Pentagon · Tesla · Elon Musk · TechCrunch AI
The buzzy physical AI sector is filled with robotics and defense tech companies looking for people with a specific set
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As these employees get lured to other sectors, including defense, automakers and startups are being pushed to raise salaries or risk losing the talent to better-paying “physical AI” jobs.
Key facts
- Hermeus, a Los Angeles-based defense startup that is developing unmanned aircraft, raised $350 million with a $1 billion valuation
- Sora Fuel, a sustainable aviation fuel startup based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, raised $14.6 million in a round co-led by Spero Ventures and Inspired Capital, Axios reported
- John Deere reached a $99 million settlement agreement to resolve “right to repair” litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Remember when Elon Musk said a smaller, cheaper $25,000 EV is pointless and silly
Summary
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, how AI is playing a part. Normally, the reporter has an analysis and then a little bird (their insidery bits curated for you). About seven years ago, the founder of a self-driving vehicle company told me that competing with the likes of Waymo for talent was “like a knife fight.” Now it seems there is a new poaching war going on, according to a handful of little birds. Here’s what is happening.