Atoms, founded by Travis Kalanick, has outlined its goals in greater detail after receiving 1.7 billion dollars in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. According to the Financial Times, the company is planning extensive hiring and acquisitions with the aim of becoming a major player in the autonomous vehicle sector. Atoms has reportedly held talks with Uber about how its robotaxi technology could be used by Uber. TechCrunch had previously confirmed that Uber invested 100 million dollars in Atoms. According to sources, robotaxis do not represent the entirety of Atoms’ plans. The company has also acquired Pronto, an autonomous mining startup led by former Uber autonomous driving executive Anthony Levandowski. Levandowski had been sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing trade secrets and was later pardoned by Donald Trump.
Why it matters
The size of the investment and Uber’s direct capital backing show that Atoms is not merely a technology development startup, but an industry player seeking to scale through hiring and acquisitions. For Uber, the talks indicate that its position as an investor in the company could extend to the use of robotaxi technology; however, the form that such use would take and the scope of the relationship between the parties have not yet been disclosed. The addition of Pronto also shows that Atoms is not limiting its operations to passenger transportation and is exploring autonomous systems in other commercial areas, such as mining. Therefore, the key question for employees, potential acquisition targets and other industry players is how the capital raised will be allocated between robotaxis and other autonomous applications.