Rivian robotics spinoff hires Doug Field as president

Summarised from 2 outlets · 3 reports · Updated 13 Oct, 19:44 · Archive

Mind Robotics, a robotics startup spun out of Rivian, has appointed Doug Field as president. The appointment marks a significant hire for the secretive startup, which was founded by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe in 2025.

Field brings extensive experience in electric vehicle development. He was most recently head of Ford's electric vehicle and software division, a position he held until earlier this year. Before that, he spent time at Apple as vice-president of special projects, where he led the company's ultimately unsuccessful Project Titan effort to develop an autonomous electric car. He also worked at Apple as vice-president of Mac hardware engineering before joining Tesla in 2013 as chief vehicle engineer, where he oversaw development of the Model 3 sedan. He left Tesla in 2018 and rejoined Apple.

Mind Robotics has raised over $1 billion in financing from investors including Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Eclipse, Kleiner Perkins and the venture arms of Volkswagen and Salesforce. The startup is building robots designed with 'dexterity and physical reasoning' for industrial manufacturing work. Rivian is serving as the startup's first customer, providing what Scaringe described as 'a live, high-volume manufacturing environment for model training and deployment'. According to TechCrunch, Field will handle day-to-day operations including product, engineering and operations, while Scaringe remains involved with the company.

How it is being reported

• Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics hires former Ford EV chief Doug FieldField also worked on Apple's secretive car project and oversaw development of the Tesla Model 3.TechCrunch · 13 Oct, 19:30
• Rivian’s startup Mind Robotics hires former Ford EV chief Doug FieldField also worked on Apple's secretive car project and oversaw development of the Tesla Model 3.TechCrunch · 13 Oct, 19:30
• Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics hires Doug Field as presidentRivian spinoff Mind Robotics announced the appointment of Doug Field as president in a major coup for the EV company's secretive robotics startup. Field was a VP of special projects at Apple, where he was the de facto head of the company's ultimately unsuccessful Project Titan effort to make an autonomous electric car. He had […]The Verge · 13 Oct, 19:30

In this story: Mind Robotics · Doug Field · Rivian · RJ Scaringe · Apple · Tesla · Ford

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