The investment forms part of Atoms’ $1.7 billion equity financing announced in July and led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Ben Horowitz joining the company’s board. Uber’s participation reconnects the ride-hailing group with Kalanick, who co-founded Uber and left the chief executive role in 2017.
Atoms has held discussions with Uber about how its autonomous technology could be deployed through the ride-hailing platform, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Atoms has said it is not positioning itself as a conventional robotaxi operator, suggesting instead that it could supply technology to partners that already have vehicles, riders and operating networks.
The company’s transport ambitions have become clearer as it builds a team around autonomous systems and considers further hiring and acquisitions. Kalanick has described Atoms as a physical or industrial AI business spanning transport, mining and food, with a focus on specialised machines designed for work in the physical economy.
Atoms acquired Pronto, an autonomous-haulage company founded by Anthony Levandowski, earlier this year. Pronto now serves as the core technology operation for Atoms Mining, where its systems are used to automate heavy vehicles at industrial sites. The acquisition also brought Levandowski, who previously worked on autonomous-driving projects at Google and Uber, into Kalanick’s new venture.
Kalanick said when the $1.7 billion financing was announced that the round represented “unfinished business” connected with his effort to digitise physical industries. He said the company would seek to connect software with manufacturing, real estate and transport, extending work he had pursued first at Uber and later through CloudKitchens.
The $100 million investment also fits Uber’s broader strategy of backing multiple autonomous-vehicle developers rather than rebuilding a wholly owned self-driving unit. Uber has signed partnerships or investments with numerous autonomous-driving companies as it seeks to make its app a distribution platform for robotaxi operators in different markets.
Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi has said autonomous technology could make transport safer and cheaper, while acknowledging that commercial deployment will take time. Uber launched Uber Autonomous Solutions in February to offer fleet, marketplace and operational services to autonomous-vehicle partners seeking to scale their technology.
Uber’s renewed financial link with Kalanick is notable because the company abandoned its own autonomous-driving programme after years of heavy spending and legal difficulties. Uber sold its Advanced Technologies Group to Aurora Innovation in 2020, while retaining an economic interest and shifting towards partnerships with outside developers.
Levandowski’s involvement adds another connection to Uber’s earlier self-driving push. Uber acquired his autonomous-trucking company Otto in 2016. Waymo later accused Levandowski of taking trade secrets from Google before joining Uber. Uber and Waymo settled their civil dispute in 2018, while Levandowski was later convicted in a separate criminal case, sentenced to prison and pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Atoms emerged publicly in March after Kalanick reorganised businesses associated with City Storage Systems and CloudKitchens under the new name. The company said its three operating areas would include food, mining and transport, and Kalanick described its transport concept as a “wheelbase for robots”.
Pronto said after its acquisition that Atoms intended to invest heavily in industrial AI and physical automation, with autonomous mining equipment providing an early commercial application. The company said its approach centres on purpose-built machines rather than humanoid robots, giving Atoms a base of deployed autonomy technology while its transport strategy develops.
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