Bulletins

With no taxis in the air, Uber is getting out of the flying taxi game

Uber is in talks to sell its nascent flying-taxi business, Elevate, to Joby Aviation, according to a report from Axios.

Uber is one of several companies that have promised that the future of transportation is autonomous flying machines that can take you wherever you need to go across a city, much like a taxi that can fly. Despite interest from several firms, no company has managed to turn the promise of flying taxis into a business just yet — pandemic aside. Given Uber is also possibly looking for a buyer for its self-driving car group, it's hard to see how the future of Uber isn't just … cars.

Oh also, please don't call them flying cars.

Mike Murphy

Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.

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