Travis Kalanick has Ambitions Beyond Expanding Ghost Kitchens
At the Abundance Summit in Los Angeles last week, billionaire entrepreneur Travis Kalanick offered a rare look into his vision for CloudKitchens. While the eight-year-old company is primarily known for its expanding real estate portfolio, which houses and supports delivery-only restaurants, Kalanick hinted at a more ambitious future—one where AI-optimized meals are delivered directly to customers.
He referenced this idea twice in separate discussions. In a conversation with conference organizer Peter Diamandis, Kalanick drew comparisons to past industry disruptions. He noted that early taxi apps failed because they only took a small share of an unreliable market, unlike Uber, which transformed the entire system. Similarly, he cited Zynga’s reliance on Facebook, which ultimately left the gaming company vulnerable.
Why Restaurants Using Third-Party Apps Are Vulnerable
Applying this perspective to CloudKitchens, Kalanick argued that restaurants dependent on Uber Eats or DoorDash face the same risks. “You’re getting yield optimization on a thing that’s built for something else,” he explained, warning that businesses relying on another platform could be easily “squeezed.”
When an audience member asked about CloudKitchens’ future and its use of AI, Kalanick suggested the company has ambitions beyond simply providing turn-key restaurant spaces. He spoke about “cooking-as-a-service,” comparing it to the shift from personal car ownership to ride-hailing, and emphasized making healthy meals accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy.
Kalanick also touched on AI’s role in reshaping the physical world, distinguishing between “AI for bits” (such as chatbots like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Grok) and what he called “atoms AI“—AI that interacts with the real world.
Kalanick’s Vision Aligns with Emerging Food Tech Trends
However, before Kalanick could elaborate, the discussion moved on. He has not yet responded to follow-up inquiries. If his vision involves delivering AI-optimized meals to customers, he’s not alone. Marc Lore, the e-commerce entrepreneur behind Wonder, has been expanding his company’s ambitions beyond ghost kitchens. Last November, after acquiring GrubHub, Lore told TechCrunch that Wonder aims to revolutionize food and health management in an entirely new way.
In that same interview, Lore outlined a future where AI-driven meal planning seamlessly aligns with a customer’s dietary needs, health goals, and wearable device data. He described an AI system capable of adjusting meal recommendations based on real-time health metrics—such as blood test results showing high mercury levels—framing Wonder’s ultimate goal as becoming “the super app for mealtime.”
At the time, the idea of waking up to a personalized, AI-designed meal plan seemed far-fetched. Yet, given Kalanick and Lore’s histories of disrupting industries—Kalanick with Uber and Lore with Jet.com—their shared vision for AI-powered food services replacing traditional cooking suggests this shift may be a question of when, not if.
Wonder has secured $1.6 billion in funding, while CloudKitchens has reportedly raised a similar amount, though it has remained more secretive about its operations.
Read the original article on: TechCrunch
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