Rivian debuted new tech at its first “Autonomy and AI Day” on Thursday in Palo Alto, California.
Credit score: Rivian
PALO ALTO, Calif. – Electrical automobile maker Rivian Automotive has developed a customized chip, automobile pc and new synthetic intelligence fashions that may allow it to deliver self-driving options to its forthcoming autos, the corporate revealed at its first “Autonomy and AI Day” on Thursday right here.
Shares of Rivian have been off roughly 3% through the hourlong occasion, and fell additional as OpenAI made its personal AI announcement Thursday, revealing its most superior mannequin but. The inventory was down greater than 9% in afternoon buying and selling.
Rivian additionally mentioned it plans to roll out an Autonomy+ subscription with “constantly increasing capabilities” to prospects of its second-generation autos in early 2026, to be powered by its Rivian Autonomy Processors and autonomy computer systems.
The Autonomy+ providing can be priced at $2,500 as a one-time upfront buy or is accessible for $49.99 per 30 days to begin. By comparability, competitor Tesla affords its premium FSD (Supervised) choice for $8,000 upfront or a $99 per 30 days price.
“AI is enabling us to create expertise and buyer experiences at a fee that’s utterly completely different from what we have seen up to now,” Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe mentioned through the hourlong occasion.
Firm executives mentioned in a press release {that a} near-future software program replace will embrace a “Common Fingers-Free,” functionality, permitting Rivian prospects “hands-free driving” on over 3.5 million miles of roads in North America, masking the overwhelming majority of marked roads within the U.S.
Scaringe mentioned the brand new superior driver-assistance system will proceed to enhance as extra miles are pushed, studying by means of an information flywheel by means of strengthened studying.
Not like its main competitor, Tesla, Rivian mentioned it intends to make use of lidar, or gentle detection and ranging, programs and radar sensors in its forthcoming “R2” automobiles to allow “stage 4,” or totally automated driving, as outlined by SAE Ranges of Driving Automation.
A passenger can sleep within the again seat in a stage 4 self-driving automobile whereas it carries them to their vacation spot in regular visitors and climate circumstances. Waymo, the Alphabet-owned robotaxi chief within the U.S., considers its autos stage 4.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe on the firm’s first “Autonomy and AI Day” on Dec. 11, 2025, in Palo Alto, California.
Lora Kolodny | CNBC
Scaringe mentioned Thursday the corporate’s forthcoming self-driving autos allow the corporate to pursue robotaxis, which Tesla has promised for years however has but to launch.
“Now, whereas our preliminary focus can be on personally owned autos, which as we speak signify a overwhelming majority of the miles to the USA, this additionally allows us to pursue alternatives within the rideshare house,” Scaringe mentioned through the occasion.
Rivian shouldn’t be alone in aiming to ship autonomous programs that meet stage 4 expectations, whereas rolling out partially automated options alongside the best way to drivers who typically need these to scale back fatigue on lengthy drives or make them safer behind the wheel general.
Tesla and Normal Motors are engaged on their very own proprietary driverless programs, whereas Honda, Lucid and Nissan have partnered with venture-backed autonomous automobile tech startups (Helm.AI, Nuro and Wayve respectively) to develop related programs with a variety of various technical approaches.
Rivian and Tesla inventory’s since Rivian went public.
Powering Rivian’s self-driving aspirations can be a brand new in-house chip developed by the corporate, which is set to launch in 2026. Vidya Rajagopalan, Rivian vp {of electrical} {hardware}, mentioned the chip makes use of “multi-chip module” packaging and has “excessive reminiscence bandwidth,” which is “key for AI functions.” Rivian’s chip boasts bandwidth of 205 gigabytes per second.
“Rivian is uniquely positioned to maneuver from a software-defined automobile and produce to the world an AI-defined automobile,” Rivian Chief Software program Officer Wassym Bensaid mentioned.
The automaker additionally introduced a brand new AI-powered “Rivian Assistant,” a next-generation voice interface launching in early 2026 on its first- and second-generation autos.
Rivian is beneath strain to show its future development potential to traders and to develop its buyer base amid slowing gross sales of battery electrical autos within the U.S. and competitors from Chinese language EV makers internationally.
The totally electrical automobile section has skilled a gross sales hunch domestically after the Trump administration put an early finish in September to a $7,500 federal tax credit score beforehand accessible for EV patrons within the U.S.
Shares of Rivian are up about 25% this 12 months, however stay off greater than 80% for the reason that firm’s 2021 preliminary public providing amid inner and exterior challenges.
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