A humanoid industrial robot is on display at the Humanoid Robot Data Training Center in Shougang Park in Beijing, China, on March 27, 2025.
VCG | China News Service | Getty Images
PARK CITY, Utah — Rivian Automotive CEO RJ Scaringe envisions a day in the not-too-distant future when the electric car maker’s manufacturing workforce will have a new type of colleague: a humanoid robot.
“Thousands of people are going to be collaborating with these robots. They’re going to be taking pictures saying, ‘Hey, look at this! My colleague’s name is Phil, and he’s a robot,'” Scaringe said at a media event for the launch of the Rivian R2 EV.
The 43-year-old car enthusiast and technology entrepreneur founded a robotics company called Mind Robotics last year. Scaringe said the company has raised more than $1 billion.
Humanoid robots are designed to be shaped and move like humans. Artificial intelligence algorithms power their capabilities along with complex hardware such as semiconductors. While proponents say they can be used in a variety of settings, from factories to hospitality to even homes, others have expressed concern that the devices will replace human jobs.
Scaringe said the company plans to introduce its first product within a year, with Rivian as a majority shareholder and launch customer. Mind currently has about 20 job openings, ranging from software and hardware engineers to data architects, according to the company’s website.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, who founded Mind Robotics late last year, speaks with the media at the R2 electric SUV launch event in Utah on June 3, 2026.
Michael Weiland/CNBC
Scaringe, Mind’s executive chairman and acting chief executive officer, told CNBC that the automaker plans to separate the robot company from Rivian rather than partially transition to making humanoid robots. tesla CEO Elon Musk does it at his own company.
“We have a deep relationship, and that’s really how we built our relationship,” Scaringe said in an interview. “An important part of building the business was being able to spend time on both.”
The robot strategy adds to the narrative that Scaringe is doing things differently than Musk, despite obvious similarities within the company. There were even comparisons, with Rivian being called the “anti-Tesla” and Scaringe the “anti-Elon.”
“I think there’s a lot of agreement there, and obviously I’m biased, but I think they’re right… that autonomy is a very important technology,” Scaringe said of Tesla and Rivian. “But in many ways, they couldn’t be more different when it comes to the products.”
So far, however, Rivian and Mind have been supporting each other, much like Musk’s company has done during the development stage. These include Mr. Musk’s xAI company merging with SpaceX ahead of Friday’s record initial public offering, and SpaceX’s purchase of vehicles from Tesla.
Scaringe said Rivian will be a “huge beneficiary” for Mind, which uses Rivian data to train AI models. Along with its stake in Rivian, the automaker becomes Mind’s first robot customer.
“We realized this was a tremendous opportunity that merited becoming an independent company,” Scaringe said. He said he believes there is an addressable market for industrial workers totaling trillions of dollars.
A Tesla Optimus robot hands out candy in front of the Nasdaq Market in New York, USA, on Monday, October 27, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Scaringe was visibly excited when speaking to the media about the possibilities of AI and humanoid robotics, calling it “probably one of the most exciting times in human history.”
“A hundred years from now, they’re going to be taking over the work that we’ve been doing our whole lives, so I think we’re really lucky to be alive at the birth of AI,” Scaringe said.
Despite his optimism about humanoid robots, Scaringe said it will be “a long time” before auto assembly plants become so-called “black factories” run almost entirely by robots, and he expects these machines to work alongside humans, rather than completely replacing them, in the foreseeable future.
“What I see is that the simplest tasks are going to be taken on by robots. The more complex tasks that require higher-level reasoning and more complex, tactile levels of dexterity are going to be done by (humans),” he said.
Scaringe said the manufacturer is dealing with “extreme labor shortages” from other automakers. Rivian currently has more than 30 manufacturing and engineering job openings, according to the company’s website.
Scaringe believes that the need for such workers and the rapid development of AI will lead to human employees working alongside robots named Phil much sooner than expected.
“The rate of change is much faster than I can say, and an order of magnitude faster than the average person in society realizes,” he said. “Getting the average person to understand how quickly models learn and their ability to do almost anything will be a particularly big challenge in the short term.”
—CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.
