Travis Kalanick is trying to buy Pony.ai — and Uber might help

Core Insights - Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber, is exploring the acquisition of the U.S. arm of Chinese autonomous vehicle company Pony.ai, with potential financial backing from investors and possible assistance from Uber [1][2] - Pony.ai went public last year with a market cap of approximately $4.5 billion and has been preparing its U.S. operations for a sale or spinoff since 2022 [2] - Kalanick's potential acquisition would mark his return to the self-driving vehicle sector after being ousted from Uber in 2017, following a series of controversies including a fatal incident involving an Uber test vehicle [2][3] Company Developments - Under Kalanick's leadership, Uber was initially focused on developing its own autonomous vehicle technology, but after his departure, the company sold its self-driving division to Aurora and shifted to a partnership model with other companies like Waymo [3] - Kalanick has been involved in robotics through his ghost kitchen venture, CloudKitchens, and would continue to manage that business if he acquires Pony.ai [4] - Kalanick expressed that Uber was competitive in the autonomous vehicle space during his tenure, suggesting that the company could have benefited from an autonomous ride-sharing product [5]