Atoms Turns $1.7 Billion Round Toward Autonomous Talent And Uber Talks
Travis Kalanick’s Atoms is hiring autonomous-vehicle engineers after a $1.7 billion round, while early Uber talks test how far its industrial AI work could extend into ride-hailing.
Atoms is using a recent $1.7 billion funding round to build up autonomous-vehicle engineering talent while exploring a possible robotaxi link with Uber, PYMNTS reported, citing the Financial Times.
The startup is led by Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who has described Atoms as a “physical AI” company.
Its current plan centers on software, sensors, robotics and artificial intelligence for industrial operations, but the funding has also put the company close to the ride-hailing market Kalanick left nearly a decade ago.
People familiar with Kalanick’s plans placed the near-term emphasis on hiring veterans of Uber’s former autonomous-vehicles team.
The same account put Uber’s investment in Atoms at $100 million and described early talks over whether Uber could use Atoms technology for robotaxis on its ride-hailing network.
That would make the relationship commercially sensitive for both sides.
Kalanick left Uber’s board in 2019 after being forced out as chief executive in 2017, when an independent investigation into Uber’s handling of sexual harassment complaints criticized the company and recommended that he step back.
Atoms has tried to keep the public description broader than robotaxis.
The company characterized itself as “an industrial software company focused [on] industrial applications” and said it had no plans to enter a saturated robotaxi market.
Uber is a partner and could use the technology for ridesharing if it is useful, Atoms added.
Kalanick’s own comments tie the company to physical operations rather than a single transport product.
At an Andreessen Horowitz event in San Francisco this month, he said, “A lot of the things that would have happened with Uber over time are things we’re doing now.” When announcing the July funding round, he said industrial AI spans software, sensors, robotics and AI used to automate operations.
The source account also named Anthony Levandowski, the Waymo co-founder and former Uber self-driving chief, as the person Kalanick has tapped to oversee Atoms’ autonomous-vehicle work.
That gives the hiring plan an experienced technical lead even as Atoms publicly frames its market around heavy industry.
For Uber, the reported talks would offer another route into autonomous ride-hailing without rebuilding the same internal program that once drew heavy scrutiny.
For Atoms, the operative condition is narrower: a funded industrial-AI company can court autonomous engineers and keep Uber as a partner only while maintaining the distinction between broad industrial software and a direct robotaxi market entry.
