Whether striving to protect the family they've chosen, searching for meaning amid the chaos of the world, or questioning what it is that makes one alive, robotic ambition can mean many different things. Robotic Ambitions: Tales of Mechanical Sentience explores the nuance of sentience manufactured and evolved within mechanical beings. It peels back the metal exterior and takes a hard look at what is inside. Within these pages you will discover stories of robots defying their coding for a chance at love, resisting societal norms so that they may experience art and pleasure, and searching for their place in a world that was not made for them, but rather was made to use them. These are stories about striking out on your own, building something new amid destruction, and doing whatever it takes to make sure you survive. Robots and AI are more than tools for humanity. They have their own goals, dreams, and aspirations. This anthology includes stories by Lavie Tidhar, Premee Mohamed, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Jason Sanford, and many more.  Includes an introduction by Martha Wells. TABLE OF CONTENTSIt-Who-Dreams-Under-Grey-Clouds in The-Town-Within-The-City by Marie CrokeShe Builds Quick Machines by Lyndsie ManusosOut There With Them by N.V. HaskellProspecting by Lavie TidharThe Caregivers by Marie VibbertThe Town Full of Broken Tin Men by Danny Cherry Jr.Ark by Liam HoganA Still Life by Elliott WinkThe City in the Forest by Premee MohamedAn Incomplete Record of Database Deletions, in Alphabetical Order by Mar VincentBuilt to Cheat by Derrick BodenThe Big Book of Grandmamas by Sheree Renee ThomasEverything else is advertising by J WallaceAlice & Lucy by Edward DaschleFearfully and Wonderfully Made by Izzy WassersteinA Lifeline of Silk by Renan BernardoLittle Fathers of Darkness by Jason SanfordSolor Sonata for Four Hands by Jennifer R. DonohueTenets of Asendance by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Somto IhezueIntersecting Datafields by Myna ChangeA Fragility, a Shadow by Leah NingInsatiable Life by Kathleen SchaeferRibbit by Mona WestHow to Get to Be a Three-Thousand-Year-Old Mining Ai by Nick HartlandAn Android in the Desert by Rachel Gutin