Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is returning to the robotaxi race

Travis Kalanick, the disgraced founder of Uber Technologies Co. Ltd., is reportedly trying to become a key figure in the ride-hailing market again by developing robotaxi technology at his new startup Atoms.

A report in the Financial Times today provided more insight into the ambitions of Atoms, an industrial automation and robotics startup founded by Kalanick in March that went on to raise $1.7 billion in funding in June. Despite the massive size of that round, the startup has been guarded over what it intends to do with it.

But the Financial Times revealed that Atoms is preparing to go on a hiring spree and make several acquisitions as part of a bid to become a major player in the autonomous driving world, fulfilling an ambition of Kalanick’s that began when he was still involved with Uber. The report adds that Uber was one of the backers involved in that round, investing $100 million, and has already held talks with Atoms over using its robotaxi technology with its ride-hailing network.

If some kind of partnership does emerge, it would be the first time Kalanick has worked with his former company since resigning from its board of directors in 2019. He was forced out of his role as Uber’s chief executive officer nine years ago.

“A lot of things that would have happened at Uber over time are things we’re doing now,” Kalanick said at an event held by Atoms’ primary backer, Andreessen Horowitz, in San Francisco this month.

The report adds that robotaxis aren’t the only thing Atoms is working on, but the technology is expected to be a big part of its focus. That’s in line with Kalanick’s comments when it closed the round that he has “unfinished business.”

Kalanick has wasted little time trying to fulfill his robotaxi vision. After closing on the funding, one of the first things Atoms did was acquire an autonomous mining startup called Pronto, which was led by Waymo co-founder Anthony Levandowski, who formerly served as the self-driving car chief at Uber.

Levandowski played a part in Kalanick’s downfall at Uber. He was found guilty of stealing trade secrets from Google’s self-driving car unit and passing them to Uber. He was later sentenced to 18 months in prison for that offense, only to be spared when he received a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump in 2021.

With Atoms, Kalanick is stepping back into the limelight after years of living in the shadows. During his time at Uber, he was one of the biggest names in the technology industry.

However, he was forced to step down as that company’s CEO in 2017 following allegations that he turned a blind eye to sexual harassment and discrimination. He was also accused of managerial dysfunction. His reputation was further damaged by a number of regulatory probes that scrutinized Uber’s dealings, and Google’s lawsuit over the theft of trade secrets relating to robotaxis.

Atoms isn’t exclusively focused on robotaxis, though. The startup, which was formerly known as City Storage Systems, is actually a holding company for multiple business interests, including the dark kitchen firm CloudKitchens, and Lab37, which is looking at how to automate commercial kitchens at large scale.

All told, Atoms has more than 2,000 employees, based on the number of public profiles on LinkedIn. Most of them are involved with the startup’s food division, but a growing number have ties with the autonomous vehicles industry, the Financial Times report said.

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