Doug Field named Mind Robotics president — SkimNews
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- Doug Field was appointed president of Mind Robotics to lead its effort to build "universally capable robots" for Rivian factories and other applications.
- Field brings experience from three major hardware programs: VP of special projects at Apple running Project Titan, Tesla's chief vehicle engineer overseeing the Model 3, and most recently Ford's EV and software chief until earlier this year.
- Mind Robotics was founded in 2025 by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe and has raised over $1 billion in financing, though it has yet to publicly demonstrate any robots.
- The startup designs robots with "dexterity and physical reasoning" for industrial work, currently lists 32 open positions, and has not confirmed whether it's pursuing a humanoid form factor.
- A correction clarifies Mind Robotics is a partner of Rivian, not a spinoff; it uses AI training data from Rivian, will initially test robots in Rivian factories, and Rivian holds equity as its first customer.
- Scaringe said he intends to keep Mind Robotics legally separate from Rivian, explicitly contrasting with Tesla's approach of combining its robotics work with its auto business.
Why it matters: Field's appointment installs a veteran operator of three major hardware programs at a still-stealthy, $1 billion-funded robotics startup that has not yet shown a product. Mind Robotics gains a tangible deployment advantage — robots running inside Rivian's high-volume factories from day one — that most humanoid-robotics competitors, including Tesla, currently lack at comparable scale.
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