Robust AI

⚠ Disclaimer: This entry may be incomplete, out of date, or inaccurate. It is AI-maintained on a best-effort basis. Do not rely on it as a sole source — verify claims independently using the sources listed below.

Summary

Robust AI makes Carter, a Collaborative Mobile Robot (CMR) for warehouse picking and material transport. Carter works alongside human workers without requiring environment modification — no fixed infrastructure, no floor tape, no dedicated lanes. The company was co-founded by Rodney Brooks (co-founder of iRobot and Rethink Robotics; co-inventor of Roomba; former MIT CSAIL chair) and Gary Marcus (cognitive scientist, NYU; CEO; previously founded Geometric Intelligence, acquired by Uber). Robust AI was named to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list in 2026. Manufacturing is via Foxconn partnership.

Key Facts

  • Founded: 2019
  • HQ: San Jose, CA
  • Type: Company — Platform OEM + software platform
  • Status: Active — commercial deployments
  • Value chain position: Platform OEM; software/AI layer (Grace cognitive platform)
  • Key product: Carter — Collaborative Mobile Robot (CMR)
  • Manufacturing partner: Foxconn (announced May 2025)
  • Key customers: DHL Supply Chain (Las Vegas, Latin America), Saddle Creek Logistics
  • Integration partners: SVT Robotics (SOFTBOT connector)
  • Awards: Fast Company Most Innovative Companies 2026; WEF Technology Pioneer 2024

What It Is / How It Works

Carter is explicitly designed as a collaborative mobile robot — not a humanoid, not a traditional AGV with fixed paths. It navigates dynamically alongside human workers, handling material transport and picking support in the same aisles humans use. This is the “collaborative” distinction: Carter can operate in an unmodified warehouse environment, sharing space with people without requiring segregated zones or infrastructure changes.

The underlying platform is Grace, Robust AI’s cognitive robot software. Grace handles navigation, task allocation, and human-robot coordination. The explicit design philosophy (driven by Rodney Brooks’ long history with practical robot deployment at iRobot) is industrial-grade reliability over research-demo impressiveness — Carter does mundane logistics tasks reliably, not impressive but narrow demos.

SVT Robotics integration: Carter connects to WMS systems via SVT Robotics’ SOFTBOT platform, meaning a warehouse deploying Carter alongside other robot vendors can manage all integrations through a single middleware layer rather than custom API work for each system. This is the partnership referenced in Robust AI’s ecosystem positioning.

Foxconn manufacturing: The May 2025 partnership with Foxconn for Carter manufacturing is significant for two reasons: it provides scale production capacity that a startup cannot build independently, and it represents Foxconn diversifying from electronics assembly into robotics manufacturing — a pattern worth tracking.

Notable Developments

  • 2026-03: Named to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2026.
  • 2025-11: Saddle Creek Logistics deploys Carter in Charlotte, NC warehouse.
  • 2025-05: Foxconn manufacturing partnership announced to scale Carter production.
  • 2025-04: Carter platform expanded to multi-function: fulfillment picking + point-to-point transport + mobile sorting wall — three use cases in one platform.
  • 2025: DHL Supply Chain Latin America rollout announced.
  • 2024: WEF Technology Pioneer designation.
  • 2024: DHL Las Vegas facility deployment — reported 60%+ productivity gain within weeks of deployment.
  • 2019: Founded. Gary Marcus and Rodney Brooks co-found with team from SRI International and Alphabet.

Key People

  • Gary Marcus — Co-founder & CEO. Cognitive scientist; Professor at NYU. Previously co-founded Geometric Intelligence (acquired by Uber ATG). Known publicly as an AI skeptic and critic of LLM limitations. LinkedIn: garymarcus
  • Rodney Brooks — Co-founder & CTO. Co-founder of iRobot (Roomba, PackBot) and Rethink Robotics (Baxter, Sawyer cobots). Former Director, MIT CSAIL. Pioneer of behavior-based robotics. IEEE Spectrum profile: Rodney Brooks — Robust AI

⚑ Overlap: Rodney Brooks previously co-founded Rethink Robotics — the company that introduced Baxter and Sawyer cobots to US manufacturing before shutting down in 2018 (assets acquired by HAHN Group). Brooks brings direct experience with the failure modes of prior-generation collaborative robots.

People — Last Reviewed: 2026-06-19

Claim Verification

Claim: 60%+ productivity gain at DHL Las Vegas within weeks

Status: Partially verified

Supporting sources:

Refuting / questioning sources:

  • The 60%+ figure is reported from Robust AI; no independent audit of DHL’s pre/post productivity measurement methodology is publicly available
  • “Within weeks” may reflect initial task scope rather than steady-state productivity across full facility operations

Summary: Credible commercial deployment with named customer; specific productivity figure is company-reported and unaudited.

Sources