Dara Khosrowshahi and Elon Musk (File photos)A journalist's tweet on Thursday sparked a Twitter fight between the chief executive officers (CEOs) of Uber and Tesla over whether flying taxis or hyperloop is the better mode of transport.
The debate began when Anirban Ghoshal from www.vccircle.com tweeted on behalf of Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. "New @Uber CEO @dkhos says why do you need to dig tunnels for @HyperloopOne @hyperlooptt when you can fly? Challenges @elonmusk what do you say to that sir @elonmusk," he said.
Ride-hailing app Uber has announced that it will start its ambitious flying taxi project in Los Angeles by 2020 to deal with the city's traffic problem. Uber has also signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to create a new air traffic control system to manage low-flying autonomous aircraft.
Virgin Hyperloop One is expected to connect Mumbai and Pune by 2025. FileOn the other side, Tesla is currently working on building tunnels to connect New York and Washington DC as part of its Hyperloop projects.
Musk replied to him: "If you love drones above your house, you'll really love vast numbers of 'cars' flying over your head that are 1,000 times bigger and noisier and blow away anything that isn't nailed down when they land."
The Uber CEO replied back to Tesla CEO: "Challenge accepted. Improved battery tech (thx 2 @elonmusk) and multiple smaller rotors will be much more efficient and avoid noise + environmental pollution."
Khosrowshahi, who is in Delhi, also had a discussion with the Indian government over airport partnerships and future of commercial air travel.
"Great meeting with the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, @jayantsinha, to discuss airport partnerships and future of commercial air travel in the form of flying cars," Khosrowshahi tweeted.
On February 18, the Maharashtra government announced that it has entered into an agreement with Virgin Hyperloop One to construct a hyperloop route connecting Mumbai and Pune by 2025.
