内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2025/carbon-robotics-raises-20m-as-laserweeder-maker-plans-secretive-new-ai-robot-for-farms/

内容总结：

总部位于西雅图的农业科技公司Carbon Robotics近日完成2000万美元融资，用于开发新一代人工智能农用机器人。这家以激光除草机闻名的初创企业已服务全球数百家农场，其首席执行官保罗·米克塞尔透露，全新AI农业机器人预计将在九个月后正式亮相。

此次融资由英国风险投资机构Giant Ventures领投，该公司专注于投资具有社会价值的科技企业。这是Carbon Robotics完成的D-2轮扩展融资，使其总融资额达到1.77亿美元。该公司目前在盖克威尔200强太平洋西北地区初创企业榜单中排名第九，曾获得英伟达等知名投资方支持。

米克塞尔表示，新型机器人将延续公司核心的AI视觉系统，但功能将突破除草范畴。"这套系统能精准感知环境并自主决策，我们正持续强化其多任务处理能力。"他特别强调，新一代产品的智能化程度"将超乎想象"。

成立于2018年的Carbon Robotics已推出两款明星产品：可识别作物并精准激光除草的LaserWeeder激光除草机，以及能适配传统农机的自动驾驶套件ATK。今年2月发布的第二代激光除草机已进入美国本土及14个国家的农场，3月推出的自动驾驶套件则致力于缓解农业劳动力短缺问题。

该公司独创的"大型植物模型"技术使其AI系统具备跨作物识别能力。米克塞尔解释道："当法国洋葱田出现新型杂草时，系统能立即更新模型，提前为美国胡萝卜田做好防护准备。这种技术让我们能快速适配全新作物品种。"

目前Carbon Robotics在华盛顿州里奇兰和荷兰设有生产基地，全球员工约260人。尽管年收入持续增长，公司尚未实现盈利。对于市场竞争，米克塞尔展现出技术自信："激光除草机的瞄准系统和AI算法具有极高技术壁垒，目前尚未发现真正意义上的竞争对手。"

中文翻译：

西雅图农业科技初创企业Carbon Robotics公司近日完成2000万美元融资，用于开发新一代农场人工智能机械。该公司创始人兼首席执行官保罗·米克塞尔向媒体透露，继激光除草机和自动驾驶拖拉机套件获得数百家农场采用后，公司正在研发"全新AI机器人"。

这款预计至少还需九个月才会面世的机器，将沿用Carbon现有设备的AI系统，但功能将突破除草范畴。米克塞尔介绍，该集成AI、计算机视觉与机器学习技术的系统具有高度适应性，"能感知环境、识别对象，我们正持续投入该平台研发，拓展其在新场景的应用边界"。他特别强调："这款产品将带来震撼体验。"

自2018年成立以来，Carbon Robotics凭借激光除草机在农业科技领域崭露头角。这种可由拖拉机牵引的设备能自动识别田间作物，通过激光精准清除杂草。其最新迭代型号LaserWeeder G2已于今年二月发布。三月间，公司又推出Carbon ATK自动驾驶套件，旨在解决农业劳动力短缺难题并提升生产效率。

米克塞尔表示，两大产品线均呈现快速增长态势。这位曾联合创立数据存储公司Isilon Systems的资深技术企业家指出，激光除草机已覆盖全美及全球14个国家农场。虽然公司年度营收持续增长，但目前尚未实现盈利。

在太平洋西北地区初创企业排行榜GeekWire 200中位列第九的Carbon，此前曾获得英伟达和西雅图Voyager资本支持。本轮D-2轮扩募由英国风投Giant领投，米克塞尔称赞该机构"深刻理解我们的发展愿景"。Giant曾参与投资1.4亿美元支持华盛顿州企业Tidal Vision，后者专注从废弃蟹壳中提取高价值工业化学品壳聚糖。

除秘密研发的新设备外，Carbon首次披露其AI系统核心的"大型植物模型"技术细节。米克塞尔称，公司已积累足够训练数据和标注图像，可使AI掌握植物基本结构认知。这意味着全球每台Carbon设备都能运行统一模型："当法国洋葱田出现新型杂草，即便未来传入美国胡萝卜田，系统首次识别即可完成模型更新。这套机制也让我们能立即适配从未接触过的作物。"

激光除草机通过锁定杂草分生组织实现快速清除，大型植物模型则为其提供精准打击坐标。截至目前，Carbon累计融资1.77亿美元，员工约260名。除华盛顿州里奇兰的制造基地外，公司最近在荷兰增设工厂以规避贸易壁垒并加速欧洲市场布局。

谈及竞争格局，米克塞尔指出虽有欧洲企业宣称研发类似产品，但从未在实际农田见过竞品："激光除草机的核心技术门槛极高——独特的瞄准系统与专用AI算法不仅需要识别杂草位置，关键在于移动过程中通过瞄准摄像头保持激光锁定。所有宣称要造激光除草机的企业，似乎都未能领悟这个技术精髓。"

英文来源：

Seattle agriculture-tech startup Carbon Robotics raised $20 million in new funding to support the creation of another piece of AI-powered machinery for farms.
With its signature LaserWeeder and relatively new Autonomous Tractor Kit (ATK) already being used by hundreds of customers, Carbon founder and CEO Paul Mikesell told GeekWire that “a brand new AI robot” is coming.
Mikesell said the machine, which is at least nine months away from being revealed, will leverage the same AI system used in Carbon’s other equipment but perform tasks beyond weeding.
“It’s very flexible, capable of doing a lot with the world around it, understanding what it’s seeing, what’s happening,” Mikesell said of Carbon’s system that uses an array of AI, computer vision and machine learning technology. “We see our ability to reinvest in that platform and double down on what it can do in some new activities.
“It’ll blow your mind,” he added.
Founded in 2018, Carbon Robotics made its name across ag-tech with the LaserWeeder, a machine which can be pulled behind a tractor and uses its tech to detect plants in fields and then target and eliminate weeds with lasers. The latest iteration, the LaserWeeder G2, was released in February.
In March, the company unveiled the Carbon ATK, previously called the AutoTractor. That autonomous platform is designed to fit on and control existing farm equipment and serve as an answer to labor shortages and increased productivity in farming.
Both platforms are continuing to grow and scale, and “things are moving really fast,” according to Mikesell, a longtime technologist and entrepreneur who previously co-founded data storage company Isilon Systems.
LaserWeeders are active on farms across the U.S. and in 14 countries around the world. Mikesell said revenue continues to grow every year, but Carbon is not yet profitable.
Ranked No. 9 on the GeekWire 200 list of top privately held startups based across the Pacific Northwest, Carbon has previously been backed by NVIDIA and Seattle-based Voyager Capital.
The Series D-2 extension round attracted Giant Ventures as lead investor. The UK-based VC invests across a variety of “purpose-driven” startups, and Mikesell said, “They got what we were trying to do.”
Giant previously invested in a $140 million round for Tidal Vision, a Bellingham, Wash.-based company turning discarded crab shells into a valuable industrial chemical called chitosan.
Beyond the secretive new machine, Carbon is revealing more about the “large plant model” at the heart of how it does computer vision through its AI systems.
Mikesell said the company is at the point where it has enough training data and labeled images that it can teach its AI to learn about the basic structure of the plants it’s seeing. This allows Carbon to run one model on every machine in the world.
“If new weeds pop up in an onion field in France, and those are eventually going to show up in a carrot field in the U.S., the first time we see that weed anywhere it can be part of the model and be ready to go,” Mikesell said. “It also means that if we want to go into a new crop that we’ve never seen before, we can do it immediately.”
A LaserWeeder is designed to target the meristem of a weed to kill it as quickly as possible and the large plant model helps it understand where to precisely target its zap.
Carbon Robotics, which has raised $177 million to date, now employs about 260 people. The company runs a manufacturing facility in Richland, Wash., and added another in the Netherlands to offset some trade and tariff issues as well as speed deployment of machines in Europe.
Mikesell said as far as competition, there are some companies in Europe who claim to be building some version of a LaserWeeder, but he’s never seen one in a field or competed against one.
“It’s very hard to create a LaserWeeder,” he said. “The targeting system is so special, and the AI is so special. It’s not just about detecting where the weeds are. The trick to making it work is you need a targeting camera to be able to keep the lasers on target [while moving], and everybody I’ve seen that says they’re gonna build a LaserWeeder doesn’t understand that concept.”