Uber in talks with founder to help buy US unit of China's self-driving start-up Pony AI
It is unclear what role, if any, Uber would take in Pony as an investor. PHOTO: REUTERS
Uber in talks with founder to help buy US unit of China's self-driving start-up Pony AI
SAN FRANCISCO – Uber is increasingly grappling with competition from self-driving taxi services like Waymo. Now the ride-hailing giant is taking more action to deal with that threat.
Uber is in talks with Travis Kalanick, the company's co-founder who was forced out in a boardroom coup eight years ago, to help fund his acquisition of the US subsidiary of a Chinese autonomous vehicle company, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The company, Pony.ai, was founded in Silicon Valley in 2016 but has its main presence in China, and has permits to operate robot taxis and trucks in the United States and China.
The talks are preliminary, said the people. Mr Kalanick will run Pony if the deal is completed, they said. It is unclear what role, if any, Uber would take in Pony as an investor.
Financial details of the potential transaction could not be determined. Pony went public in 2024 in the US, raising US$260 million (S$332 million) in a share sale. Its market capitalisation stands at around US$4.5 billion.
If the deal goes through, Mr Kalanick, 48, will remain in his day job running CloudKitchens, a virtual restaurant start-up that he founded after leaving Uber in 2017. He would also work more closely with Dara Khosrowshahi, who took over as Uber's chief executive after Mr Kalanick's ouster.
The discussions are the starkest sign yet that Uber is under pressure from Waymo, the driverless car unit spun out of Google, and other autonomous car services. Last week Tesla also unveiled a limited robot taxi service in Austin, Texas. Over time, these autonomous vehicle services may replace or eat into rides from human drivers. In cities like San Francisco where robot taxi services are available, the vehicles have become ubiquitous and are popular.
An Uber spokesperson declined to comment on deal talks and said, 'Uber has a platform strategy, and we intend to work with multiple players in the US and around the world who can safely bring autonomous technology to the world.' NYTIMES
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