Travis Kalanick’s Atoms Taps Meta Scientist for Top AI Role

SAN FRANCISCO — Vikas Chandra, a veteran Meta scientist specializing in on-device AI research, joined Atoms as vice president of artificial intelligence, adding an experienced on-device AI researcher to Travis Kalanick’s industrial robotics company.

Chandra announced the appointment Sept. 15, according to Business Insider. He said he would build “foundation models for the physical world,” which are AI systems designed to assist machines in perceiving and interacting with real-world environments.

Neither Atoms nor Chandra responded to the publication’s requests for comment. Robot24.com found no evidence of another announcement. Chandra’s personal website still identifies him as a senior director and distinguished scientist at Meta Reality Labs.
Kalanick, a technology entrepreneur best known for co-founding Uber, revealed Atoms in March to specialize in machines for food production, mining and transportation. Atoms raised $1.7 billion in July in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Bain Capital, Fifth Wall and other investors.

At Meta, Chandra spanned model architecture, optimization, and deployment. He focused on multimodal, large language and visionlanguage systems.

Before joining Meta in 2018, Chandra was director of applied machine learning at Arm Research, where he led a team that helped develop TinyML techniques for running AI on small, resource-constrained devices. He earned a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and has published over 200 research papers.