A flying car startup in Silicon Valley that was backed by Google’s Larry Page and set out to revolutionize how people get around is closing stores and laying off workers.
Kittyhawk gave 100 employees pink slips, according to a WARN notice filed with the state labor department on Sept. 22. The WARN notice filed with the California Department of Employment Development also indicated the permanent closure of three offices, including two in Palo Alto at 821. San Antonio Street. 4062 Fabian Way, the other is at his 2639 Terminal Blvd in Mountain View. The layoffs and closures will be reported to the state on September 22nd and are expected to take effect on November 22nd.
Kitty Hawk did not respond to a request for comment on the layoffs, but a message posted to its LinkedIn page on Sept. 21 read, “We have decided to disband Kitty Hawk. We are still working on what to do next.” We are working on the details…”
The company was founded in 2010 by Sebastian Thrun, founding director of Google’s X lab and its self-driving car team, and made headlines in 2017 when it released a video of its flying car prototype, Flyer, at Clear Lake. I was. A New York Times reporter said the flyer “looked like something Luke Skywalker had assembled from spare parts.”
Sebastian Thrun is Director of the Stanford Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Associate Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. Throon has led the development of numerous deployable autonomous mobile robots. Thrun is a renowned expert in autonomous mobile robotics.
Kimkrish/Corbis via Getty Images“It was a one-person, 220-pound, open-seat contraption powered by eight battery-powered propellers that made as much noise as a speedboat,” reported The Times.
The company abandoned the Flyer project in 2020 and most recently worked on a battery-powered aircraft known as the Heaviside.
The Verge reported that Kittyhawk has ended development of its own aircraft, but continues its ventures with Boeing and Mountain View-based aerospace manufacturer Wisk Aero. “Both @Boeing and @kittyhawkcorp are investors and we remain in strong financial position,” said a message posted on Wisk’s Twitter page.
