[3] The original Hyperloop concept proposed to use a linear electric motor to accelerate and decelerate an air bearing levitated pod through a low-pressure tube.

[9][10] However, in February 2022, the company abandoned plans for human rated travel and instead focused on freight, firing more than 100 employees amounting to half its total workforce.

[19][20] The recent plans for a version of vacuum train called Hyperloop emerged from a conversation between Elon Musk and Iranian-American Silicon Valley investor Shervin Pishevar when they were flying together to Cuba on a humanitarian mission in January 2012.

[28] At the time, the renamed Hyperloop One announced it had secured partnerships with global engineering and design firms such as AECOM, SYSTRA, Arup, Deutsche Bahn, General Electric, and Bjarke Ingels.

[29] On October 12, 2017, Hyperloop One and the Virgin Group announced that it developed a strategic investment partnership, resulting in Richard Branson joining the board of directors.

[33] In October 2020, West Virginia governor Jim Justice announced that Virgin Hyperloop would be constructing a certification facility on land in Tucker and Grant Counties.

[37][38] In December 2022, a second round of layoffs was reported, focused on the firm's downtown Los Angeles staff and Las Vegas operational team.

[43] After Hyperloop One began the construction of 500-metre (1,600 ft) DevLoop in October 2016, the company successfully conducted the first full-system test using the levitating chassis without passenger pod on May 12, 2017.

[44] The system-wide test integrated Hyperloop components including vacuum, propulsion, levitation, sled, control systems, tube, and structures.

[61] As of July 2018[update], the board of directors included Richard Branson (chairman), Justin Fishner-Wolfson, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Rob Lloyd, Josh Giegel, Bill Shor, Yuvraj Narayan, Anatoly Braverman, and Emily White as a strategic adviser.

[63] Former board members include Peter Diamandis, Jim Messina, who as of July 2018[63] serves as strategic adviser, former Morgan Stanley executive Jim Rosenthal, Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder Shervin Pishevar,[64] who took a leave of absence from Hyperloop One in December 2017 after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct,[65][66][67][68] and Ziyavudin Magomedov, a Russian billionaire who was arrested on embezzlement charges in 2018.

The firm announced an intent to accelerate scheduled fielding of production systems from the early 2030s to the mid-2020s, and that the planned initial project would transport freight between the cities of Dubai and Abu-Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

[74] On November 8, 2016, the firm announced it had signed a deal with Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to conduct feasibility studies on potential passenger and cargo hyperloop routes in the United Arab Emirates.

[76] In February 2018, the Virgin Group signed an "intent agreement" with the Government of Maharashtra state of India to build a hyperloop transportation system between Mumbai and Pune.

The Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, K. VijayRaghavan, set up a Consultative Group on Future of Transportation (CGFT) to explore the regulatory path for hyperloop.

[80] In July 2018, Texas officials announced that the state will explore hyperloop technology for a route connecting Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Laredo.

[81] In June 2019, the firm announced an ongoing collaboration with the Sam Fox School of Washington University in St. Louis to explore proposals for the Missouri Hyperloop.

[92] On September 14, 2017, Hyperloop One announced the 10 winners;[93] they were to be invited to work closely with the firm on viability studies to try to bring their respective loops from proposal to reality.

[94] The ten winning routes that were selected are:[95] In July 2016, the CTO and co-founder Brogan BamBrogan left the company,[96] later filing a lawsuit with three other former employees alleging breach of fiduciary duty and misuse of corporate resources.

[97] On July 19, 2016, Hyperloop One filed a counterclaim against the four former employees, alleging they staged a failed coup of the company, in the process breaching agreements around fiduciary duty, non-competes, proprietary information, and non-disparagement, as well as intentional interference with contractual relations.