Rivian has spent practically two years constructing its personal AI assistant, an effort that continues to be separate from its multi-billion greenback know-how three way partnership with Volkswagen, TechCrunch has discovered.
Rivian hasn’t revealed when it is going to put the AI assistant in shoppers fingers. Nonetheless, in an interview earlier this yr, Rivian’s software program chief Wassym Bensaid advised TechCrunch it was focusing on the top of the yr. The corporate will seemingly share extra throughout its upcoming AI and Autonomy day, which might be reside streamed beginning at 9 am PT December 11.
Rivian’s plans are reflective of the second because the tempo of growth from foundational AI firms– the tech giants and startups like Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI which can be constructing the core fashions and infrastructure — accelerates and industries scramble to maintain up.
However as Bensaid famous to TechCrunch earlier this yr, this isn’t some slapdash effort to remain on development. Neither is it merely a chatbot thrown into the infotainment system. The corporate has put appreciable thought, sources, and time into the product, Bensaid stated, noting that its designed to be built-in with all car controls.
The corporate began with an underlying philosophy to construct an total structure that’s mannequin and platform agnostic, in line with Bensaid. The Rivian AI assistant workforce, which is predicated out the corporate’s Palo Alto workplace, quickly realized effort and a focus also needs to be directed in direction of creating the software program layers that assist coordinate numerous workflows in addition to the management logic that resolves conflicts.
“And that’s the in-vehicle platform we now have constructed,” Bensaid stated. “We use what the trade likes to now name an agentic framework; however we thought of that structure since very early in order that we are able to interface with totally different fashions.”
The in-house AI assistant program is per Rivian’s push to change into extra vertically built-in. In 2024, Rivian overhauled its flagship R1T truck and R1S SUV, altering every little thing from the battery pack and suspension system to {the electrical} structure, sensor stack, and software program consumer interface.
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The corporate has additionally put appreciable sources in direction of creating and bettering its personal software program stack, which incorporates every little thing associated to real-time working techniques (RTOS) that handle the automotive, comparable to thermal dynamics, ADAS and security techniques, in addition to one other layer associated to the infotainment system.
Bensaid didn’t present detailed details about the AI assistant, however he did say it consists of a mixture of fashions that deal with particular duties. The result’s a hybrid software program stack that mixes edge AI, the place duties are dealt with on the machine, and cloud AI, through which giant fashions that require extra compute are dealt with by distant servers.
This could imply a versatile, custom-made AI assistant that splits the workload between the sting and cloud.
Rivian developed a lot of the AI software program stack in home, together with its personal customized fashions and the “orchestration layer,” the conductor or visitors cop of kinds that makes certain the varied AI fashions work collectively. Rivian tapped different firms for particular agentic AI features.
The mission is to develop an AI assistant that will increase buyer belief and engagement, Bensaid stated.
For now, the AI assistant is staying inside Rivian. The corporate’s three way partnership with Volkswagen is concentrated on software program, however not an AI assistant or something to do with automated driving.
The know-how three way partnership with Volkswagen, which was introduced in 2024 and is value as much as $5.8 billion, is centered on the underlying electrical structure and zonal compute, and infotainment. The three way partnership formally kicked off in November 2024 and is anticipated to produce {the electrical} structure and software program for Volkswagen Group as early as 2027.
Autonomy and AI are separate for now, however “It doesn’t imply that it will not be sooner or later,” Bensaid stated.
