Transportation dreamers convene in Bentonville
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Thaden Field in Bentonville was the showplace this week for some of the most ambitious ideas in transportation — from ultrasonic jets and flying taxis to customizable electric cars and humanoid robots.
Why it matters: The UP.Summit is an invite-only gathering of 350 entrepreneurs, investors, corporate executives and government leaders with a shared mission to reimagine how people and goods move.
State of play: Now in its eighth year, the private event is hosted by investment firm UP.Partners, whose co-founder Cyrus Sigari is the head cheerleader for envisioning "the future we were promised as kids."
Inside the hangar: A parade of entrepreneurs gave a series of 10- to 15-minute talks explaining their personal journeys and why their technology would change the world.
Outside on the tarmac: Their toys were showcased for exploration, even if most were only mockups, not quite ready to be deployed.
💠Thought bubble: The enthusiasm — call it hype if you prefer — is infectious when everyone in the room is dreaming of what could be the next big thing in transportation.
- And investors seem eager to jump on board, particularly when it comes to backing the physical AI that will define the next phase of American innovation.
- But a lot of the ideas at the UP.Summit won't ever come to fruition, whether due to a lack of funding or a poorly conceived business plan.
Yes, but: There are still success stories like Wing, the drone company owned by Google.
- Three years ago, CEO Adam Woodworth stood on the UP.Summit stage and promised that drone delivery technology was on the cusp of reality.
- Fast-forward to today, and Wing now makes more than 1,200 deliveries a day to Walmart customers in Dallas, with other markets coming soon.
- "Most of these other technologies are on the precipice of what's coming. This tech is here," he said, referring to drone delivery.
What to watch: Drone companies like Wing and Zipline were beneficiaries of an early commercialization program funded by the FAA during the first Trump administration.
- Trump just signed an executive order to launch a similar pilot program for urban air mobility, which should give a boost to electric air taxi companies like Joby, Archer and Beta.
