“We have made the decision to wind down Kittyhawk. We’re still working on the details of what’s next,” the corporate wrote in a short lived remark shared on its ConnectedIn and Twitter pages. Kittyhawk didn’t straight away reply to a request for additional remark.
Kittyhawk had the lofty challenge of “building autonomous, affordable, ubiquitous and eco-conscious air taxis,” in keeping with its web page. It used to be based by means of Sebastian Thrun, a former Google government who led the corporate’s self-driving automotive efforts.
The startup operated in secret till 2017, when it publicly unveiled its first plane — an ultralight electrical aircraft dubbed Flyer that used to be designed to fly over water. Page, probably the most international’s richest males, used to be mentioned to have invested $100 million in flying automotive startups, together with Kittyhawk.
Flyer used to be in the long run retired in 2020, after greater than 25,000 a success take a look at flights, in keeping with the corporate, and it reportedly laid off a lot of those that were running on Flyer on the time. The corporate introduced different electrical plane prototypes and introduced a partnership with Boeing in 2019.
The shuttering of Kittyhawk is not going to affect its three way partnership with Boeing, which has been dubbed Wisk. In a tweet, Wisk mentioned that it stays “in a strong financial position,” with each Boeing and Kittyhawk as traders.
Like Kittyhawk, Wisk is growing an “all-electric, self-flying air taxi” that it says “rises like a helicopter and flies like a plane,” in keeping with its web page. This “aircraft will remove the need for a runway and allow you to land where you need to be,” in keeping with the corporate.
