Travis Kalanick’s Atoms might be getting into the robotaxi business
TechCrunch Anthony Ha
Travis Kalanick’s Atoms may be heading into robotaxis. The startup’s new push could put it in Uber’s orbit, again.
Based on reporting by TechCrunch, Anthony Ha — read the original for the full story.
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Travis Kalanick’s Atoms isn’t looking so mysterious anymore. After a $1.7 billion funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz earlier this summer, the startup is reportedly lining up hiring and acquisitions that could turn it into a serious autonomous vehicle player.
The biggest clue comes from the Financial Times, which says Atoms has talked with Uber about how its robotaxi technology could fit into the ride-hailing company’s business. Uber already works with a long list of autonomous vehicle companies, so this wouldn’t be a wild detour. It would be more of a very expensive homecoming.
The FT also says Uber has put $100 million into Atoms, a figure TechCrunch had already confirmed. That investment now looks less like a side bet and more like a signal about where the startup wants to go. Not every part of Atoms is apparently about robotaxis, but the direction is hard to miss.
It also lines up with Kalanick’s own talk about “unfinished business,” which is a neat way to describe a founder circling back to the industry that made him famous. And Atoms’ purchase of Pronto, the autonomous mining startup led by Uber’s former self-driving chief Anthony Levandowski, adds another layer of déjà vu. Levandowski was convicted of stealing trade secrets, served 18 months in prison, and was later pardoned by President Donald Trump.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
Kalanick is doing what Silicon Valley loves most: calling a sequel a fresh start. The robotaxi angle makes sense, but the real story is how often the same people keep reappearing in autonomous vehicles, like a reboot nobody asked for. It’s not innovation if it just keeps hiring yesterday’s cast and hoping the road is different this time.
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