35 What changed in AI to make 2026 the deployment year 52:28 Why Waabi raised $1B when they're capital-efficient 58:52 Where Waabi is today: Volvo VNL Autonomous, Dallas-Houston, Uber Freight 1:00:50 Per-mile pricing and the Driver-as-a-Service model 1:07:20 Has Uber tried to buy Waabi? "Not for sale" 🎥 Watch the full episode here 👇

Self-driving cars. AI everywhere. Personalized medicine. @alexavontobel, founder of Inspired Capital, explains how envisioning the future informs how she thinks about investing today. Tune in to the latest episode of The Important Part for more insights. 👉