Mobility giant Uber is open to partnering with its ousted founder Travis Kalanick in his new autonomous vehicle venture, chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi told ET in an interview, marking the first public acknowledgment from the company that it may work with its former chief again. âWeâre already working with Travis in the restaurant space, and I have enormous respect for himâheâs our founder. If opportunities emerge in other areas, weâd certainly look at them seriously because there are very few entrepreneurs I trust as much,â Khosrowshahi said during his five-day India visit last week. The comments come amid renewed momentum in the autonomous driving space, with companies such as Waymo, Tesla and Zoox accelerating commercial deployments and partnerships. Also Read: Uber still ahead despite stiffening competition, playing to win: CEO Dara Khosrowshahi In March, US technology publication The Information reported that Kalanick was preparing to launch a new self-driving car and robotics venture with significant backing from Uber. The report said Kalanick wanted to move more aggressively on autonomous vehicle rollouts than existing operators such as Waymo. Kalanick, who was forced out of Uber in 2017 following a series of governance and workplace controversies, had originally spearheaded Uberâs autonomous driving ambitions. The company later sold its self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), to Aurora in 2020 under Khosrowshahiâs leadership. Tune in | Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on AI, EVs & why India could become Uberâs biggest market Since then, Uber has shifted to a partnership-led strategy in autonomous mobility instead of building the technology in-house. The company has struck several deals across the globe with autonomous vehicle companies, including Waymo, Motional and May Mobility, to integrate robotaxis onto its platform. Earlier this year, Kalanick also unveiled a new robotics-focused company called Atoms, which combines his ghost kitchen business CloudKitchens with