Home / Business and Economy / Ex-Uber Exec Joins Kalanick's AI Startup Atoms
Ex-Uber Exec Joins Kalanick's AI Startup Atoms
6 Aug
Summary
- Gautam Gupta, formerly Uber's finance chief, is now CFO at Travis Kalanick's Atoms.
- Atoms recently secured $1.7 billion in funding, with Uber also investing.
- Gupta cited Kalanick's 'genius and intensity' as a key reason for joining.
Gautam Gupta, formerly Uber's finance chief, has joined Travis Kalanick's robotics and industrial AI startup, Atoms, as its new CFO. This appointment comes shortly after Atoms announced it had raised $1.7 billion.
Gupta's move continues a pattern of Kalanick recruiting former Uber executives to Atoms, which was previously known as CloudKitchens. Earlier this year, Atoms acquired Pronto, a mining autonomy startup led by former Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski.
Kalanick has expressed a vision for Atoms to impact sectors like mining, food, and transportation, aiming to overcome natural resistance to change. Uber itself participated in Atoms' latest funding round, reportedly contributing $100 million.
Gupta, who co-founded the VC firm A* in 2020, is stepping down from his role there to assume the CFO position at Atoms. He cited Kalanick's 'magical mix of genius and intensity' as a primary reason for his commitment.
