Executive chess dominates the day as Rivian's stealthy Mind Robotics lands a marquee hire, while autonomy stories span Martian mileage, counter-drone interceptors, and the quieter work of stress-testing machines before they meet the real world. There's also a reminder that drones increasingly shape conflict and information both on the battlefield and in simulation.

In today’s roundup

• Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics hires former Ford EV chief Doug Field — TechCrunch Robotics
  Field's resume spanning the Model 3, Apple's car project, and Ford EVs signals Mind Robotics is building serious hardware credibility from day one.
• Laplace Intelligence red-teams robots and self-driving cars before they hit the real world — TechCrunch Robotics
  A profitable Michigan spinout using AI agents to red-team robots in simulation addresses the unglamorous but critical question of catching failures before deployment.
• Powerus unveils Guardian-3 fully autonomous drone interceptor — DroneDJ
  Powerus pushes counter-drone defense toward full autonomy with Guardian-3, reflecting how quickly interceptor systems are racing to keep up with proliferating threats.
• Q&A: Mars Perseverance Rover Distance Record — IEEE Spectrum Robotics
  Perseverance's 28.10-mile odometer reading sets a new Mars record, a quiet testament to incremental autonomous driving on another planet.
• Russian bot farms are still trolling, even after Ukraine’s drone strikes on Yandex — The Verge
  Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian data centers dented but didn't silence disinformation operations, showing the limits of hitting digital infrastructure physically.
• Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics hires Doug Field as president — The Verge
  The Verge frames Field's presidency as a coup for Rivian's secretive robotics venture, underscoring how much talent the humanoid race is now attracting.
• Promise Robotics partners with D.R. Horton on physical AI for homebuilding — The Robot Report
  A multi-year deal with America's largest homebuilder gives Promise Robotics a real path to prove physical AI can scale in construction.
• New drone interceptor takes off like a quadcopter, then flies forward autonomously — Interesting Engineering
  Guardian-3's quadcopter-to-forward-flight transition illustrates the hybrid aerodynamics increasingly needed to chase down fast-moving hostile drones.

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