Agri AI Summit | 2 Oct 2026
https://www.agri-ai-summit.com/news/four-arms-no-herbicides-for-aigens-weeding-robot
Farmers worldwide face 275 herbicide-resistant weed species, according to Aigen. Its proposed answer has four arms and runs on sunlight: the Element Gen 2 X4, announced on 16 September 2026 by the Redmond, Washington company.
Mechanical removal replaces chemical treatment. Aigen says the independently operating arms pull weeds at the root, within and between crop rows, handling foliage up to 6 inches in diameter. Without fuel or herbicides, the autonomous robot also uses custom edge AI to produce field-level analytics on each pass.
Precision Farming Dealer reported on 29 September that the machine records weed density before treatment and removal afterwards. Aigen says more than 100 robots have accumulated over 15,000 autonomous field hours. Each unit is designed for 10,000 active operating hours or eight years, with a two-year bumper-to-bumper warranty.
Fleet size remains a farm-by-farm calculation. Chief executive Kenny Lee said, “Every operation is different”, explaining that Aigen sizes each Element fleet to the grower’s acres, crops and goals.
An October 1 press release placed deployments in California, Minnesota and North Dakota, across soybean, tomato, sugarbeet, lettuce and cotton fields. It cited US diesel prices 70% above a year earlier and said the Alchemy training system had taken robots from zero to working a new crop in under a week. Farmer Neil Rockstad said, “I would love to live in a world where robotics took over everything”.
Orders are open for the 2027 season. Aigen will demonstrate Element at FIRA USA in Yakima, Washington, from 20 to 22 October 2026.