After greater than a decade of attempting to make flying automobiles a actuality, Kitty Hawk is shutting down. “We’re still working on the details of what’s next,” the Larry Page-backed startup posted to LinkedIn on Wednesday afternoon. Before as we speak’s announcement, the final time we heard from Kitty Hawk was within the spring of 2021 when it got here out the corporate had parted methods with engineer Damon Vander Lind following “months” of infighting with Page and CEO Sebastian Thrun. Almost precisely a yr earlier, the corporate canceled its unique Flyer undertaking and laid off a lot of the 70-person workforce that had labored on the plane.
It’s unclear why Kitty Hawk determined to name it quits, however feedback Thrun made after the corporate ended improvement on Flyer could present a clue. “No matter how hard we looked, we could not find a path to a viable business,” the chief government mentioned on the time. After Vander Lind’s departure the next yr, it appeared Kitty Hawk was able to double down on its Heavyside vertical take-off and touchdown plane. It acquired 3D Robotics and introduced on the corporate’s co-founder, former Wired editor Chris Anderson, as chief working officer.
Despite the demise of Kitty Hawk, this most likely isn’t the final we’ll hear of Larry Page’s flying automobile ambitions. According to CNBC, Wednesday’s shutdown gained’t have an effect on Wisk Aero, the corporate that was borne out of a 2019 partnership between Kitty Hawk and Boeing.
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“Kitty Hawk’s decision to cease operations does not change Boeing’s commitment to Wisk. We are proud to be a founding member of Wisk Aero and are excited to see the work they are doing to drive innovation and sustainability through the future of electric air travel,” Boeing instructed the outlet. “We do not expect Kitty Hawk’s announcement to affect Wisk’s operations or other activities in any way.”