June 18 (Reuters) - Waabi has raised $200 million in a

Series B funding round, led by existing investors Uber

Technologies ( UBER ) and Khosla Ventures, to support the

rollout of its fully autonomous trucks next year, it said on

Tuesday.

The company is also backed by Nvidia ( NVDA ) and relies on

its AI chips to power self-driving applications.

It currently operates autonomous trucks with safety drivers

on planned commercial routes but aims for full self-driving

deployment in 2025, four years after the company was founded.

Waabi uses its driving simulation software called the Waabi

World to test, train and program the trucks, reducing the risk

of testing on public roads and enables the company to be capital

efficient, Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun told Reuters.

Self-driving technology has attracted heavy scrutiny from

safety regulators in the U.S. in recent months after accidents

and crashes involving vehicles from General Motors' ( GM ) Cruise

and Alphabet's Waymo.

Waabi raised $83.5 million in a Series A funding round in

2021, led by Khosla Ventures with additional backing from Uber ( UBER )

and Aurora Innovation ( AUR ).

The company has a 10-year partnership with Uber ( UBER ) freight to

transport cargo across commercial routes between Dallas and

Houston in Texas but plans to expand operations nationwide and

potentially internationally as well, Urtasun added.