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Kitty Hawk, Larry Page’s flying automobile firm, is closing operations

Kitty Hawk, the ambitious “flying vehicle” business sponsored by Google co-founder Larry Page, is shutting down, according to a short post on LinkedIn earlier today.

According to insiders within the firm, Kitty Hawk has already halted construction on the 100-mile-capable Heaviside vehicle. According to Insider, Page had been more hands-off from the firm, although he was more directly engaged with its change to research and development after the completion of the Heaviside project.

Although Kitty Hawk is discontinuing its own aircraft development, at least one project will continue in its joint venture business with Boeing: Wisk Aero. “Today’s news has no bearing on Wisk.” “With Boeing and Kitty Hawk as investors, we remain in a solid financial and strategic position,” Wisk spokesman Chris Brown stated. During its most recent fundraising round, Boeing invested an additional $450 million in Wisk Aero.

Kitty Hawk made its first appearance in 2017 with the publication of a video of its “Flyer” personal transport vehicle, ahead of another autonomous aircraft it built dubbed Cora, which branched off to form Wisk Aero.

The Flyer was one of the first vehicles to arrive during an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) boom that ultimately featured projects from known names like Bell Helicopter and Uber, as well as Toyota-backed Joby Aviation, Volocopter, and Lilium.