Rivian unveils new AI assistant, Lidar, and autonomous driving coming in 2026
Attempting to leapfrog competitors ahead of the launch of key vehicles and the race to integrate AI assistance systems with Advated Drivis systems, limidar, and the latest voice assistant as it prepares for the launch of an estimated R2 electric car.
At the Palo Alto event on Thursday, Detailed Rivian The development of its in-house system has been carried out in the second generation system, released last year, in the R1s large trucks of R1T and R1T Pickup Truck. And in introducing new features and software, it also keeps existing customers in the fold by making updates available on its older models.
Rivian has been working on its AI technology for several years now, says its founder and CEO RJ Scary. While I learned from the previous reliance on external suppliers and tied to the same cost fluctuations as its competitors, Rivian’s focus is now on bringing its costs down and keeping its technology under its control.
With that, the new flagship model will have hands-free driver assistance on about 3.5 million miles of US roads with point-to-point service, not nearly 150,000 miles on the existing system. That is also more than the current plans General Motors SuperCruise and Ford’s BluecAise offering.
Rivian Autonomy + will launch next year, priced at a one-time fee of $2,500 or $49.99 per month.
Finally, a new version of the new system will be introduced in the R1 and R2 cars.
“This gives you your time back,” Scaringe said at the event. Whether you are on your phone or reading a book, you no longer need to be actively involved in the operation of the car. “
The Alevel 4 autonomous operation would also allow Rivian to compete in the rapidly expanding field of “Robotaxi” from Waymo, Zoox, and Hopeusing vehicles from various vendors, although Scaringe is reluctant to commit to any future plans.
“While the initial focus will be on personal vehicles, the majority of vehicles on the road, it allows us to pursue opportunities in the rideshare space,” he said.
The system is made possible by the extensive development of the Rivian company’s third independent matory processor Rivian uses an autonomous module designed for independence. In the R2, it will include 11 cameras with 65 Megapixels, 5 radar sensors, and a new lidar sensor. The entire system, however, isn’t due until late 2026, so it won’t be among the first R2s rolling off the Illinois production line.
The California-based pickup and truck company makes these announcements at a critical time as they commit to new products and Line-Up by Volkswagen Group To keep up with the growing interest of hybrid and electronic consumers and a deep concern about the availability of cash. For now, however, the AI and autonomous strategy will remain focused on its vehicles.
Bringing its chips and the low lididar of the R2 Pricide car in the middle of the price of the R2 is important to get out of Rivian in the high and niche ev, as well as the beating of the big CHIP makers like nvidia Nvidia makers like Nvidia.
The company also took two digs at other automakers, especially Volvo, for lidar missteps that led to cost and visual design losses. Volvo then removed the lidar sensor and the “taxi cab” designation from the Ex90 and ES90 SUVS after the added power failed to do so.
And, as expected, Rivian revealed its AI assistant. Rivian assistant, Shoise early next year. As with most programs of this type, it will include Getter-Precied applications such as Google Calendar, but it also includes a speech-only program rather than the canned responses that other companies still use.
Similar to programs like Google Gemini (which rivian depends here) launched by other motorists, the Rivian assistant is also trying to create natural ways to do things like restaurant recommendations, and measure car diagnostics. The latter provides more vehicle integration than simply adding to the company’s lineup and presents the opportunity for more use in future generations, the company said.
Notably, the Rivian assistant will not only appear on the new models but on the existing Gen1 and R1ts.
Rivian faced the same problems as other early adopters when it came to finding quality and production issues, while suffering from cash flow problems. The Trump Administration has added additional headaches with fees and the elimination of corporate subsidies for electric vehicles. The BMW X3-Sized R2 has long been considered the best shot of a mainstream product before the above low price R3 hatchback, Since the current models of the R1 can cost more than $ 100,000 and are generally considered a great success with great export success.
Scaringe, in his closing remarks, Thursday’s announcements ran as a Big Step The company has been working so far this decade to “build a house” of its physical products and environmental issues. And customers will be able to see all those pieces starting to take shape with the technology to come.
“You see the house start to build in front of you,” he said.
