Atoms appoints Vikas Chandra as VP of AI after $1.7 billion funding round

Atoms strengthens its AI leadership with the arrival of Vikas Chandra, who spent over eight years at Meta working on AI for glasses. This appointment follows a $1.7 billion funding round and adds to recent recruitments and acquisitions. The company claims it aims to develop models for the physical world and robots for food, mining, and transportation.

$1.7 Billion Funding, Acquisitions, and Ex-Uber at the Helm

Earlier this summer, Atoms raised $1.7 billion in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Travis Kalanick described this funding as an "unfinished business" and fuel to complete an arc "from bits to atoms." Last month, Gautam Gupta, former CFO of Uber, joined Atoms as CFO, and earlier this year, the company acquired Pronto, an autonomous mining startup led by Anthony Levandowski, a former engineer of Uber's self-driving division. Atoms also absorbed CloudKitchens as a subsidiary. The arrival of Vikas Chandra is part of this series of recruitments, and several former Uber employees are on staff, according to LinkedIn. Travis Kalanick claims to be on a "journey to digitize the physical world."

Vikas Chandra Takes Over AI at Atoms After Eight Years at Meta

Travis Kalanick announced that Vikas Chandra will now serve as Vice President of AI. Chandra, who worked at Meta for over eight years, notably oversaw research on AI applied to smart glasses. He emphasizes his desire to create foundational models suited for the physical world and recalls on X that he spent eight years developing compact and fast models for use in AI glasses, while considering that the physical world presents a more complex version of the same challenge. Atoms and Vikas Chandra did not respond to requests for comments.

Announced Robots and Kalanick's Background with Atoms

Atoms claims to be building robots for sectors such as food, mining, and transportation, while remaining discreet about its work. The company was publicly unveiled earlier this year after a period in stealth mode. Travis Kalanick, co-founder of Uber in 2009 and who left in 2017 under pressure from investors, is currently expanding his team following a recent funding round. The foundational models mentioned are AI systems designed to help machines understand and act in real-world environments.