CategoryTrucks
Appears inLogistics robots
Overview
American autonomous-trucking company (Nasdaq: KDK), founded 2018 by Don Burnette (ex-Otto/Uber). Developer of the Kodiak Driver (L4). Runs customer-owned driverless trucks up to 24/7 hauling frac sand for Atlas Energy in the Permian Basin, and is targeting on-highway long-haul driverless freight in the second half of 2026. Went public via the Ares Acquisition Corp II SPAC in September 2025 and rebranded from Kodiak robotics to Kodiak AI.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 13 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Valuation of record
DEPLOY VERIFIEDPriced roundPIPE post-money
Key facts
Founded
Public
Driverless commercial
Q1 2026
Next
CEO
SPAC merger
Key customers
First customer-owned driverless fleet
Data & sources
Company filings
2
Press releases
2
News coverage
5
Web sources
3
12 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (2)
View all models →Current platform
Kodiak Driver
Autonomous driving system (retrofit kit + compute stack) for Class 8 semi-trucks; LiDAR + radar + camera sensor fusion.
Current platform
Kodiak RoboTruck
Kodiak's autonomous Class 8 truck (the RoboTruck), running the Kodiak Driver on a Peterbilt/PACCAR base (a driverless electric Class 8 variant was also introduced in 2023). Operates driverless commercially in the Permian oilfield and is the platform for the on-highway long-haul product targeted for H2 2026.
Partnerships
Every company Kodiak AI has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1U.S. Marine Corps2× joint
- 2Atlas Energy Solutions1× joint
- 3Bosch1× joint
- 4DriveOhio1× joint
- 5DTL Transport1× joint
- 6General Dynamics Land Systems1× joint3 total
Most recent
- with Atlas Energy Solutionsoperating
- Kodiak AI x DriveOhio2026-04-21with DriveOhiooperating
- with General Dynamics Land Systemsjust announced
- Kodiak AI x USMC (ROGUE-Fires)2026-02-11with U.S. Marine Corpsjust announced
- Kodiak AI x USMC (ROGUE-Fires Autonomy)2026-02-11with U.S. Marine Corpsjust announced
Kodiak AI on the deployment map
View the global map13 verified deployments across 7 regions, newest verified Apr 2026. Explore where Kodiak AI's robots are operating, by place and type.
- pilotKodiak Driver at Ohio-Indiana I-70 Corridor, USA →Midwest · verified Apr 2026
- operationalKodiak RoboTruck at Permian Basin, Texas, USA →Southwest · verified Mar 2026
- operationalKodiak RoboTruck at Florida (10 Roads), USA →Southeast · verified Jan 2026
- pilotKodiak RoboTruck at Dallas-Oklahoma City Corridor, USA →Southwest · verified Jan 2026
- operationalKodiak RoboTruck at Dallas-Atlanta Corridor, USA →Colorado · verified Jan 2026
- announcedKodiak Driver at California →West Coast · verified Jun 2025
- pilotKodiak RoboTruck at United States →United States · verified Jan 2025
- operationalKodiak Driver at Permian Basin, Texas, USA →Southwest · verified Dec 2024
- operationalKodiak RoboTruck at Texas →Southwest · verified Dec 2024
- scaledKodiak Driver at Permian Basin, Texas, USA →Southwest · verified Jun 2024
- operationalKodiak Driver at Texas →Southwest · verified Jun 2024
- pilotKodiak Driver at Dallas →verified Jan 2022
View the full Kodiak AI deployment record →
Relationships
Explainers
Plain-language answers to the questions people ask about Kodiak AI, from DEPLOY’s explainer library. Each is written in the language of the question and cross-checked against this registry.
What is Aurora and how does its autonomous trucking work?
How do Bot Auto, Kodiak, and Einride compare for self-driving trucking?
Current leadership (6)
- Don Burnette Founder & CEO, Co-founder & CEOsecondary-verified
- Surajit Datta Chief Financial Officersecondary-verified
- Andreas Wendel Chief Technology Officersecondary-verified
- Michael Wiesinger Chief Operating Officersecondary-verified
- Jordan Coleman Chief Legal & Policy Officersecondary-verified
- Paz Eshel Co-founder & Presidentsince 2018-01-01secondary-verified
ArrivalsAndreas Wendel from Waymo
DeparturesAndreas Wendel to Waymo
Founders (2)
- Don Burnettecofounderfounded 2018-01-01
later founded Kodiak Robotics, Otto
- Paz Eshelcofounderfounded 2018-01-01
Board (7)
- James Reed chair
- Don Burnette director
- Mo Elshenawy director
- Kenneth Goldman director
- Allyson Satin director
- Kristin Sverchek director
- Scott Tobin director
Former / Previously (1)
- Paz Eshel Co-founder & former COOsecondary-verified
Safety record
No incidents on record for Kodiak AI.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operator customers (2)
- Kodiak AI13 deployments
- Kodiak Robotics2 deployments
Brains developed (1)
- Kodiak Driverfoundation-model · commercial
Recent coverage
Kodiak AI in third-party press
Peers
94 peers across 2 segments. Every Kodiak AI competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
av(88)
57 companies in this segment · highly_concentrated (HHI 4969.122215850638) · leader Waymo at 6990%
- Aurora Innovationdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- AutoXdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Avridedirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Baidudirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Bot Autodirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Caterpillardirect competitor(inferred)strong
autonomous vehicle(6)
- Aurora Innovationdirect competitor(reported)strong
- Plusdirect competitor(reported)strong
- Einrideadjacent competitor(reported)moderate
- Embark Trucksdirect competitor(reported)moderate
- Gatikadjacent competitor(reported)moderate
- Nuroadjacent competitor(reported)moderate
Mentioned on (20)
Registry pages whose text names Kodiak AI.
Companies (3)
Kodiak Robotics, General Dynamics Land Systems, General Dynamics
Robots and products (1)
AI systems (1)
Supplied by (4)
Sensors
- Oustercompany-levelOuster digital LiDAR sensors on Kodiak autonomous trucks (Texas testing adoption; not a disclosed multi-year contract)suppliesclaimed
- Hesai Technologycompany-levelTwo Hesai 360-degree LiDAR sensors integrated into Kodiak Driver mirror pods on autonomous truckssupplies
- Robert Boschvia Kodiak RoboTruckBosch Radar Gen 7 Premium + cameras + embedded computing systems + braking/steering redundancy platform (multi-component AV hardware suite; Bosch Radar Gen 7 detects objects >200m; multi-year scaling agreement, CES 2026)supplies
- Robert Boschvia Kodiak DriverBosch automotive-grade cameras, radar sensors, and vehicle actuation hardware (steering) -- sensor suite for Kodiak Driver SensorPod autonomous platformsupplies
Inbound supply edges feeding this company directly or via the models it owns. Same source bar as the outbound view (verified against at least two strong sources).
Financial state
- Total funding
- $265.0M
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships
8 total · 3 operating · 5 just announced · 1 ended
Every company Kodiak AI has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- with Atlas Energy Solutionsoperating
- Kodiak AI x DriveOhio2026-04-21with DriveOhiooperating
- with General Dynamics Land Systemsjust announced
- Kodiak AI x USMC (ROGUE-Fires)2026-02-11with U.S. Marine Corpsjust announced
- Kodiak AI x USMC (ROGUE-Fires Autonomy)2026-02-11with U.S. Marine Corpsjust announced
Most-frequent partners
- 1U.S. Marine Corps2× joint
- 2Atlas Energy Solutions1× joint
- 3Bosch1× joint
- 4DriveOhio1× joint
- 5DTL Transport1× joint
- 6General Dynamics Land Systems1× joint3 total
All 8 partnerships
open in the atlas →- Kodiak AI x Atlas Energy Solutions (Driverless Fleet Expansion to 100 Trucks)withAtlas Energy Solutionsdeployment2026-07-31operating
- technology2026-03-24just announced
- manufacturing2026-01-05operating
- Kodiak x USMC (ROGUE-Fires Autonomy)withUS Marine Corpsdeployment2026-01-01just announced
- Kodiak AI x DTL Transport (75 driverless trucks)withDTL Transportdeployment—announcedjust announced
- Kodiak AI x USMC (ROGUE-Fires)withU.S. Marine Corpsdeployment2026-02-11announcedjust announced
Funding rounds (3)
Kodiak AI’s 3 disclosed rounds, $265M in total, oldest to newest.
- PIPE2026-05-07
$100M · $500M post
- Series B2021-11-01
$125M(reported)
Investors: BMW i Ventures, LG Technology Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund (lead)
- Series A2018-08-01
$40M(reported)
Investors: Breakthrough Energy Ventures (lead)
Timeline
Every recorded move in Kodiak AI’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
ArrivalAndreas Wendel joins
2026-08-23Andreas Wendel joined from Waymo
DepartureAndreas Wendel departs
2026-08-23Andreas Wendel left to join Waymo
PartnershipKodiak AI x Atlas Energy Solutions (Driverless Fleet Expansion to 100 Trucks)
2026-07-31Atlas Energy Solutions expanded its Kodiak-powered driverless truck fleet to a second simultaneous load-out point along its 42-mile Dune Express sand conveyor system in the Permian Basin. The companies agreed to scale from 28 driverless trucks to 100 autonomous delivery trucks by mid-2027, with trucks now operating concurrently in Texas and New Mexico.
New supplierNew supplier: Ouster
2026-06-27Supply: Ouster digital LiDAR sensors on Kodiak autonomous trucks (Texas testing adoption; not a disclosed multi-year contract) from Ouster
New supplierNew supplier: Hesai Technology
2026-06-27Supply: Two Hesai 360-degree LiDAR sensors integrated into Kodiak Driver mirror pods on autonomous trucks from Hesai Technology
Funding roundPIPE funding round
2026-05-07PIPE raising $100000000
PartnershipKodiak AI x DriveOhio
2026-04-21Kodiak AI completed autonomous truck deployment in Ohio along Interstate 70 in partnership with DriveOhio, marking its first operational deployment outside the Sunbelt. The program included on-road demonstrations and controlled testing at the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty.
PartnershipKodiak AI x USMC (ROGUE-Fires Autonomy)
2026-02-11The U.S. Marine Corps awarded Kodiak AI a contract to integrate the Kodiak Driver autonomous driving system into the Marine Corps' Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary Fires (ROGUE-Fires) carrier ground vehicle. The system will demonstrate autonomous operations for distributed maritime operations and sea denial in the Indo-Pacific. Kodiak previously received a 0M Army RCV contract in 2022.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJul 23, 2026
Kodiak autonomous truck
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
Kodiak Leads the Way: Driverless Trucks Redefining Transportation
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
Kodiak is ready to launch autonomous operations between Dallas and...
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 7, 2026
Kodiak SensorPod Swap vs. Tire Change at 5x
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Kodiak 2024 recap
Sources (12)
- https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/07/self-driving-truck-startup-kodiak-robotics-raises-40-million/
- https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/07/kodiak-ai-self-driving-truck-startup-don-burnette-paz-eshel-fundraise.html
- https://kodiak.ai/company
- https://www.therobotreport.com/kodiak-robotics-autonomous-trucking-developer-goes-public-via-spac/
- https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/14/autonomous-trucking-startup-kodiak-robotics-to-go-public-via-spac/
- https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001853138/000119312525079657/d948522dex991.htm
- https://investors.kodiak.ai/news-releases/news-release-details/kodiak-completes-business-combination-ares-acquisition
- https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001853138/000119312525202878/d945093dex991.htm
- https://www.ttnews.com/articles/autonomous-kodiak-goes-public
- https://www.freightwaves.com/news/kodiak-ai-now-a-public-company-looks-to-deliver-an-autonomous-trucking-future
- https://www.freightwaves.com/news/kodiak-ai-q1-2026-earnings-28-driverless-trucks
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/07/kodiak-ai-raises-100m-at-a-steep-discount-sending-its-stock-tumbling-37/
Common questions
What is Kodiak AI?
What does Kodiak AI make?
Is Kodiak AI publicly traded?
Who competes with Kodiak AI?
Who is the CEO of Kodiak AI?
How can I invest in Kodiak AI?
Where is Kodiak AI headquartered?
How much funding has Kodiak AI raised?
Where does Kodiak AI operate robots?
How many robots has Kodiak AI deployed?
Is Kodiak AI a top robotics company?
When was Kodiak AI founded?
Is Kodiak AI safe?
Methodology: Verified · 12 sources (4 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-22
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-22
Sources by quality tier
- 3
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
- 3
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 2
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
- 2
- primary-sec-filing
- SEC filing
- 1
- secondary-established-publication
- Established publication
- 1
- secondary-trade-publication
- Trade publication
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Kodiak AI.Peer companies
- Waymo5 models
- Tesla4 models
- Volvo Autonomous Solutions4 models
- Aurora Innovation3 models
- Plus3 models
- Caterpillar2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Kodiak AI from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Fresno carrier DTL to run 75 Kodiak driverless trucks
DTL Transport signed a binding deal to put the Kodiak Driver in 75 trucks it owns and operates, starting on Dallas-El Paso and Dallas-Atlanta lanes Kodiak has tested. The post…
Kodiak AI and DTL to Deploy Driverless Trucks Across Sun Belt
Kodiak AI, Inc. has announced a new agreement with DTL Transport Inc. (DTL) to deploy Kodiak Driver, Kodiak’s autonomous driving system, in a set of 75 driverless trucks both…
Kodiak AI, DTL Transport Sign Deal for 75 Driverless Trucks
Insider Brief Kodiak AI and DTL Transport have signed a binding agreement to deploy Kodiak’s autonomous-driving system on 75 driverless trucks owned and operated by the California…
California fleet to deploy 75 Kodiak Driver-equipped trucks
DTL Transport will own and operate the trucks and will deploy the autonomous system as part of the Driver-as-a-Service (DAAS...
Stoneridge, Kodiak AI partner to integrate MirrorEye camera mirrors into autonomous trucks
Stoneridge and Kodiak AI have partnered to integrate Stoneridge's MirrorEye camera monitor system into autonomous commercial trucks...
Kodiak lands first commercial deal to supply driverless trucks for public highways
The deal with DTL Transport puts it on a path to become an an asset-light tech supplier, rather than owner and operator.
Kodiak AI, Charger Logistics launch autonomous Laredo lane
Kodiak AI and cross-border carrier Charger Logistics are hauling CPG and food and beverage freight between Dallas and Laredo, Texas, with driverless operations planned after the…
Kodiak AI and Charger USA open Dallas-Laredo autonomy lane
Kodiak AI is moving autonomous trucking onto cross-border trade lanes, where steady, high-volume flows reward predictable timing The post Kodiak AI and Charger USA open…
Kodiak Targets Dallas–Houston for Driverless Trucks
The company says its autonomous trucks are completing the I-45 run without a safety observer taking control. It plans to remove the observer by the end of 2026.
Kodiak AI targets Dallas-Houston for driverless launch
Kodiak AI’s Texas launch will test whether off-highway driverless experience in the Permian translates to high-speed interstate freight The post Kodiak AI targets Dallas-Houston…
Kodiak Hauls Produce in California Autonomous Truck Pilot
Kodiak AI and DTL Transport have begun hauling produce between Fresno and Los Angeles under California’s new rules for testing heavy-duty autonomous trucks. A safety driver…
Kodiak and PrePass integrate autonomous truck inspections with roadside screening
PrePass and Kodiak AI have announced a collaboration to integrate enhanced inspections of Kodiak’s autonomous trucks, conducted by Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance-trained…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/kodiak.md
- RSS feed: /companies/kodiak/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/e657f740-aaeb-4dd1-97b4-cfc9982e625f
- Revision history: /companies/kodiak/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Waymo5 models
- Tesla4 models
- Volvo Autonomous Solutions4 models
- Aurora Innovation3 models
- Plus3 models
- Caterpillar2 models
Video
The Kodiak Driver can autonomously support complex tactical missions—including assisting in the recovery of isolated personnel from forward positions and transporting them to designated evacuation points. Designed for c
Kodiak Robotics Awarded $49.9M to Develop Self-Driving Vehicles for US Army #kodiakrobotics #usarmy Kodiak Robotics was founded in 2018 to develop commercial a
This mission simulates a high-priority logistics scenario: an autonomous Kodiak semi truck delivers emergency supplies to a forward-deployed Aviation Company.
Off-road autonomous driving at night. The Kodiak Driver navigates rugged and narrow roads with no clear lane lines and little to no visibility. Adapting an aut
Heat Index
Category leader93/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Kodiak AI draws attention at the 90th percentile but verifies reality at the 91st percentile among truck robots. Hype Gap -0.6, 24th widest among truck robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 15 verified deployments. Strong deployment footprint with 7 operational sites across 11 countries.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Nov 2, 2026