Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former CEO of Uber Technologies, is exploring a possible acquisition of the U.S. division of Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Kalanick is said to be working with a group of investors to finance the deal, and Uber may also play a role in facilitating the transaction. The potential acquisition would mark Kalanick’s re-entry into the autonomous driving sector, which he exited in 2017 after resigning from Uber.
Pony.ai, which went public last year with a market capitalization of roughly $4.5 billion, reportedly began preparing to sell or spin off its U.S. operations as early as 2022. This included the development of a “forked” version of its source code, separating its U.S. business from its Chinese parent company, according to the report.
Kalanick currently leads CloudKitchens, a food delivery infrastructure startup that has leaned heavily into robotics and automation. If the acquisition goes ahead, he is expected to continue managing CloudKitchens while expanding his footprint in the self-driving technology space.
Reflecting on his tenure at Uber during a recent public event, Kalanick noted, “You could say, ‘Wish we had an autonomous ride-sharing product right now. That would be great.’” His comments hinted at the strategic value of autonomous vehicles, which Uber has pursued through partnerships with companies like Waymo after selling its own self-driving unit to Aurora in 2020.
