Waymo Vets Are Automating Construction Sites With Self-Driving Dirt Diggers

Forbes

Bedrock Robotics, led by a veteran of Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous tech unit, is emerging from stealth with $80 million and plans to make heavy construction equipment work around-the-clock without human operators  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2025/07/16/waymo-vets-are-automating-construction-sites-with-self-driving-dirt-diggers/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Waymo vets are automating construction sites with self-driving dirt diggers.

00:08A team of engineers from self-driving robo-taxi leader Waymo is eyeing another huge market to automate, construction equipment.

00:17Last year, Boris Softman, previously a star engineer at robo-taxi leader Waymo, where he worked to automate trucks,

00:24teamed up with former Waymo colleagues A.J. Gamala and Kevin Peterson, along with engineer Tom Elias, to start Bedrock Robotics.

00:34They're starting with excavators, ubiquitous machines that do the heavy digging.

00:39The San Francisco-based startup isn't designing its own line of construction machinery,

00:44but instead plans to modify existing equipment with cameras, LiDAR, computers, and AI software that enables them to work around the clock,

00:53including in blistering heat when human workers would need regular brakes.

00:58Bedrock, which has also brought on former Uber Freight EVP Laurent Otofeu as COO,

01:05is emerging from stealth with $80 million in new funding and plans to begin commercial operations in 2026.

01:12Softman, the company's CEO who has a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University,

01:18told Forbes that Waymo's success with robo-taxis shows,

01:21The state of technology just being right, where we're seeing it work on one of the hardest applications in the world.

01:28That's exactly the type of building block that catalyzes change.

01:31When you tally up all the ways we use these specialized heavy machines,

01:34it's another one of those transportation-style spaces that is due for a wave of what's happening in transportation.

01:40It's a tricky time for the massive U.S. construction industry.

01:45There's huge demand for new housing, data centers, and factories,

01:49but the Trump administration's tariffs and its aggressive immigration crackdown

01:53are boosting materials costs and exacerbating an already tight supply of skilled workers.

01:58Softman said,

02:00It's this fascinating situation where you have an astronomical macroeconomic tail

02:05and a need to re-industrialize the U.S.

02:08At the same time, the labor pool, even more aggressively than what we saw in trucking,

02:12is going the opposite direction.

02:15Softman isn't yet providing revenue targets, but the market is a big one.

02:19Infrastructure upgrades aided by the passage of Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law,

02:25combined with higher demand for new warehouses, data centers, and factories,

02:29will likely boost U.S. excavator contract revenue to $145 billion this year,

02:35up 2.5%, according to an IBIS World report.

02:39Bedrock isn't sharing a valuation yet, but will likely raise additional funding within a year.

02:44Autonomous excavator testing is underway at bedrock sites in Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas,

02:51and the company plans to expand testing to a customer's worksite next month.

02:56If all goes well, Softman said,

02:58We expect to get the first operator out form in 2026.

03:03Former Waymo CEO John Krafchik, who's invested an undisclosed amount in the startup, said,

03:09AORUS has assembled an extraordinary founding team, many of whom I had the privilege of working with.

03:15It's an exceptional group with the technical depth, grit, and vision to make autonomous construction machines real.

03:22Unlike Waymo or autonomous trucking developer Aurora,

03:25the startup's capital needs are much lower as it's not building or buying fleets of vehicles or a large factory.

03:32And working on private commercial construction sites means bedrock doesn't have to contend with the regulatory challenges

03:38of operating robo-taxis and robotic semis on public roadways.

03:43Speed isn't a factor either, because worksites operate at a human pace.

03:47Softman estimates projects could see at least a 20% reduction in overall costs,

03:52but more importantly, could be completed faster than those using only human workers.

03:58The speed with which Bedrock has gone from concept to testing to planned commercialization

04:03is what appealed to venture firm Eclipse, which led its May 2024 seed round.

04:08The current Series A was led by 8VC.

04:12Additional backers are Two Sigma Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, NVIDIA's InVentures,

04:18Crossbeam Venture Partners, Rain Group, Tishman Spire, Atreides Management,

04:24Alraji Partners, and Samsara Ventures.

04:27For full coverage, check out Alan Owensman's piece on Forbes.com.

04:33This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:35Thanks for tuning in.

04:38Bye.

04:39See you.

04:40Bye.

04:41Bye.

04:42Bye.

04:44Bye.

05:02Bye.

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