Jun 27, 2025 - Business

Uber and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick are talking about a new deal

Dan Primack

Uber is in talks with former CEO Travis Kalanick to help fund his prospective bid for the U.S. subsidiary of Chinese self-driving car company Pony.ai, as reported by The New York Times and confirmed by Axios.

Why it matters: The 2017 breakup between Uber and Kalanick was brutal. When the ride-hail giant went public 23 months later, new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi rejected Kalanick's request to stand on the NYSE "balcony" to help ring the opening bell.

Kalanick also has remained steadfast that Uber would have a self-driving fleet had he remained in charge.

Zoom in: For Uber, these talks reflect serious competition from Waymo. And fears of serious competition from Tesla, which just launched its robo-taxi service in Austin.

For Pony, which trades on the Nasdaq, it reflects how national security rules have caused it to keep its U.S. and Chinese businesses and tech separate — thus setting the stage for a sale.

The bottom line: First came news that Oasis is reuniting. Now this.

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Uber and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick are talking about a new deal

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