Changing how the world farms with autonomous AI tractors
e believe the best companies are built by founders completely obsessed with their customers. We first came across Carbon Robotics through our own obsession: how autonomy, robotics and AI will transform the physical world.
From the outset, Carbon Robotics stood out for its breakout scale and relentless focus on real-world deployment: building machines that work in the field today, not just in the lab. The company is redefining modern agriculture through AI-powered robotics that eliminate one of farming’s most persistent challenges: weeds. Founded in 2018, the company has built the world’s leading laser-based, chemical-free weeding system, combining robotics, computer vision, and deep learning to deliver precision at scale.
Carbon Robotics has shipped more than 150+ machines across North America, Europe, and Australia
Over the course of our partnership, Carbon Robotics has consistently delivered ahead of expectations. The company has scaled from prototype to global commercial leader in just a few years, shipping more than 150+ machines across North America, Europe, and Australia.
The flagship product, the LaserWeeder, uses high-powered lasers and proprietary AI models to identify and eliminate weeds with sub-millimeter accuracy, without chemicals, manual labor or soil disruption. Farmers see payback within one to three years, driven by labour savings, herbicide elimination, and improved yields. As manufacturing has moved in-house, margins have expanded rapidly, reinforcing Carbon’s position as the category’s clear commercial leader.
Carbon is now extending this leadership beyond weeding with the introduction of AutoTractor, its autonomous tractor platform designed to address the next major bottleneck in agriculture: labour scarcity and operational efficiency. AutoTractor enables existing tractors to operate autonomously across key farming tasks, leveraging Carbon’s core autonomy stack, perception systems, and field-proven robotics expertise. By starting with weeding and expanding into full-field autonomy, Carbon is methodically building a broader platform for farm automation, one that compounds customer value and deepens long-term defensibility.
“We chose to partner with Giant because of their focus on climate-relevant deep technology and because the team — especially Zenetta — understands the complexities and importance of bringing robotics and AI together to do physical work in the world. Carbon Robotics is leading the charge to bring technologies that were developed in datacenters to the realities of real world robotics for farming and growing healthy food. Countries around the world are waking up to their need for re-industrialization and food security to ensure a bright future and Carbon Robotics plays a lead role in that transformation. Thank you to Zenetta and Giant for believing as strongly as we do in the mission and in us. ”
This platform vision is powered by an exceptional team with deep technical and operational pedigree. Paul Mikesell previously co-founded Isilon and led it through a $2.5B IPO, before holding senior roles at Uber and Oculus. He is joined by CTO Alexander Sergeev, formerly head of autonomy at Uber and a world-class expert in deep learning. Together, they have built an organization obsessed with farmer outcomes, evidenced by near-zero returns, high repeat purchases, and customers who increasingly act as brand ambassadors.
The impact of Carbon Robotics’ technology extends far beyond farm economics. By eliminating chemical herbicides, each LaserWeeder prevents thousands of gallons of toxic inputs from entering soil and waterways while significantly reducing carbon emissions associated with chemical production and application. As regulators tighten restrictions on herbicides and labour shortages intensify globally, Carbon is delivering a solution that aligns economic performance with environmental stewardship. Precision farming is no longer a future concept, it is a necessity, and Carbon Robotics is setting the gold standard for how automation transforms agriculture.
