Uber Technologies is in preliminary discussions with its co-founder and former CEO, Travis Kalanick, to help fund his acquisition of the US subsidiary of Chinese autonomous vehicle company Pony.ai, according to a report by The New York Times.
The talks signal Uber’s response to growing competition from self-driving taxi services such as Waymo and Tesla.
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The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the discussions, indicated that the talks are at an early stage.
Should the deal proceed, Kalanick, would lead Pony.ai while continuing his role as head of CloudKitchens, a virtual restaurant start-up he founded after departing Uber in 2017 following a boardroom coup.
The financial terms of the potential transaction remain undisclosed.
Pony.ai went public in the US in 2024, raising $260m through a share sale, with its market capitalisation currently standing at approximately $4.5bn.
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By GlobalDataIt is unclear whether Uber would take an investment stake in Pony.ai as part of the deal.
An Uber spokesman declined to comment on the deal talks, stating, “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.”
Devon Spurgeon, a spokeswoman for Kalanick, did not provide an immediate comment, and Pony.ai did not respond to requests for comment.
Kalanick’s tenure at Uber included efforts to develop autonomous vehicle technology, notably through the acquisition of Otto, a self-driving trucking start-up led by former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski.
This move led to a lawsuit from Google, which accused Levandowski of trade secret theft and sought to prevent Uber from using its self-driving technology.
Bloomberg News previously reported in November 2024 that Uber was in talks to invest in Pony.ai’s US initial public offering, though the final scale of any investment remains undisclosed.
Uber has also partnered with Pony.ai to launch commercial robotaxi services in the Middle East.
Pony.ai, headquartered in China, maintains research operations and testing permits in the US and Europe, with Toyota Motor holding a nearly 16% stake as its largest shareholder, according to Bloomberg data.
