Ares Acquisition Corporation II (AACT) and Kodiak Robotics, Inc. (Kodiak) have entered into a proposed business combination, valuing Kodiak at a $2.5 billion pre-money equity value. The combined company is expected to have $606 million in cash on its balance sheet, including a $100 million contemplated PIPE investment, with $60 million of the PIPE already committed as of May 8, 2025. Existing Kodiak shareholders will roll over 100% of their interest, owning 77.1% of the post-SPAC equity, with AACT Public Shareholders owning 17.1%, PIPE Investors 3.3%, and AACT Sponsor 2.2%. Kodiak is an AI-powered autonomous system provider focused on commercial trucking and public sector applications, addressing industry challenges like driver shortages, rising costs, and safety risks. The total addressable market (TAM) for commercial trucking is estimated at over $4 trillion globally and $900 billion in the U.S. Kodiak operates a 'Driver-as-a-Service' business model, charging per-mile license fees or monthly/annual license fees per vehicle, with a target long-term gross margin profile of 60-80%. Kodiak projects significant customer cost savings of 15-35% through its solution, compared to current driver costs of $0.97 per mile or an average annual cost of $341,000 for a human driver. The company has logged over 2.8 million autonomous miles, delivered over 7,300 autonomous loads, and accumulated over 1,900 hours of paid driverless operations as of June 13, 2025. Kodiak has launched fully-driverless operations with Atlas Energy Solutions in the Permian Basin, with Atlas committing to an initial order of 100 trucks. Key partnerships include J.B. Hunt for long-haul freight between Dallas and Atlanta, Werner for integrating autonomy into freight operations, and Textron Systems for the U.S. Army Robotic Combat Vehicle Program, from which Kodiak has received approximately $30 million. Kodiak's operational roadmap targets scaling to 10s of trucks by the end of 2025, 100s by the end of 2026, and 1,000s by 2027+, with a path to gross profit and self-funding. The Kodiak Driver utilizes a single AI-driven technology platform, independent of HD maps, and is designed with modular hardware for scalability and efficient integration across various truck platforms. Regulatory approval for driverless operations is currently in place in 24 states.