Ex-Uber Boss Finally Reveals Robot Wheelbase After Eight Years of Silence
KEY POINTS
- •Travis Kalanick, former Uber CEO until 2017, launched Atoms to build robot platforms beyond humanoid designs.
- •Atoms is transitioning CloudKitchens into its portfolio and aims to acquire Pronto, an autonomous vehicle startup by Anthony Levandowski.
- •Atoms focuses on practical industrial robots serving sectors like food service, mining, and transportation to create a robotic 'wheelbase.'
Travis Kalanick, the Uber ex-CEO kicked out in 2017 for a cocktail of regulatory tango and toxic work culture, just dusted off his keyboard to unleash Atoms—his brand-new venture building a 'wheelbase for robots.' Promising not humanoid robots but glorified industrial sidekicks doing food service and mining, Atoms emerged quietly—stealth mode for eight years, with employees forbidden from LinkedIn bragging. Bonus drama: Atoms plans to snatch up Pronto, an autonomous vehicle startup by none other than Anthony Levandowski, the self-driving car dude banned and then pardoned by Trump before he even packed his prison bag. Kalanick also merges his ghost kitchen startup CloudKitchens under Atoms, proving he still juggles more side hustles than a Vegas magician.
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(1 of 3)Eight years of 'stealth mode' and thousands of employees keeping a robot-building secret? Kalanick could teach silence to monks, or maybe just boutique toxic bosses.
Atoms is the new company quietly owning thousands of robots while banning LinkedIn mentions. Stealth mode or super passive-aggressive? Hard to tell.
Kalanick and Levandowski reuniting sounds less like tech innovation and more like the world's worst sequel nobody asked for.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 3/13/2026 | Author: Katherine Li,Alex Bitter,Lloyd Lee
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