Travis Kalanick launches robotics startup Atoms

Travis Kalanick has launched Atoms, a new robotics company that will operate in the food, mining, and transportation industries. According to the Atoms website, the company will build a “wheelbase for robots”—defined as the core chassis or platform for the machines. As part of the launch, Kalanick is consolidating his existing ghost kitchen business, CloudKitchens, which operates food preparation facilities for delivery-only meals, into the new venture.

Atoms is focusing on specialized industrial robots rather than humanoids. “Humanoids have their place, but there’s a lot of room for specialized robots that do things in an efficient, sort of industrial-scale kind of way, which is sort of where we play,” Kalanick, the founder of Atoms, said. He stated that the industrial sector is probably the company’s main focus, noting that once movement in the physical world is solved, many parties will want access to it. To support this direction, Kalanick said on Friday that he is on the precipice of acquiring Pronto, an autonomous vehicle startup focused on industrial and mining sites. Kalanick is already the largest investor in Pronto. He also indicated that Atoms robots will not be used to move people, at least in the near-term. Meanwhile, The Information reported that Kalanick has reportedly told people he wants to be more aggressive in rolling out self-driving technology than Waymo.

This move marks Kalanick’s return to autonomous technology following his tenure at Uber, which was marked by significant controversy. Kalanick resigned from Uber in 2017 amid complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination at the ride-hailing company, which led to more than 20 employees being fired. Kalanick had previously created a self-driving division at Uber in 2015, luring engineer Anthony Levandowski to the project. That venture ended in legal and physical crises: Levandowski was later criminally charged and sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing trade secrets, and the project was ultimately sold to autonomous trucking company Aurora in 2020, after its test vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in 2018. In March 2025, Kalanick expressed regret that Uber had abandoned its self-driving efforts.

Why it matters

Travis Kalanick is returning to the robotics and self-driving sector by launching Atoms and consolidating his existing ghost kitchen business, CloudKitchens, into the new venture. The move represents a shift toward industrial-scale utility rather than passenger transportation.