Rivian unveils custom chip and autonomy platform at AI event

Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) announced developments in autonomous driving technology at its inaugural Autonomy & AI Day event at its Palo Alto offices. The electric vehicle manufacturer unveiled its proprietary silicon chip and outlined plans for next-generation vehicle autonomy systems.

The company introduced its first-generation Rivian Autonomy Processor (RAP1), a custom 5-nanometer processor that integrates processing and memory onto a single multi-chip module. The RAP1 powers Rivian's third-generation Autonomy Compute Module 3 (ACM3), which delivers 1,600 sparse INT8 trillion operations per second and processes 5 billion pixels per second.

Rivian plans to integrate LiDAR technology into future R2 models to supplement its sensor strategy. The company expects its Gen 3 autonomy hardware, including ACM3 and LiDAR, to ship on R2 models starting at the end of 2026.

The company detailed its software approach through the Rivian Autonomy Platform and introduced its Large Driving Model, which uses Group-Relative Policy Optimization to process driving strategies from datasets. Rivian will add Universal Hands-Free assisted driving to second-generation R1 vehicles, operating on over 3.5 million miles of roads across the United States and Canada.

Rivian announced an autonomy subscription service called Autonomy+, launching in early 2026 and priced at $2,500 one-time or $49.99 monthly.

The company also introduced Rivian Unified Intelligence, a data foundation system, and the Rivian Assistant voice interface, launching in early 2026 on Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1 vehicles. The assistant will integrate with third-party applications, with Google Calendar as the first integration.

"Our updated hardware platform, which includes our in-house 1600 sparse TOPS inference chip, will enable us to achieve dramatic progress in self-driving to ultimately deliver on our goal of delivering L4," said Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe in a statement.

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