Latest news with #BorisSofman
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ex-Waymo engineers launch Bedrock Robotics with $80M to automate construction
Bedrock Robotics, an autonomous vehicle technology startup founded by veterans of Waymo and Segment, has been operating quietly for more than a year. Now, it's breaking cover with an $80 million funding round from investors Eclipse and 8VC. Bedrock Robotics is focused on developing a self-driving kit that can be retrofitted to construction and other worksite vehicles, according to the company. The announcement confirms some of TechCrunch's reporting in May. Bedrock is 'upgrading existing fleets with sensors, compute, and intelligence that understands project goals, adapts to changing conditions, and executes work around the clock,' according to a blog post written by co-founder and CEO Boris Sofman. Sofman previously led Waymo's now shuttered self-driving trucks program. But he's perhaps best known for his role as co-founder and CEO of Anki Robotics, which made the popular Cozmo consumer robot, and shut down in 2019. Other co-founders include Waymo veterans Kevin Peterson, who is now CTO, Ajay Gummalla, who is a VP of engineering, and Tom Eliaz, who previously worked at Segment and Twilio, is also a VP of engineering. The company could not be reached for comment. TechCrunch will update this article with new details once Bedrock responds. Bedrock is the latest company to steer engineers who are adept at robotics, autonomy, and AI toward the off-road environment. Several autonomous vehicle startups have popped up in recent years with an aim to apply their self-driving systems to off-road environments, like construction, mining, industrial sites, and even defense. Earlier this week, Pronto, a San Francisco-based startup that has developed a self-driving system designed for haulage trucks and other off-road vehicles used at construction and mining sites, acquired competitor SafeAI. Other startups that play in the fragmented and broad sector of off-road autonomy include Kodiak Robotics, Polymath Robotics, Seattle-based Overland AI, New Brunswick, Canada-based Potential, and more established companies like Forterra. Bedrock said it's focused on construction sites and is testing in Arkansas, Arizona, Texas, and California with four corporations: Sundt Construction, Zachry Construction Corporation, Champion Site Prep Inc., and Capitol Aggregates Inc.
TechCrunch
7 days ago
- Automotive
- TechCrunch
Ex-Waymo engineers launch Bedrock Robotics with $80M to automate construction
Bedrock Robotics, an autonomous vehicle technology startup founded by veterans of Waymo and Segment, has been operating quietly for more than a year. Now, it's breaking cover with an $80 million funding round from investors Eclipse and 8VC. Bedrock Robotics is focused on developing a self-driving kit that can be retrofitted to construction and other worksite vehicles, according to the company. The announcement confirms some of TechCrunch's reporting in May. Bedrock is 'upgrading existing fleets with sensors, compute, and intelligence that understands project goals, adapts to changing conditions, and executes work around the clock,' according to a blog post written by co-founder and CEO Boris Sofman. Sofman previously led Waymo's now shuttered self-driving trucks program. But he's perhaps best known for his role as co-founder and CEO of Anki Robotics, which made the popular Cozmo consumer robot, and shut down in 2019. Other co-founders include Waymo veterans Kevin Petersen, who is now CTO, Ajay Gummalla, who is a VP of engineering, and Tom Eliaz, who previously worked at Segment and Twilio, is also a VP of engineering. The company could not be reached for comment. TechCrunch will update this article with new details once Bedrock responds. Bedrock is the latest company to steer engineers who are adept at robotics, autonomy, and AI toward the off-road environment. Several autonomous vehicle startups have popped up in recent years with an aim to apply their self-driving systems to off-road environments like construction, mining, industrial sites, and even defense. Earlier this week, Pronto, a San Francisco-based startup that has developed a self-driving system designed for haulage trucks and other off-road vehicles used at construction and mining sites, acquired competitor SafeAI. Other startups that play in the fragmented and broad sector of off-road autonomy include Kodiak Robotics, Polymath Robotics, Seattle-based Overland AI, New Brunswick, Canada-based Potential, and more established companies like Forterra. Bedrock said it's focused on construction sites and is testing in Arkansas, Arizona, Texas, and California with five corporations: Sundt Construction, Zachry Construction Corporation, Champion Site Prep Inc., and Capitol Aggregates Inc.
Forbes
16-07-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Waymo Vets Are Automating Construction With Self-Driving Excavators
A team of engineers from self-driving robotaxi leader Waymo is eyeing another huge market to automate: construction equipment. Last year, Boris Sofman, previously a star engineer at robotaxi leader Waymo where he worked to automate trucks, teamed up with former Waymo colleagues Ajay Gummalla and Kevin Peterson, along with Tom Eliaz, founder of data platform Sement that Twilio bought for $3.2 billion, to start Bedrock Robotics. They're starting with excavators, the ubiquitous machines that do the heavy digging. The San Francisco-based startup isn't designing its own line of construction machinery, but instead plans to modify existing equipment with cameras, lidar, computers and AI software that enables them to work around the clock–including in blistering heat when human workers would need regular breaks. Bedrock, which has also brought on former Uber Freight EVP Laurent Hautefeuille as COO, is emerging from stealth with $80 million in new funding and plans to begin commercial operations in 2026. 'It's another one of those transportation-style spaces that is due for a wave of what's happening in transportation.' Waymo's success with robotaxis shows 'the state of technology just being right, where we're seeing it work on one of the hardest applications in the world,' Sofman told Forbes. 'That's exactly the type of building block that catalyzes change. When you tally up all the ways we use these specialized heavy machines, it's another one of those transportation-style spaces that is due for a wave of what's happening in transportation.' It's a tricky time for the massive U.S. construction industry. There's huge demand for new housing, data centers and factories, but the Trump Administration's tariffs and its aggressive immigration crackdown are boosting materials costs and exacerbating an already tight supply of skilled workers. 'It's this fascinating situation where you have an astronomical macroeconomic tail and a need to re-industrialize the U.S.,' Sofman said. 'At the same time, the labor pool, even more aggressively than what we saw in trucking, is going the opposite direction.' He isn't yet providing revenue targets, but the market is a big one. Infrastructure upgrades aided by the passage of Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure law, combined with higher demand for new warehouses, data centers and factories, will likely boost U.S. excavator contract revenue to $145 billion this year, up 2.5%, according to an IBISWorld report. Bedrock isn't sharing a valuation yet but will likely raise additional funding within a year. Autonomous excavator testing is underway at Bedrock's sites in Arizona, Texas and Arkansas, and the company plans to expand testing to a customer's work site next month. If all goes well, 'we expect to get the first operator-out form in 2026,' said CEO Sofman, who has a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. Bedrock engineers review work site data. Bedrock Robotics 'Boris has assembled an extraordinary founding team, many of whom I had the privilege of working with,' said former Waymo CEO John Krafcik, who's invested an undisclosed amount in the startup. 'It's an exceptional group with the technical depth, grit and vision to make autonomous construction machines real.' Unlike Waymo or autonomous trucking developer Aurora, the startup's capital needs are much lower as it's not building or buying fleets of vehicles or a large factory. And working on private commercial construction sites means Bedrock doesn't have to contend with the regulatory challenges of operating robotaxis and robotic semis on public roadways. Speed isn't a factor either, because work sites operate at a human pace. Sofman estimates projects could see at least a 20% reduction in labor costs, but more importantly, could be completed faster than those using only human workers. Labor Shortage There's already a shortfall of laborers to replace the approximately 500,000 people a year who are aging out or retiring, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors trade association. At the same time, Trump's 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum and his threat to boost the tariff on Canadian lumber to 35% are raising costs across the board. 'We're not instantly going from people to no people. I don't think anybody thinks that's a reality of what could happen.' The full impact of the current immigration crackdown isn't yet clear, though 34% of construction trades workers in 2023 were foreign-born, nearly double the 18% rate among all workers, said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America trade group, citing U.S. census data. Still, the portion of immigrant workers is lower for skilled trades that require certification, like excavator operation, he said. Given the shortage, the technology isn't likely to kill jobs but instead allow human crews to do everything more efficiently, said Eric Cylwik, director of innovation for Sundt Construction, an Arizona-based firm that's helping Bedrock develop and test its tech, along with Texas-based Zachry Construction and Champion Site Prep. 'We're not instantly going from people to no people. I don't think anybody thinks that's a reality of what could happen,' he said. Instead, Bedrock's tech will enable Sundt and its competitors to do things like more overnight work, where robotic excavators could complete boring, repetitive site preparation tasks like loading dump trucks with dirt and allow human workers to focus on things like pipe installation. It could also help aid crews at remote work sites, 'where we can't get enough operators for the equipment we want to deploy,' Cylwik said. Bedrock isn't saying how much it will charge to upfit complex digging machines like excavators that cost $500,000 new, though its ability to modify existing equipment with autonomous capabilities is extremely appealing to companies like Sundt. 'It's nice because it works across our entire fleet, and it can be done for a fraction of the cost of buying a brand new excavator,' Cylwik said. Bedrock's lidar system can precisely measure how much dirt is moved with each scoop. Bedrock Robotics Laser lidar, which can instantly create 3D images of the world, even at high speeds, is critical for safe driving on the road. On a construction site, it's able to map ground conditions in detail and precisely measure how many cubic yards of dirt are removed with each scoop of the excavator, essential information for contractors. For some projects, 'we have to have a registered land surveyor come out and quantify how much earth we move every time we go for a payout,' Cylwik said. 'With a system like this, we can say every single day exactly how much earth every piece of equipment moved,' which affects how quickly Sundt gets paid. 'There are some deep-seated impacts on the business of construction by being able to analyze that much data that quickly.' The speed with which Bedrock has gone from concept to testing to planned commercialization is what appealed to venture firm Eclipse, which co-led its May 2024 seed round and current Series A with 8VC. Additional backers are Two Sigma Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Nvidia's NVentures, Crossbeam Venture Partners, Raine Group, Tishman Speyer, Atreides Management, Al Rajhi Partners and Samsara Ventures. 'It's an absolute whirlwind,' said Eclipse partner Aidan Madigan-Curtis. 'The company started in May [2024] and they already had something working autonomously at their test site by early November. It's kind of bananas. They're now doing [human] operator-out, full autonomous excavation at their test site, and they're going to be doing that at a customer site next month.' 'We're not competing with Caterpillar and trying to make machines. We're trying to make machines more intelligent.' They've also targeted an industry with little to no initial competition. Leading equipment manufacturers such as Caterpillar and John Deere are moving into automation with robotic mining trucks and tractors, but they haven't focused on things like excavators, wheel-loaders and dumptrucks that are vital to commercial construction. Before Bedrock, 'there have been zero opportunities to test out [automated] construction equipment,' Cylwik said. CEO and cofounder Boris Sofman Bedrock Robotics Asking why Caterpillar and Deere haven't created competing robotic solutions for construction is like asking why BMW didn't create Waymo, Sofman said. 'The mechanics of what they've designed is magical. These are such incredible machines, and the fact that they operate so reliably and so thoughtfully in such difficult environments is a marvel, but it's a different DNA than the sort that you need to build out a machine learning team.' Instead, he's hopeful Bedrock will partner with those companies. 'We're not competing with Caterpillar and trying to make machines. We're trying to make machines more intelligent,' he said. 'It becomes a very complementary element to the whole ecosystem where Caterpillar and Deere machines become more intelligent, the general contractors and subcontractors can do much more work, more productively with a higher margin–and the whole society benefits because more work gets done and prices become a lot more attainable.' More from Forbes Forbes This AI Founder Became A Billionaire By Building ChatGPT For Doctors By Amy Feldman Forbes Inside The Waymo Factory Building A Robotaxi Future By Alan Ohnsman Forbes Forget Tesla. Amazon's Zoox Is On Track To Be Waymo's Biggest Robotaxi Rival By Alan Ohnsman
Axios
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- Axios
Frontline work is evolving — here's how autonomy fits in
Artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomy are already reshaping frontline work, making operations safer, faster and more resilient. Why it's important: Physical operations — the industries that move goods, build infrastructure and power daily life — are facing rising risks and shrinking workforces. The American Trucking Association (ATA) estimates a shortage of 60,000 drivers today — a number projected to reach 160,000 by 2030 if current trends continue. Meanwhile, the frontline workforce is aging, and new talent is scarce. About a quarter of these truck drivers are over 55-years-old and only about 12% are under 25-years-old. Warehouse labor is under similar strain: dangerous, physically demanding jobs are increasingly hard to fill. What this means: Organizations need smarter, safer, more scalable ways to deliver essential services — especially as customer expectations for speed and affordability continue to rise. 🤖 Here's the deal: Advances in autonomous technology are unlocking safer workplaces, filling labor gaps and boosting operational efficiency. "Some of these innovations are actually pretty expansionary," autonomous leader and expert Boris Sofman explains. "If you relieve some of these constraints [i.e., labor shortages], the actual market size skyrockets — and you get gigantic secondary effects with new jobs created around it." What you need to know: Samsara, a leader in connected operations, is helping customers use real-time data and AI to improve safety and scale emerging technologies like autonomy. Trained on more than 14 trillion data points globally, Samsara's AI powers smarter, data-driven decisions — from real-time coaching to predictive maintenance and crash prevention. "I think this idea of autonomy being another tool in the toolkit, helping operations continue to run smoothly as demand continues to scale, is going to be the key," says Samsara's CEO and Co-Founder Sanjit Biswas. "It's an and, not an or." How it's done: At a recent Samsara-hosted panel, customers and industry leaders discussed how autonomy is already strengthening frontline operations — not in theory, but in the real world. 🚛 On the road: Gatik, a leader in middle-mile autonomous logistics, is deploying fully autonomous trucks to handle repeatable routes between distribution hubs and retail locations. By focusing on fixed operation, they've scaled autonomy faster while achieving rigorous third-party safety validation. "For us, it was really important to start with the customer pain point and then build the technology or the solution," says Gautam Narang, CEO and Co-Founder of Gatik. 👷 In warehouses: ArcBest, an integrated logistics company, is transforming warehouse labor by combining autonomy with teleoperations. Employees now operate forklifts remotely via game controllers — reducing injuries and expanding access to a broader labor pool. "Our approach has been to allow autonomy for the things that robots are really good at (i.e., navigating around the facility) but leverage remote operations for the things that humans are really good at, such as complex tasks," says Jefferson Maldonado, Director of Robotics and Automation at ArcBest. 🤝 Okay, but: Scaling autonomy safely requires more than just machines — it demands orchestration across diverse technologies, teams and operations. Samsara's CPO Kiren Sekar emphasizes: "No one company will be able to do it all. The idea of open partnerships and being able to integrate these systems is really important for effectiveness as well as safety." The company's open platform brings data from IoT devices, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), robotics companies, and more — creating a real-time view of operations The impact: Once systems are connected, autonomy opens new ways of operating: avoiding traffic, shifting deliveries to off-peak hours, lowering emissions and rethinking how — and where — frontline work gets done. "That requires orchestration and coordination," says Sekar. "And that's the place that Samsara plays — as that data platform connecting everyone together." Here's how: Through a unified platform, Samsara gives organizations the tools to: Strengthen safety with AI-powered dash cams, behavior analytics and real-time coaching — with many of Samsara's customers seeing up to a 50% drop in accident-related costs. Boost visibility with real-time asset tracking, diagnostics and predictive maintenance across fleets, equipment and facilities. Seamlessly integrate autonomous and human-driven systems into one operational view — enabling autonomy to scale safely and incrementally. The results: By connecting data, people and systems, Samsara helps organizations scale autonomy where it makes sense — without losing the human expertise that drives frontline success. 👀 Looking ahead: Full autonomy won't happen all at once, but change is accelerating. Companies that start building a connected, intelligent foundation today will be the ones best positioned to adapt and lead. The takeaway: Scaling autonomy isn't about replacing workers — it's about empowering them. Removing the most dangerous, dull or difficult parts of frontline jobs and paving the way for safer roads, stronger supply chains and better jobs.
