A factory as the first customer
Mind Robotics has raised more than $1 billion from Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Eclipse, Kleiner Perkins and the venture arms of Volkswagen and Salesforce. It is building a technology stack for industrial production: task-specific robots powered by foundation models, designed to automate manufacturing at scale.
Rivian will be the startup’s first customer, providing an operating large-scale factory where it can train and deploy its models. That arrangement gives Mind Robotics a live industrial environment from the start, rather than a promise of future access to one.
Scaringe has said the company will not try to reproduce human biomechanics precisely, unlike Tesla and other developers of humanoid robots. Its focus is industrial work, not making robots look or move like people.
Field’s next operating role
Field left Ford in April after five years working on the company’s electric-vehicle and technology strategy, amid a broader leadership reshuffle. Before Ford, he led Apple’s Project Titan, the electric self-driving car project that was shut down in 2024. At Tesla, he was senior vice president of engineering and led development of the Model 3, helping the company through the sedan’s production ramp.
Scaringe said he had initially called Field to ask for a recommendation for someone to run Mind Robotics. Their conversation turned into a deeper discussion about building robotics and deploying it in society and the economy. Scaringe said they shared views on the company’s mission and on how to work and build teams.
In a statement, Field called combining AI and robotics one of the most important and difficult engineering challenges of the present day. He said Mind Robotics had a strong team and a distinctive advantage in being able to deploy its technology and learn inside a large operating factory from the beginning. He also said he was excited to join RJ Scaringe to build a team, culture and technology that could change the capabilities of American manufacturing.
A second company outside Rivian
Mind Robotics is the second company Scaringe has spun out of Rivian. The first was Also, a city-mobility venture that is starting with expensive electric bikes. Scaringe chairs Also’s board; former Specialized chief product officer Chris Yu runs its day-to-day operations.
Both companies operate independently, while Rivian holds minority stakes in each. As of June 30, 2026, Rivian said it owned roughly one-third of each.
I think the factory access is the most consequential part of Mind Robotics’ pitch—and the part Field will be expected to make real. The announcement says little about which manufacturing tasks the first robots will handle or how success will be measured. Rivian’s factory gives the company a place to learn, but it also makes the first test of its industrial ambitions unusually close to home.
Source: techcrunch.com
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