Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of ride-hailing company Uber and now Atoms CEO, is taking another shot at the robotaxi business he failed to achieve in the past. It has been nine years since Kalanick was ousted from the Uber CEO post after a series of controversies. Kalanick has launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics startup, Atoms, and has begun developing Autonomous Driving technology, calling back members of Uber's former self-driving team. Uber has reportedly invested $100 million (about 135 billion won) in Atoms.
On the 6th (local time), the Financial Times (FT) reported that Atoms, led by Kalanick, is recently hiring a large number of engineers in Autonomous Driving and is also considering acquiring related corporations. In July, Atoms raised $1.7 billion (about 2.2942 trillion won) in a funding round led by U.S. venture capital (VC) Andreessen Horowitz.
Attention is focusing on the possibility that Kalanick's company could once again join hands with Uber. Citing multiple sources, the FT said Uber invested $100 million (about 135 billion won) in Atoms, and the two companies discussed at an early stage using Atoms' technology for robotaxis on Uber's ride-hailing network. If their collaboration materializes, it would mark Kalanick's first involvement in Uber's ride-hailing business since leaving the Uber board in 2019.
Kalanick stepped down as Uber CEO in 2017 as allegations that the company tolerated sexual harassment and discrimination, controversies surrounding the leadership, and investigations by regulators piled up. He left the board in 2019.
To pursue the Autonomous Driving business, Kalanick is bringing back people who worked with him at Uber. A representative figure is Anthony Levandowski, who came from Google's self-driving project, co-founded Waymo, and later led Uber's self-driving business. He was convicted of stealing Google's trade secrets related to self-driving. The case also affected Kalanick's departure from the Uber CEO role. He now leads Atoms' Autonomous Driving vehicle business and is in charge of developing robotaxi technology.
In addition, Kalanick has recruited dozens of former Uber employees. He is also hiring talent from Amazon's Autonomous Driving subsidiary Zoox, Tesla, and Alphabet's Waymo. Uber's former chief financial officer (CFO), Gautam Gupta, has also joined Atoms as CFO.
However, Atoms is drawing a line at the interpretation that it will jump directly into the robotaxi market. Atoms told the FT that it is a software corporations focused on industrial sectors, saying, "We have no plans to enter the already fiercely competitive robotaxi market." It added that Uber is a partner of Atoms and, if needed, could use Atoms' technology in its ride-hailing business.
Kalanick is not limiting Atoms' business scope to robotaxis. He is laying out a plan to automate a range of industries, including construction, mining, food, and transportation, using industrial AI and software and robotics.
Still, Autonomous Driving is a long-cherished project Kalanick has pursued since his time at Uber. In July, when announcing the $1.7 billion fundraising, Kalanick said, "In many ways, this investment is an unfinished business." The FT reported that the title of a recently published essay outlining Atoms' business vision was also "Unfinished business."
Recently, Uber has also been investing aggressively in the robotaxi business. Rather than developing vehicles itself, its strategy is to connect vehicles from various Autonomous Driving corporations to its platform and build the world's largest robotaxi network. Attention is on whether Kalanick can rejoin the Uber he founded and bring to life the Autonomous Driving business vision he could not achieve more than 10 years ago.