Uber co-founder launches robotics startup

Travis Kalanick, the co-founder and former chief executive of Uber, has launched a new robotics startup called Atoms, focused on automating tasks in the mining, transport, and food sectors.

As per a report by Reuters on the matter, the new startup will be organised into three divisions: Atoms Food, providing infrastructure for the food industry; Atoms Mining, focused on increasing mine productivity; and Atoms Transport, which Kalanick described as a "wheelbase for robots" on the company's official website.

"Gainfully employed robots are the machines best suited for the job at hand, that can make a living doing it," Kalanick said in a statement, as per the Reuters report.

The company will focus on specialised industrial robots rather than humanoid machines. As per a TechCrunch report, Kalanick told podcast platform TBPN that humanoids have their place, "but there's a lot of room for specialised robots that do things in an efficient, industrial-scale kind of way."

To support the mining business, Kalanick said he is close to acquiring Pronto, an autonomous vehicle startup focused on industrial and mining sites created by his former Uber colleague Anthony Levandowski. Kalanick revealed he is already the largest investor in Pronto.

Kalanick resigned as CEO of Uber in 2017 and left the company's board in 2019.