Training AI with AI

Hey. It’s Saritha reporting from Toronto. This quietly-thriving AI research base is shaping into a teeming AI hub. But first...Three things [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hey. It’s Saritha reporting from Toronto. This quietly-thriving AI research base is shaping into a teeming AI hub. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Palantir’s revenue forecast [fell short of AI hopes]( • Tesla [replaced its CFO]( • Zoom called employees [back to the office]( Made in Toronto Raquel Urtasun said she had a test for me. About halfway through our interview, she hit play on a video reel. I watched a simultaneous stream of clips showing all kinds of road scenarios — assortments of vehicles, cyclists, rain-hit streets, pedestrians, dim-lit roads. As Urtasun observed me witnessing the clips on screen, I answered her quiz: They’re all AI-generated. Urtasun’s company, Waabi, specializes in safety tools for autonomous vehicles. The demonstration was part of Waabi’s software to test automated drivers. Its simulator is able to “ethically” create endless scenarios of vehicle collisions: cars crashing into animals, driving through dangerous weather, barreling onto the wrong side of the street, losing control and so on. A goal for the company is to train a self-driving car to, say, not run over a deer without needing to actually film a deer getting run over. The autonomous car industry has gone through much upheaval in recent years. It’s tremendously capital-intensive; the industry has burned through [about $100 billion](. Some startups have [folded](, and auto giants like Ford Motor Co. have [abandoned their efforts](. One such failure is what led Urtasun [to start a company in Toronto](. She moved to the city a decade ago as an academic, went on to become chief scientist at Uber Technologies Inc., led its driverless-car unit and after that business was shut down, started Waabi in 2021. Speaking from a conference room in her startup’s airy, sun-dappled office, Urtasun said Waabi’s approach to automated vehicle safety, using generative AI, allows the company to operate at 5% of the cost of doing it the traditional way. Waabi’s investors include Khosla Ventures, Volvo Group and AI honchos Geoffrey Hinton and Fei-Fei Li. Urtasun is a native of Spain and has studied or worked in four other countries. She teaches at the University of Toronto in addition to running her startup. She’s often asked why she didn’t start Waabi in Silicon Valley. Urtasun reels off from a list: talent, AI research expertise, favorable immigration policies and diversity of thought. “In the US, difference is often viewed as a negative. Here in Toronto, difference is a positive,” Urtasun said. “Toronto is the perfect middle ground between an American way of working and a European way of living.” —[Saritha Rai](mailto:srai33@bloomberg.net) The big story Amazon will meet with FTC Chair Lina Khan and the agency’s three other commissioners next week in a [final push to avoid an antitrust lawsuit](, people familiar with the matter said. Get fully charged The bubble in AI stocks is [nearing a peak](, according to Morgan Stanley strategists, who point to the more than 200% rally by Nvidia this year. Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain-implant company, raised [$280 million]( from investors. MrBeast’s business partner in their hamburger venture [countersued the YouTube star](, saying he reneged on a contract and damaged the brand. Baker Hughes cut its stake in software maker C3.ai at a time short sellers alleged there was a [deteriorating relationship between the companies](. More from Bloomberg Live event: Bloomberg Screentime in Los Angeles brings our coverage of the intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley to the stage. Join us Oct. 11-12 for a conference that will gather the moguls, celebrities and entrepreneurs defining the next phase of pop culture. Guests will include Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Insecure creator Issa Rae and Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel. [Register here](. Get Bloomberg Tech newsletters in your inbox: - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Hyperdrive]( for expert insight into the future of cars Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Tech Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](