Mind Robotics, Rivian Spinoff, Hires Doug Field as President

Mind Robotics, the Rivian spinoff, announced the appointment of Doug Field as president in a major coup for the EV maker's secret robotics startup. Field was Apple's VP of special projects, where he effectively led the failed Project Titan effort to build a self-driving electric car. He was […]

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Ford's former head of electric vehicles and software will run robotics spin-off Rivian at a time when there is the most excitement for physical AI.

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Transportation editor with over 10 years of experience covering electric vehicles, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in the New York Daily News and City and State.

Rivian spin-off Mind Robotics has announced the appointment of Doug Field as president in a major coup for secretive robotics startup EV Inc.

Field was Apple's vice president of special projects, where he was de facto head of Project Titan's failed self-driving electric car efforts. He previously served as vice president of Mac hardware engineering at Apple, but left the company in 2013 to become Tesla's chief automotive engineer, where he helped oversee the Model 3 sedan. He left Tesla in 2018 and rejoined Apple. In 2021, Field was hired by Ford to run the automaker's electric vehicle and software division, a position he held until earlier this year.

Mind Robotics said Field will oversee its efforts to build "universally capable robots" to work in Rivian's factories as well as other applications. This startup was founded by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe in 2025 and has since attracted more than $1 billion in funding. While the company has yet to show off any of its robots in public, the startup says its robots are designed with the "physical intelligence and reasoning" needed for industrial work.

"Doug is a remarkable leader with a track record of delivering new technologies into successful products, and I couldn't be more excited to be brainstorming with him," Scaringe said in a statement. He has an uncanny ability to nurture great teams that take big, complex ideas and deliver products that reset expectations. "This is exactly what the mind needs as we deploy robots in real factories and beyond."

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Field joins Mind Robotics at a major turning point in the field of robotics, with rapid advances in physical AI hitting major hurdles in hardware and software development. Several companies, such as Tesla and Hyundai, are pursuing humanoid robots for factory and warehouse work — even as experts say it's easier to build a humanoid robot than to scale the technology for practical tasks. Mind Robotics has not confirmed whether it is working on a humanoid design or something else. The company is on a hiring spree and currently has 32 open positions.

Scaringe, who serves as CEO and president of Mind Robotics, has said he wants to keep the companies separate rather than trying to combine work like Tesla. However, these companies are certainly related in several ways. Mind Robotics uses Rivian's AI training data, and the robots will initially be tested in Rivian's factories. Rivian also has a stake in Mind Robotics and will be the first customer for its robots.

Field said he is excited for the challenge of launching the new startup.

He said in a statement: "The integration of artificial intelligence and robotics is one of the most important and difficult engineering challenges of our time. "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. I'm excited to join RJ in building a team, culture and technology that will redefine what we can build in America."

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