Rivian bets on a separate Mind Robotics to pioneer humanoids

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe has launched Mind Robotics as a standalone company with over $1 billion in funding to develop humanoid robots, with Rivian as a major shareholder and launch customer. Mind aims to reveal its first product within a year, while Scaringe says the unit will stay separate from Rivian. He envisions robots working alongside human manufacturing teams, using Rivian data to train AI, and notes a long‑term automation shift—though Musk’s Tesla/AI strategy remains a contrasting approach.