Travis Kalanick, Uber's cofounder, has publicly launched a new company called Atoms, which rebrands and expands his ghost kitchen business, CloudKitchens. Atoms will focus on deploying specialized robotics and automation across three sectors: food service, mining, and transport, aiming to drastically improve efficiency and reduce costs.
The company's goal, particularly in its Atoms Food division, is to make prepared meal delivery so efficient that its cost rivals grocery shopping. Kalanick emphasized operating in stealth mode for eight years to build the business away from media scrutiny, following his tumultuous exit from Uber.
Atoms represents Kalanick's high-profile return to building physical infrastructure and AI, backed by significant past funding. The venture bets that specialized automation, rather than general-purpose robots, can create economic abundance.
Main Topics: Travis Kalanick's new company Atoms; expansion into robotics and automation; business strategy and sectors (food, mining, transport); history with Uber and CloudKitchens; operating in stealth mode.
Uberâs cofounder and former CEO, Travis Kalanick, emerged from eight years of stealth with a new company, Atoms, which is a rebranded version of his ghost kitchen operator CloudKitchens. The new company houses some new business verticals, too, including robotics and automation ventures.
The announcement came on Friday, after which Kalanick appeared for an hour-long interview on the TBPN podcast, where he explained his plans to deploy âgainfully employed robotsâ across food service, mining, and transport sectors.
After leaving Uber in 2017, Kalanick started CloudKitchens, initially known as City Storage Systems, a food delivery infrastructure business. The core idea, he explained, was delivering prepared meals so efficiently that costs approach those of grocery shopping. âThe whole idea was, can you get a meal thatâs prepared and delivered to you so efficiently that it starts to approach the cost of going to the grocery store,â Kalanick said. âBecause if you do, you do to the kitchen what Uber did to the car. So Iâve been doing that since 2018.â
Now, Atoms absorbs CloudKitchens and takes the idea toward industrial-scale robotics, focussing on specialised machines rather than general-purpose humanoids. âWeâve been quiet for eight years with thousands of employees who couldnât even list us on LinkedIn,â Kalanick said, emphasising a push for efficiency in physical labour markets.
After the public intensity of Uberâfacing âa hundred headlines every dayâ and shaping decisions around media reactionâKalanick said he chose to go quiet. âThatâs a tough way to run a business,â he said. âI got to wake up every day and just get to work and build.â
Post-Uber ouster, Kalanick raised hundreds of millions for CloudKitchens, including $400 million from Saudi Arabiaâs PIF. Atoms marks his return to high-profile hardware and AI infrastructure amid a robotics boom, betting specialised automation can drive abundance for business owners and society.
The company operates in three divisions: Atoms Food, which uses robotics, real estate, and autonomous delivery to match grocery store economics for prepared meals, Atoms Mining for productivity gains, and Atoms Transport, centred on a âwheelbase for robotsâ as core logistics technology.
The Information had reported on Friday that Kalanick was building a new self-driving venture with âmajor backingâ from Uber.
He had resigned as CEO of Uber in 2017 due to pressure from investors, capping â a tumultuous period for the ride-services company. In 2019, he left the company board.
Kalanick wrote on the startup's website that he was "heartbroken" after he had left Uber and now he was back to his "calling" of building atoms-based computers.
The announcement came on Friday, after which Kalanick appeared for an hour-long interview on the TBPN podcast, where he explained his plans to deploy âgainfully employed robotsâ across food service, mining, and transport sectors.
After leaving Uber in 2017, Kalanick started CloudKitchens, initially known as City Storage Systems, a food delivery infrastructure business. The core idea, he explained, was delivering prepared meals so efficiently that costs approach those of grocery shopping. âThe whole idea was, can you get a meal thatâs prepared and delivered to you so efficiently that it starts to approach the cost of going to the grocery store,â Kalanick said. âBecause if you do, you do to the kitchen what Uber did to the car. So Iâve been doing that since 2018.â
Now, Atoms absorbs CloudKitchens and takes the idea toward industrial-scale robotics, focussing on specialised machines rather than general-purpose humanoids. âWeâve been quiet for eight years with thousands of employees who couldnât even list us on LinkedIn,â Kalanick said, emphasising a push for efficiency in physical labour markets.
After the public intensity of Uberâfacing âa hundred headlines every dayâ and shaping decisions around media reactionâKalanick said he chose to go quiet. âThatâs a tough way to run a business,â he said. âI got to wake up every day and just get to work and build.â
Post-Uber ouster, Kalanick raised hundreds of millions for CloudKitchens, including $400 million from Saudi Arabiaâs PIF. Atoms marks his return to high-profile hardware and AI infrastructure amid a robotics boom, betting specialised automation can drive abundance for business owners and society.
The company operates in three divisions: Atoms Food, which uses robotics, real estate, and autonomous delivery to match grocery store economics for prepared meals, Atoms Mining for productivity gains, and Atoms Transport, centred on a âwheelbase for robotsâ as core logistics technology.
The Information had reported on Friday that Kalanick was building a new self-driving venture with âmajor backingâ from Uber.
He had resigned as CEO of Uber in 2017 due to pressure from investors, capping â a tumultuous period for the ride-services company. In 2019, he left the company board.
Kalanick wrote on the startup's website that he was "heartbroken" after he had left Uber and now he was back to his "calling" of building atoms-based computers.
Meridiano
