Travis Kalanick's stealthy start-up Atoms is preparing to become a major player in autonomous vehicles — and his former company, Uber, could end up as a customer.
According to a Financial Times report, Atoms is gearing up for a hiring spree and potential acquisitions that would put it at the center of the robotaxi industry. The start-up has also talked to Uber about how the ride-hailing giant could use its robotaxi technology, the FT said, citing sources. Uber has already invested $100 million in Atoms — a figure previously confirmed by TechCrunch.
The report offers the clearest picture yet of what Kalanick plans to do with the $1.7 billion round his start-up announced earlier this summer, led by Andreessen Horowitz. At the time, the Uber co-founder was cagey about his aims, describing the fundraise only as a chance to finish "unfinished business" — a phrase that now looks pointed: Kalanick was ousted from Uber in 2017 amid scandal, and the company sold off its in-house self-driving division in 2020 after its autonomous ambitions stalled.
Sources stressed that robotaxis do not represent the entirety of Atoms' plans. But the direction fits the start-up's moves so far, including its acquisition of Pronto, an autonomous-mining company led by Anthony Levandowski, the former head of Uber's self-driving program, who was convicted of stealing trade secrets and later pardoned.
For Uber, deepening ties with a Kalanick-linked supplier would be another twist in its effort to stay relevant in autonomous transport, where it already partners with a long list of robotaxi developers while rivals such as Waymo push ahead. Neither Atoms nor Uber has publicly commented on the FT report.
