Bedrock Robotics: deploying autonomous equipment for the built world. Bessemer Venture Partners joins Bedrock Robotics' $600M Series C to scale the use of autonomous machinery across U.S. construction sites. Earlier this fall, we flew to Austin, TX to watch an excavator dig and saw Bedrock Robotics in action. Two CAT 352s, which are among the most difficult machines on a construction job site to operate, were moving earth on their own. No one in the cab; just an excavator loading a human-driven dump truck governed by a safety system built by the same people who did this at Waymo. The excavator even honked at the driver when it was done, yet nobody at Bedrock had programmed that behavior. It emerged from Bedrock's Operator model trained on human operator hours doing the same job. Bedrock is expanding the deployment of this technology to scale autonomous construction equipment across commercial sites in America. Bessemer is proud to join this $600 million Series C to partner with a team that has already made autonomous vehicles work in the real world before. Following our investment in Waymo earlier this year, we began roadmapping off-road autonomy as it was clear that AI had reached the point where true autonomy was viable for off-road vehicles, particularly in construction. Bedrock, in particular, started with the hardest machine - the excavator - and officially achieved its "operator out" milestone this summer. The team behind the machine is why we believe they got here. CEO Boris Sofman led trucking at Waymo, and CTO Kevin Peterson founded Marble, the autonomous sidewalk delivery company acquired by Caterpillar before he later joined Waymo himself. COO Laurent Hautefeuille came from Uber Freight and brings the commercial hustle that technically excellent autonomy teams often lack. More than half of Bedrock's engineering team hails from Waymo, and the company is advised by former CEO of Waymo, John Krafcik. Bessemer's why now for Bedrock. Construction is a $2.2 trillion annual market in the U.S., with more than $200 billion a year spent on manually operating equipment. That work is becoming structurally difficult to staff. 88% of construction firms report difficulties filling open positions, and roughly half of the current trades workforce is expected to retire within 5-7 years. With that shortage comes the largest private infrastructure buildout in modern American history. Data center projects are consuming capacity faster than the industry can supply, and construction restraints are part of the reason why. For Bedrock's customers, autonomy isn't primarily a cost story. It's the difference between bidding a project and passing on it. Rather than waiting on OEM factory integration, Bedrock retrofits existing machines with a kit that installs within a couple of hours, makes no permanent modifications, and is fully reversible. This kind of agnostic solution is key since jobsites run mixed fleets, and no single OEM serves all of them. Bedrock's stack also powers a visibility layer that gives contractors real-time data on cycle times, productivity, and safety events across equipment that isn't yet autonomous. Building in the physical world takes real time and capital, but we're excited to partner with a rare team equipped to convert the demand and its technical lead into an enduring company. Congrats to Boris, Kevin, Tom, Ajay, Laurent, and the entire Bedrock team on this groundbreaking milestone!

Bedrock Robotics has raised a $600 million Series C at a $4.1 billion post-money valuation. CapitalG and Emergence Capital co-led the round, bringing the San Francisco company's total funding to nearly $1 billion. New investors include US Innovative Technology Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Temasek. Existing backers 8VC, Georgian, Valor Equity Partners, and NVIDIA also took part. The startup, founded in 2024 by former Waymo engineers, retrofits existing heavy equipment with autonomous systems. In mid-August 2026, its fully autonomous excavators began paid work on live commercial job sites. It has more than doubled its customer volume since 2025. Contractor Haydon is deploying the technology at a Texas site. Bedrock will use the funds to expand deployments across the US.

TechCrunch Mobility: Rivian's next act | TechCrunch. Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, the role AI is playing in it. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free - just click TechCrunch Mobility! As I wrapped my TechCrunch Disrupt interview with Rivian CEO and founder RJ Scaringe, I kept circling back to one question: What does Scaringe want Rivian to become? If you look at Rivian's moves over the past year, it's clear that Scaringe wants the company to be much more than an EV maker. But he doesn't want to stray completely from that mission either. Rivian is far more vertically integrated than it was just a couple of years ago. It has developed its own AI models to power its in-vehicle assistant and is building an end-to-end automated driving stack for its passenger vehicles and future robotaxis through a partnership with Uber. It's even developing custom silicon, a 5 nm processor in collaboration with Arm and TSMC. And then there is its $5.8 billion joint technology venture with VW Group focused on electric architecture and software. Scaringe's ambitions extend beyond Rivian as well, although there is always a link back. He created a micromobility skunkworks program that has since spun out into a startup called Also. And he founded an industrial robotics startup called Mind Robotics, which is now 31% owned by Rivian and counts the automaker as a prospective customer. (Scaringe announced onstage that former Ford, Apple, and Tesla executive Doug Field has been hired as president of Mind Robotics.) Scaringe's aspirations were on display as he talked of not only expanding the joint venture with VW to cover AI and autonomy, but also licensing Rivian's tech to "many different brands." So what does Rivian look like at the end of the decade? Certainly not just a maker of electric trucks and SUVs. The term I kept coming back to was "tech supplier." Hear me out. Rivian is clearing a path toward licensing its electric architecture and software as well as its AI models and autonomy stack. Meanwhile, the Mind Robotics startup it partially owns is building industrial robots to not only be used in Rivian factories, but also sold to other companies. Then there's the robotaxi business. A successful launch with Uber could open the door to more deals. And Scaringe is already imagining how autonomy could reshape Rivian's own vehicles. "Where it gets really interesting is then you think beyond R2 and R3 and start to imagine the form factors that you want to build for a personally owned autonomous vehicle. You know, it opens up all kinds of design opportunities. It can create dramatically different experiences," he said in an interview with TechCrunch. "I'm wildly excited about what the next 10 years look like in transportation because of what this enables us to dream and think about." Deals! Bedrock Robotics, a startup developing autonomous driving tech for construction vehicles, is raising $600 million, Axios reported, citing sources. Dot Ai completed its acquisition of electric vehicle car-sharing business Envoy Technologies in a $65 million all-stock transaction, according to a regulatory filing. Evos, a startup that developed AI agents to automate work for industrial businesses, including freight brokerages, raised $9 million in a pre-seed round co-led by Uncork Capital and Field Ventures. Mana Battery, a Colorado-based startup developing anode-free sodium batteries, raised $10.15 million in a round led by Voyager Ventures. PlusAI, the autonomous trucking developer, and Texas Ventures Acquisition III filed a Form S-4 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission - advancing its previously announced agreement to go public via a merger with a blank-check company. Volvo is leveling up its automated driving system through an expansion of its nearly decade-long partnership with Nvidia. Neither company shared financial terms of the deal. The automaker plans to use a trio of Nvidia products to be able to offer hands-free, point-to-point driving on highways and surface streets. Waabi, a startup developing self-driving trucks, landed a commercial partnership with carrier Warrior Logistics. Under the deal, Waabi's self-driving trucks will move freight between Dallas and Houston. Notable reads and other tidbits. Electric vehicle sales in the United States are showing signs of life. Laplace Intelligence, one of 20 startups that competed in TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield 200, is building automated red-teaming that stress-tests robots and self-driving cars. MIT startup LNK Energies says it has created a way to convert existing heavy-duty trucks from diesel to hydrogen, slashing pollution and costs while shielding operators from price spikes. The Paris Auto Show puts Chinese cars on center stage. Tesla showcased its SpaceX-powered Roadster with a theatrical kickflip stunt. The Roadster used a mix of high-powered fans and thrusters to drive up an inverted ramp, spin around, and stick a landing on the pavement below. CEO Elon Musk claims the vehicle will be on the road by 2028. But will future owners be allowed to legally deploy these maneuvers on public streets? I don't see how. Waymo is expanding into Canada - specifically, Toronto - after receiving approval to participate in an automated vehicle pilot program. Waymo has also opened up its robotaxi service to everyone, meaning no more waitlists, in San Antonio, San Diego, and Tampa. One more thing... TechCrunch reporter Tim De Chant recently test drove the 2026Porsche Macan Turbo EV. His week with the EV has him questioning what a sports car is supposed to be. Read the full review. When you purchase through links in its articles, Egerin Inc. may earn a small commission. This doesn't affect its editorial independence. Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch's Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, "The Autonocast." She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive. You can contact or verify outreach from Kirsten by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at kkorosec.07 on Signal.