Gatik and Loblaw Ink 5-year Expansion Deal to Scale AI-Powered Autonomous Trucking Solution Across Regional Distribution Networks in the Greater Toronto Area

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 23, 2025--

Gatik, the leader in autonomous freight for regional logistics networks, today announced a significant expansion of its commercial partnership with Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX:L) (“Loblaw”), Canada’s largest retailer. Marking a milestone for the autonomous trucking industry, the companies have signed a first-of-its-kind, multi-year growth agreement to deploy Gatik’s autonomous fleet across Loblaw’s distribution network in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Under the initial phase of the expansion, 20 autonomous trucks equipped with Gatik’s next generation sensor suite will be deployed by the end of 2025, with a further 30 autonomous trucks to be deployed by the end of 2026, creating a scalable platform for future growth phases.

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This growth agreement signifies the largest planned roll-out of autonomous trucks in North America, a move that transitions Gatik and Loblaw from initial deployment to commercial operations at scale, an industry-first in the autonomous vehicle (AV) sector. The expanded fleet will initially be deployed with safety drivers onboard, before transitioning to Freight-Only (driverless) operations across Loblaw’s regional distribution networks in the GTA, delivering goods with greater frequency and responsiveness to over 300 Loblaw stores.

Under the expanded partnership, Loblaw has made a strategic investment in Gatik, strengthening Loblaw’s commitment to scaling Gatik’s autonomous solution within its extensive supply chain and helping to rapidly accelerate fleet expansion and geographic growth within Loblaw’s priority markets. Gatik and Loblaw previously made history in 2022 with the deployment of Canada’s first driverless commercial fleet, setting the foundation for today’s historic expansion.

“This is a transformational moment, not just for Gatik and Loblaw, but for the autonomous trucking sector globally,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik. “It’s the first time a major retailer has transitioned from pilot to commercial scale with autonomous trucks, directly addressing Canada’s growing driver shortage, delivering the true benefits of autonomous logistics - reliability, safety and scalability - to millions of Canadians. Loblaw’s investment is a powerful endorsement of our market-leading AI Driver™, Gatik’s purpose-built technology that has logged extensive miles on public roads while maintaining an exemplary safety record, and underscores our commitment to revolutionizing regional distribution through intelligent, autonomous solutions.”

“This expanded partnership with and investment in Gatik represents a significant step forward in our commitment to innovation and supply chain sustainability,” said Rob Wiebe, Chief Administrator of Loblaw Companies Limited. “Autonomous logistics will enable us to move more orders more frequently for our customers. We are excited to continue leading the way nationally in retail distribution with Gatik’s groundbreaking technology which has already been proven across our operations.”

This expansion leverages Gatik’s proprietary Gatik Driver™, a safe, scalable & interpretable AI driver purpose built for autonomous trucks proven in real-world commercial operations. The new fleet will include cold-chain-ready vehicles optimized for the movement of time-sensitive grocery and household items.

In preparation for Gatik’s multi-year expansion with Loblaw, Gatik worked closely with the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) to inform the development of the Automated Commercial Motor Vehicle (ACMV) Pilot Program, a new provincial regulatory framework that recently launched on Aug. 1, 2025 and enables the operation of Gatik’s medium-duty (class 6-7) autonomous trucks on all surface streets and highways in the province. With the ACMV Program now in effect, Gatik and Loblaw are well positioned to continue to scale autonomous driving operations. The ACMV Program has been carefully developed to facilitate the safe and rapid roll-out of autonomous trucks in Ontario, ensuring that the province continues to lead the way nationally in transportation innovation.

By focusing on high-frequency transportation networks within strategically defined, commercially dense areas, Gatik has developed a robust commercial solution that maximizes safety, scalability, and speed to market. Gatik’s regional network approach delivers real value today - moving goods, not people, with Freight-Only (driverless) operations underway in markets such as Texas, Ontario, Arkansas and Arizona.

About Gatik

Gatik AI Inc., the leader in autonomous freight for regional logistics networks, is revolutionizing B2B supply chains by enabling safe, consistent, high-frequency freight movement. Gatik’s AI-Driven Autonomy is transforming regional logistics for Fortune 500 retailers, and in 2021 the company launched the world’s first driverless commercial transportation service. Gatik’s autonomous trucks are commercially deployed in multiple markets including Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, and Ontario. Gatik partners with industry leaders including Isuzu Motors, NVIDIA, Cummins, Ryder, and Goodyear. Founded in 2017 by veterans of the autonomous technology industry, the company has offices in Mountain View, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Bentonville and Toronto.

About Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX:L)

Loblaw Companies Limited is Canada's food and pharmacy leader and the nation's largest retailer. Loblaw provides Canadians with grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, other health and beauty products, apparel, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services. With more than 2,800 locations, Loblaw, its franchisees, and Associate-owners employ more than 200,000 full- and part-time employees, making it one of Canada's largest private sector employers.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, statements regarding future business strategies, plans, objectives, and anticipated performance. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations and beliefs of Gatik and are subject to various risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.

Factors that could impact these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, changes in market conditions, economic factors, competitive dynamics, regulatory developments, and unforeseen operational challenges. Gatik undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release.

Gatik truck parked in front of Loblaw HQ

Two Gatik trucks parked in front of Loblaw HQ

Protesters confronted federal officers in Minneapolis on Thursday, a day after a woman was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

The demonstrations came amid heightened tensions after President Donald Trump's administration dispatched 2,000 officers and agents to Minnesota for its latest immigration crackdown.

Across the country, another city was reeling after federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland, Oregon.

The killing of 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday set off a clash between federal and state officials over whether the shooting appeared justified and whether a Minnesota law enforcement agency had jurisdiction to investigate.

Here's what is known about the shooting:

The woman was shot in her SUV in a residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where police killed George Floyd in 2020. Videos taken by bystanders and posted online show an officer approaching a vehicle stopped in the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.

The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle draws his gun and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.

It is not clear from the videos if the officer gets struck by the SUV, which speeds into two cars parked on a curb before stopping.

It’s also not clear what happened in the lead-up to the shooting.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the SUV was part of a group of protesters that had been harassing agents and “impeding operations” that morning. She said agents had freed one of their vehicles that was stuck in snow and were leaving the area when the confrontation and shooting occurred.

No video has emerged to corroborate Noem’s account. Bystander video from the shooting scene shows a sobbing woman who says the person shot was her wife. That woman hasn’t spoken publicly to give her version of events.

Good died of gunshot wounds to the head.

A U.S. citizen born in Colorado, Good described herself on social media as a “poet and writer and wife and mom." Her ex-husband said Good had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school Wednesday and was driving home when she encountered ICE agents on a residential street.

He said Good and her current partner moved to Minneapolis last year from Kansas City, Missouri.

Good's killing is at least the fifth death to result from the aggressive U.S. immigration crackdown the Trump administration launched last year.

Noem said Thursday that there would be a federal investigation into the shooting, though she again called the woman’s actions “domestic terrorism.”

“This vehicle was used to hit this officer,” Noem said. “It was used as a weapon, and the officer feels as though his life was in jeopardy.”

Vice President JD Vance said the shooting was justified and referred to Good's death as “a tragedy of her own making.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara gave no indication that the driver was trying to harm anyone when he described the shooting to reporters Wednesday. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he had watched videos of the shooting that show it was avoidable.

The agent who shot Good is an Iraq War veteran who has served for nearly two decades in the Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

Jonathan Ross has been a deportation officer with ICE since 2015, records show. He was seriously injured this summer when he was dragged by the vehicle of a fleeing suspect whom he shot with a stun gun.

Federal officials have not named the officer. But Noem said he was dragged by a vehicle in June, and a department spokesperson confirmed Noem was referring to the Bloomington, Minnesota, case in which documents identified the injured officer as Ross.

Court documents say Ross got his arm stuck in the window as a driver fled arrest in that incident. Ross was dragged 100 yards (91 meters), and cuts to his arm required 50 stitches.

According to police, officers initially responded to a report of a shooting outside a hospital Thursday afternoon.

Minutes later police heard that a man who had been shot was asking for help in a residential area a couple of miles away. Officers went there and found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds. Officers determined they were wounded in a shooting with federal agents.

Police Chief Bob Day said the FBI was leading the investigation and he had no details about events that led to the shooting.

The Department of Homeland Security said the vehicle’s passenger was “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who was involved in a recent shooting. When agents identified themselves to the occupants during a “targeted vehicle stop,” the driver tried to run them over, the department said. An agent fired in self-defense, it said.

There was no immediate independent corroboration of that account or of any gang affiliation of the vehicle’s occupants.

Trump and his allies have consistently blamed Tren de Aragua for being at the root of violence and illicit drug dealing in some U.S. cities.

Drew Evans, head of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Thursday that federal authorities have denied the state agency access to evidence in the Good case, barring the state from investigating the shooting alongside the FBI.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz demanded that state investigators be given a role, telling reporters that residents would otherwise have a difficulty accepting the findings of federal law enforcement.

“And I say that only because people in positions of power have already passed judgment from the president to the vice president to Kristi Noem,” Walz said.

Noem denied that Minnesota authorities were being shut out, saying: “They don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”

Dozens of protesters gathered Thursday morning outside a Minneapolis federal building being used as a base for the immigration crackdown. Border Patrol officers fired tear gas and doused demonstrators with pepper spray to push them back from the gate.

Area schools were closed as a safety precaution.

Protests were also planned across the U.S. in cities including New York, New Orleans and Seattle.

Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed.

Protesters confront federal agents outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)

People gather for a vigil after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a motorist earlier in the day, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

People participate in a protest and vigil after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis, on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)