Jennifer Garner's reported new boyfriend is leading the charge to replace human fast-food workers with robots at an In-N-Out copycat chain

Kate Taylor

Oct 24, 2018, 23:49 IST

Jennifer Garner's reported new boyfriend is leading the charge to replace human fast-food workers with robots at an In-N-Out copycat chain

NEC/Once Upon A Farm

Actress Jennifer Garner and CaliGroup CEO John Miller are reportedly dating.

Jennifer Garner is reportedly dating John Miller, the CEO of the company behind CaliBurger.
CaliBurger is known for its stylistic similarities to In-N-Out and its burger-flipping robot, Flippy, which can grill 150 burgers an hour.
Miller uses CaliBurger as a testing ground for technology that can transform the fast-food industry.

Jennifer Garner's reported new boyfriend is one of the leaders of the movement to put robots to work in fast-food chains.

On Wednesday, Us Weekly reported that Garner has been quietly dating CaliGroup CEO John Miller for six months.

While he isn't a typical Hollywood type, Miller has been making headlines for years. As founder, CEO, and chairman of CaliGroup, he has been the driving force behind a burger chain that looks like In-N-Out and uses robots to flip burgers.

Here's everything we know about Miller, his relationship with Garner, and Flippy, the $100,000 robotic creation that grills 150 burgers an hour:

Miller, 40, graduated from Stanford Law School, in the honor society Order of the Coif.

Miller is an expert in nanomaterials and nanoscale electronics, and he has published "The Handbook of Nanotechnology: Business, Policy, and Intellectual Property Law."

Prior to CaliGroup, Miller worked at Arrowhead, founding the biopharmaceutical company's electronics business unit.

Miller founded CaliGroup in 2011. CaliGroup's website describes the holding company as "focused on using technology to transform the restaurant and retail industries."

CaliGroup owns CaliBurger and has made major investments in five tech companies geared toward fast-food chains.

CaliBurger's first locations opened up overseas. Early on, many drew comparisons between the chain and In-N-Out, with Los Angeles magazine calling CaliBurger a "shameless In-N-Out knockoff."

More recently, Miller and CaliBurger have received attention for CaliGroup's emphasis on tech. For example, CaliBurger plans to install the burger-flipping robot Flippy at most of its roughly 50 locations by the end of 2019, the company said earlier this year.

Flippy costs between $60,000 and $100,000 and is made by Miso Robotics, one of the tech companies CaliGroup has invested in.

Miller has said that he wants to work with Miso Robotics to develop "AI-driven robotic solutions to assist with other tasks at CaliBurger."

CaliBurger is also testing kiosks that automatically recognize the faces of certain loyal customers.

"We're constantly struggling with labor cost issues in the United States," Miller said in a video explaining why CaliBurger is testing the facial-recognition kiosks and other types of tech.

Miller is separated from his wife, concert violinist Caroline Campbell. According to Us Weekly, the two split in 2014 but are not yet legally divorced.

Garner filed for divorce from actor Ben Affleck in 2017.

It is unclear how Garner and Miller connected. A representative for CaliGroup did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

However, Garner has her own connection in the world of food startups, as cofounder of organic baby food company Once Upon a Farm.

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