ProductReports disagree2 publishers2 min readPublished
Doug Field takes over day-to-day running of Rivian's robotics spinoff Mind Robotics
Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics named former Ford EV chief Doug Field president, a year after its founding and with more than $1 billion raised. Field takes over the daily business from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, though the company has yet to show a robot in public.
The Product Desk
Key figures: Mind Robotics has more than $1 billion in investor backing, currently has 32 open positions, and is one year past its founding, as TechCrunch reported.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investor backing, more than | 1 billion dollars | 3 | |
| Open positions now | 32 positions | 9 | |
| Since its founding | 1 year | 10 |
What happened
- Field left Ford in April after five years shaping its electric vehicle and technology strategy, as part of a wider leadership reorganization.
- Before Ford he led Apple's Project Titan, the car effort canceled in 2024, and at Tesla he oversaw development of the Model 3.
- Rivian reported owning about a third of Mind Robotics as of June 30, 2026, though the two operate as standalone companies.
- Mind is Scaringe's second Rivian spinout; at the first, the e-bike company Also, he is chairman and former Specialized product chief Chris Yu runs the business.
Why it matters
- contradiction Scaringe says Mind's robots will not copy all of the human body, but The Verge notes the company has not confirmed whether the design is humanoid, so outside buyers have a stated direction and no confirmed design.
- decision A manufacturer approached by Mind now has a named president to deal with. The open choice is whether to commit before a robot has been shown or to wait for one.
- precedent We'd expect any further Scaringe spinout to follow the same pattern: Scaringe as chair, an outside executive on daily operations.
The first people to share a floor with a Mind Robotics robot will work for Rivian. The robots will be tested initially in Rivian's factories, Mind is using Rivian's AI training data, and Rivian will be its first customer [6]. Field made that the pitch. He said in a statement: "Mind has assembled an exceptional team and has a unique advantage: the ability to deploy and learn inside a real, high-volume factory from day one." [17]
The title is worth reading closely. The Verge reports that Scaringe is acting CEO and chair of Mind [4], and that he has said he wants to keep the companies separate instead of combining the work like Tesla [11]. Scaringe also runs Rivian [12]. A president who handles the daily business is what makes that separation workable, we think.
TechCrunch called the hire "another sign that Mind Robotics is getting ready to scale up its early operations just one year after its founding" [10]. The sources back that reading with money and open jobs. Mind has raised more than $1 billion from Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Eclipse, Kleiner Perkins and the venture arms of Volkswagen and Salesforce [3]. It also has 32 open positions [9].
Those are inputs. The reports do not say whether Field will take the CEO title or whether Mind is taking outside pilots. In our view the hire is good evidence of authority and intent and weak evidence about the robot.
A buyer can place any robot vendor on a two-by-two. One axis is whether the first customer holds a stake in the vendor. The other is whether anyone outside the company has seen a robot do a task. Mind sits in the corner with a captive customer, since Rivian owns a share [5], and no public demonstration [13]. It moves when a robot is shown working or when a factory with no Rivian stake takes one.
Until then we'd take the call and hold off on signing. Waiting costs a buyer whatever say an early outside customer would have over the design.
What to watch
- Whether Mind shows a robot doing a task in public, and whether it says if the design is humanoid.
- Whether Mind names a customer other than Rivian, or a factory with no Rivian stake.
- Whether Field takes the CEO title that Scaringe now holds on an acting basis.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives60
- Confidence62
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Doug Field has been hired as president of Mind Robotics, an industrial AI and robotics venture that spun out of Rivian last year.
- [2]
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe will still be involved with Mind Robotics, but the day-to-day aspects of the business, including product, engineering and operations, will be handled by Field.
- [3]
Mind Robotics has amassed more than $1 billion in backing from Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Eclipse, Kleiner Perkins and the venture arms of Volkswagen and Salesforce.
- [4]
Scaringe serves as acting CEO and chair of Mind Robotics.
- [5]
Mind Robotics and Also operate as standalone companies, but Rivian has minority stakes in both and reported owning about a third of each as of June 30, 2026.
- [6]
Mind Robotics is using AI training data from Rivian, its robots will be initially tested in Rivian's factories, and Rivian will be the first customer for its robots.
- [7]
Field left Ford in April after five years shaping the automaker's electric vehicle and technology strategies; his departure was part of a wider reorganization of the automaker's leadership.
- [8]
Before Ford, Field led Apple's Project Titan, the electric, autonomous car project that was canceled in 2024; he also oversaw development of the Model 3 as senior vice president of engineering at Tesla.
- [9]
Mind Robotics has been on a hiring spree and currently has 32 open positions.
- [10]
TechCrunch wrote that Field's hiring is "another sign that Mind Robotics is getting ready to scale up its early operations just one year after its founding."
- [11]
Scaringe has said he wants to keep Rivian and Mind Robotics separate, rather than try to combine the work like Tesla.
- [12]
RJ Scaringe is the CEO of Rivian and founded Mind Robotics in 2025.
- [13]
Mind Robotics has yet to show off any of its robots in public.
- [14]
Mind Robotics is the second company Scaringe spun out of Rivian, after the micromobility company Also; Scaringe is chairman at Also, and Chris Yu, the former chief product officer of Specialized, runs it day to day.
- [15]
Mind Robotics hasn't confirmed whether it is working on a humanoid design or something else entirely.
- [16]
Unlike the humanoid-like robots being developed by Tesla and others, Scaringe says Mind Robotics won't attempt to mimic all the biomechanics of a human.
ReportedContestedSource: Scaringe, as reported by TechCrunch2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [17]
"Mind has assembled an exceptional team and has a unique advantage: the ability to deploy and learn inside a real, high-volume factory from day one."
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- techcrunch.comRivian spinoff Mind Robotics hires former Ford EV chief Doug Field
1 article · October 13, 2026
- theverge.comRivian spinoff Mind Robotics hires Doug Field as president
1 article · October 13, 2026
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