It was meant to put Uber in the sky, with the promise of flying taxis jetting commuters across the cities of London, Melbourne and Los Angeles by the end of the decade — yet less than a year after Uber said that it wanted to create “virtual highways in the sky” and that flying taxis would be a reality in some American cities by 2023, the company is selling the entire division.
Uber will sell off its air transport unit to flying taxi maker Joby Aviation, the company said, as it streamlines operations to navigate a ride-share market scuttled by the pandemic.
The deal will see Joby acquire Uber expertise and software,
and able to offer its all-electric, vertical take-off and landing passenger
aircraft on the ride-hailing giant's app.
While financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, they
include Uber investing $75 million into Santa Cruz-based Joby, which has said
it hopes to have its flying taxis in operation as early as 2023.
The sale of Uber Elevate -- dedicated to electric aircraft
and delivery drones -- to Joby will "accelerate the path to market" for
flying taxis, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in a joint release
Tuesday.
Founded in 2009, Joby Aviation is developing a
four-passenger electric aircraft that takes off and lands vertically, like a
helicopter, though it has multiple rotors.
The firm envisions the aircraft as a mode of commercial
transport, rather than for sale to individuals, with its pilots ferrying
commuters around.
Uber said it had already invested $50 million in Joby during
a fundraising round early this year.
News of the sale came shortly after Uber announced an
agreement to sell its autonomous car division to Amazon and Hyundai-backed
Aurora in a deal that gives it a 26 percent stake in the startup developing
self-driving technology.
As part of the deal, Uber will invest $400 million in Aurora
to merge the teams from both firms seeking to advance the technology for
driverless ride-hailing.
The companies expect the self-driving technology to be
initially put to use for long-haul trucking.
Khosrowshahi will also join the Aurora board of directors as
part of the deal. The merged firm will work on the technology to be known as
Aurora Driver.
Last month Uber reported that it lost $1.1 billion in the
recently ended quarter as the pandemic walloped its ride-hailing business,
while boosting its food delivery service.