In January, Irving-based Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) made a splash at the annual CES conference in Las Vegas by announcing “a major leap forward” in its embrace of autonomous technology, planning a long lineup of “intelligent machines” that could transform construction worldwide—everything from excavators to loaders to dozers to haul trucks. Now it’s doubling down on that strategy by acquiring the technology of self-driving electric tractor startup Monarch Tractor, according to a Bloomberg report. Based in the San Francisco Bay area, Monarch developed the MK-V, which it called “the world’s first fully electric, driver-optional, autonomous smart tractor.” The tractor’s software-based “control center” was driven by WingspanAI, an app-based digital agriculture tech platform for farm management, data collection, and analytics. Founded in 2018, the startup had raised around $251 million from backers including Astanor Ventures, At One Ventures, and an affiliate fund of Taiwan-based Foxxcon, giving it a valuation of over $500 million in 2024. But the company ran into financial problems and legal setbacks recently that led to its manufacturing shutdown and acquisition by Caterpillar—the terms of which were not disclosed. A ‘shift’ from manufacturing to tech licensing amid a bumpy ride Monarch had been called “the Tesla of agriculture,” with good reason: Its co-founder and president, Mark Schwager, was a former Tesla employee who served as head of the Tesla Gigafactory, leading the project from concept phase to construction. But Monarch has had a bumpy ride of late, leading it to cease its operations earlier this month following financial setbacks, lawsuits from dealerships, staff layoffs, and facility closures, according to reports by FarmProgress and others. In a LinkedIn post last week, the company said it had “set out to push agriculture forward by building one of the first smart, electric, software-defined tractors. From by-wire systems to exportable power, V2G capability,