Should you haven’t heard, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has one other firm — his third by our rely. And this time it’s targeted on robotics.
The serial entrepreneur is finest identified for Rivian, the buzzy EV maker that was thrust into the highlight in 2018 after debuting an electrical truck with its now-famous gear tunnel.
The publicly traded firm is now just a few months away from delivering its most essential EV but, a mid-sized SUV known as the R2. This EV is cheaper to construct than its flagship R1 counterpart (Scaringe tells me “roughly half” the fee), and but, in some ways is extra technologically succesful. It’s going to even be cheaper for consumers; the primary model of the R2 will begin at $57,990, 20% cheaper than its base R1T pickup.
After which there’s Additionally, the micromobility startup that started as a skunkworks program inside Rivian and spun out final 12 months backed by VC cash. Additionally, which Rivian maintains a minority stake in, launched a pedal-assist modular electrical bike and cargo quad car final October. Scaringe is deeply concerned with that startup as properly.
Now, Scaringe has robotics on his thoughts. And he aptly named his new startup Thoughts Robotics, which I realized was not its authentic title. (Extra on that beneath.)
Thoughts Robotics was not born throughout the partitions of Rivian, though the automaker could sometime be a buyer. Thoughts Robotics is a non-public firm based by Scaringe that not too long ago raised a $500 million Sequence A spherical co-led by enterprise corporations Accel and Andreessen Horowitz. The corporate, which has raised $615 million since its founding in November 2025, is now valued at about $2 billion.
I sat down with Scaringe on the sidelines of South by Southwest, of which his firm is the first sponsor, to speak about every thing he’s engaged on. The Q&A beneath, which has been edited for brevity and readability, focuses on our dialogue about robotics and the way his new startup is taking a brand new method.
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October 13-15, 2026
Are you carried out spinning off corporations?
Three corporations? (pause) In all probability.
Are you positive about that?
Yeah. I imply, yeah. (nods in settlement) Additionally [the ebike company] is right here, in order that’s cool. It’s good to see. It’s cool to see the manufacturers co-existing, which makes me blissful.
Thoughts [Robotics] is one thing I’ve been engaged on for some time. Additionally was distinctive as a result of it was constructed inside Rivian, and that we spun it out. Thoughts … I began an entire new firm, Rivian’s like a associate in it. I’m wildly bullish on it. It actually advantages Riven, however I feel it has the potential to be a really massive enterprise, simply given the dimensions of what’s taking place.
When did you begin engaged on Thoughts?
So, Thoughts is an fascinating story and it really comes again to R2.
About two years in the past, we had been constructing a whole lot of confidence in R2. So if we’re assured in R2 which means we expect there’s gonna be a whole lot of quantity. If we expect there’s gonna be a whole lot of quantity, it means we expect we’re going to wish a whole lot of vegetation [factories].
And so successfully, I stated, ‘Boy, if we’re gonna should construct 4 or 5 vegetation over the subsequent decade, which means we’re going to spend many, many billion {dollars} in capex. What are these vegetation going to appear to be? And we don’t need to construct a bunch of vegetation after which have them instantly be outdated.’
I kicked off an effort to review the way forward for manufacturing, and primarily got here to the view that traditional industrial robotics goes to live on like what you see in our plant at present, or in a Tesla plant or a Ford plant. However the concept of robotics with human-like abilities goes to be actually essential.
We already had a robust thesis round AI within the bodily world. I met with primarily each firm that’s engaged on some type of robotics that may do human-like abilities.
I broadly characterize it as there’s corporations that match into the class of present industrial robotics corporations. And I got here to the view that they’re going to live on, however not be the kinds of corporations that construct robots that may do human-like duties.
After which there’s a brand new batch of corporations which are all like startups, successfully. Most of that are targeted on the house, surprisingly — which we may spend hours on. A really massive variety of these corporations are targeted on folding towels and doing dishes, a subset of these that are taking a look at industrial.
We simply got here to the view that the components to achieve success, none of them had all of these components. And I felt I may construct a greater firm.
I’m not going to construct Rivian’s future manufacturing dependency on corporations which have by no means industrialized a product or understanding or have actually frolicked understanding industrial operations, or that don’t have a knowledge flywheel for coaching fashions, or that don’t have provide chains as a result of all these corporations, we would want to go assist them learn to be an actual firm.
I made the choice to start out a brand new firm, after which had to determine how the governing construction goes to be like.
And on the day I launched the corporate, I raised a seed spherical, after which we simply did this Sequence A financing.
While you initially based it or registered, was it known as one thing else?
What was the mission title? I’ll inform you, no person’s requested me that. (pauses) So it was “Challenge Synapse.”
Why?
Plenty of causes. This can be a nice query, nobody has requested this. So the title of the corporate Thoughts, it type of hyperlinks to synapse and hyperlinks to the mind.
Like firing and misfiring.
Ha, yeah precisely. And it was each due to the mind hyperlink. After which on the time, my children had been in a college known as Synapse, and I used to be impressed by my children and fascinated with the enterprise, so I linked them. I really nearly known as the corporate Synapse, nevertheless it’s simply too humorous of a phrase; I needed one thing easier, however yeah, it was nearly synapse.
It’s humorous, one in all my board members simply wrote me a word and nonetheless referred to it as Challenge Synapse.
Who’s in your board?
Myself, Jiten [Behl] of Eclipse, Sameer from Accel, and Rivian has a board consultant. It’s a non-public firm, so it’s a lot simpler than a public firm.
You talked concerning the completely different classes, is what you’re planning on doing most intently associated to what Boston Dynamics is engaged on, which is the Atlas humanoid, however pairing up with an AI Lab [Google DeepMind]?
We’re constructing the fashions as properly. We’re constructing the fashions, the robotics, and the infrastructure to deploy at scale.
Then on mechatronics and the robots itself, there was a shocking emphasis on mimicking human biomechanics, or in some circumstances, even going additional, making much more advanced mechatronics.
I feel what’s missed in industrial [robotics] and this is among the issues we actually see clearly, is the work occurs with the fingers. So, the fingers are very, crucial. Every little thing else, from a robotic system standpoint, is to get the fingers to the correct place. And so the power for the robots to do actually advanced motions, like, let’s say, like a again flip that’s really simply means the robotic has a whole lot of pointless complexity in it for the overwhelming majority of duties.
And I perceive the aim of exhibiting that’s to indicate the flexibleness and functionality (of the humanoid robots). However in the event you had been to enter a Rivian facility, you will notice only a few people who have the kind of flexibility that may allow them to do a again flip. And so it’s simply when you concentrate on deploying at scale, you need to decrease the complexity, decrease the variety of failure modes, cut back energy consumption.
And so I do assume lots of the robotic methods, notably humanoid methods, which are being thought of for manufacturing are manner too advanced relative to what they do. They’re going to be human like, they’ll have fingers, there’s a notion mannequin on the high. There’s going to be the power to regulate and X, Y and Z; there’s going to be locomotion to permit it to maneuver. However I feel, mimicking human biomechanics in a producing surroundings misses among the elementary factors of producing, which is, it’s all hand based mostly.
I’m making an attempt to visualise what this may ultimately appear to be or what the completely different variants will probably be.
So, the fingers are probably the most difficult a part of robots, although.
(Rapidly leaping in) However it’s additionally the place you focus your vitality, your {dollars}, the spending, every thing ought to go into the fingers.
And I feel the opposite factor to note, in the event you’re constructing a enterprise that’s going to service a whole lot of completely different industrial sectors for manufacturing, there’s not one set of fingers that’s going to be excellent.
If you concentrate on the problem of fingers is torque amplification. Should you’re choosing up a big four-inch diameter metal pipe, it’s a special gripping resolution than threading an M4 fastener into an aluminum casting. It’s simply very completely different abilities and really completely different ranges of dexterity.
One of many different issues that’s taking place is in robotics, which could be very shocking, is within the organic world we so clearly acknowledge that evolution has allowed us to create, like very completely different optimum units of biomechanics for various issues. The most effective factor for swimming seems to be very completely different than the most effective factor for working and the most effective factor for climbing seems to be completely different than the most effective factor for lifting. And due to that, people are usually not notably good at swimming. Like, in the event you had been to place me up towards a dolphin, I’d lose. Should you put me up towards a cheetah, I’d lose.
We’re extra highly effective, in fact, in our mind. And so in manufacturing, to imagine that the form and kind issue of a human is the optimum form and kind issue for all sorts of labor, I feel, simply misses the truth that we didn’t evolve in a plant. Now, vegetation have advanced round us, which is a vital level. And there’s an enormous embedded brown area infrastructure that robots should plug into. However the half that they should plug into is that they should roughly match within the area that people enable for, they usually should have fingers. I name that every one out as a result of we now have a special perspective then I feel a whole lot of the robots that usually began from saying we’re going to work within the residence, which is a really completely different ODD [operational design domain].
However like all these use circumstances that say we’re gonna do every thing a human does. it’s a special ODD and due to this fact it’s gonna result in a special kind issue than in the event you stated, I’m simply gonna be targeted on being a producer.
And really [in an industrial factory] you don’t should cope with stairs, you don’t have carpet to tile transitions, you don’t have to fret about tripping on a cat. You don’t have to fret about stepping on a child. So that you simply have way more pleasant constraints for deployment at scale. And you may map the surroundings, and the surroundings doesn’t change, proper?
The one factor that may change the dynamic can be any interplay with people [in a factory].
Which is a vital level.
That’s why the UI [user interface] is essential. We haven’t proven what it’s gonna appear to be, however I’ll provide the transient [sic]: It must really feel pleasant, as a result of it’s gonna work a very long time with people. However it doesn’t need to really feel dopey and find yourself with a kick me sticker on its again, proper?
Plenty of robotics has additionally gone in direction of these very lean, muscular types that look very Terminator like. I don’t know why. I assume science fiction films or one thing has precipitated the economic design world to try this. There’s a model of robots they usually all type of mix collectively. They’re these very athletic sprinter physique types. I feel there’s a special kind issue that may really feel way more approachable, however not dopey.
I’m beginning to see a thread with what you probably did with Additionally, and your pondering, when it comes to modularity with Thoughts.
A few of that, yeah.
The opposite factor is Rivian. Should you had been to ask any individual in 2018 what a 1,000 horsepower truck seems to be like, and also you squinted, you wouldn’t consider an R1 [truck]. And so, I feel the concept is you’ll be able to have all this functionality, nevertheless it doesn’t should look intimidating or scary. It may be pleasant — it’s a design perception and aesthetic that may carry into robotics as properly.
