Travis Kalanick, the former CEO of Uber, is exploring ways to acquire the U.S. arm of Pony AI, a Chinese autonomous vehicle company that went public last year with a market capitalization of approximately $4.5 billion. If this acquisition is approved, Kalanick will re-enter the ring in the self-driving vehicle arena. It’s his first return since leaving Uber in 2017.
Though Kalanick’s interest in Pony AI may seem surprising, he has made increasing robotics a pillar of his new endeavor, CloudKitchens. He has already, according to sources, started working with investors to raise financing for the deal. Sources indicate that Uber may play a role in facilitating this transaction, a significant development given Kalanick’s history with the company.
Fast forward to today, as Uber’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has replaced Kalanick, again. Teddy’s leadership, the company went from a reactive to a proactive strategy. Khosrowshahi sold Uber’s self-driving division to Aurora, opting for a partnership model that involves integrating self-driving vehicles from other companies, such as Waymo, into Uber’s platform. Kalanick’s decision to purchase his old rival Pony AI could be the first step back to the wild west of autonomous ride-sharing.
Once upon a time, Kalanick would share wisdom like this about Uber’s future in the self-driving race. In March, he remarked that Uber was “really only behind Waymo but probably catching up” during an event. Reflecting on Uber’s trajectory since his departure, Kalanick stated, “I wasn’t running the company when that happened, but you know, you could say, ‘Wish we had an autonomous ride-sharing product right now. That would be great.’”
The incident in 2018, when one of Uber’s test vehicles tragically killed a pedestrian in Arizona, has added layers of complexity to the narrative surrounding autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing. Since then, the industry has been living under a more unfavorable magnifying glass of scrutiny and regulatory blows.
Acquiring Pony AI’s U.S. arm would provide Kalanick a firm foundation to re-enter the self-driving vehicle sector. This smart advancement could change the course of ride-sharing technology. As he makes his way through the acquisition process. This decision will have major ramifications to both the tech and automotive industries.