Travis Kalanick's Atoms May Be Getting Into the Robotaxi Business

The Uber founder raised $1.7 billion this summer and stayed cagey about his plans; now reports say Atoms is preparing a hiring and acquisition spree aimed at autonomous vehicles, including talks with Uber about robotaxi technology.

Published: 2026-09-07 Category: Quick Take Sources: TechCrunch

The mystery company

Earlier this summer, Travis Kalanick's Atoms announced a $1.7 billion funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Even after that mega round, the Uber founder stayed cagey about what he was actually building — describing the round as "unfinished business" without spelling out the destination.

Now the Financial Times has filled in more of the picture. The startup is reportedly preparing a hiring spree and acquisitions that could make it a major player in the autonomous vehicle industry. The FT says Atoms has talked to Uber about how the ride-hailing giant could use its robotaxi technology. Uber has already struck partnerships with a long list of autonomous vehicle companies, and it has reportedly invested $100 million in Atoms — a figure TechCrunch previously confirmed.

The robotaxi thread

Sources stress that robotaxis don't represent the entirety of Atoms' plans, but the direction is consistent with Kalanick's history. This is the man who built Uber — a company whose entire thesis was the eventual arrival of autonomous vehicles — and who has spent years circling back to self-driving tech despite the legal and engineering pitfalls.

The fit is reinforced by Atoms' takeover of Pronto, an autonomous mining startup led by Anthony Levandowski, Uber's former self-driving chief. Levandowski was convicted of stealing trade secrets and sentenced to 18 months in prison before being pardoned by President Donald Trump. His involvement brings serious AV engineering pedigree, though also a complicated past, to Atoms' ambitions.

Why it matters

Robotaxis are one of the most capital-intensive bets in tech, and the field is crowded with players from Tesla to Waymo to a host of startups. A new entrant with $1.7 billion in backing and a partner like Uber is meaningful, even if the market is littered with burned capital and delayed timelines.

The more interesting signal is what it says about consolidation. Autonomous driving is expensive enough that few can go it alone, and the model of pairing a well-funded builder with an established ride-hailing network is becoming the default path to deployment. If Atoms turns out to be Kalanick's vehicle for re-entering the AV race at scale — this time through partnerships rather than owning the fleet — it would be a notable remaking of an old thesis for a new, more pragmatic era of the industry.

Source: TechCrunch, "Travis Kalanick's Atoms might be getting into the robotaxi business" (2026).