TechCrunch Mobility: Rivian’s next act
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, the role AI is playing in it.
In the latest installment of TechCrunch Mobility, the focus is on Rivian's future beyond electric vehicles. CEO and founder RJ Scaringe has clear ambitions for the company to become more than an EV maker. He wants Rivian to embrace AI, automation, and custom silicon development. This has led to vertical integration, with Rivian now developing its own AI models for in-vehicle assistance, an end-to-end automated driving stack in partnership with Uber, and custom silicon in collaboration with Arm and TSMC.
Scaringe's vision extends beyond Rivian, as he has created a micromobility skunkworks program that spun out into the startup Also, and founded the industrial robotics startup Mind Robotics, now 31% owned by Rivian. Scaringe has also hired former executives from Ford, Apple, and Tesla, including Doug Field as president of Mind Robotics.
His ambitions for Rivian are described as "tech supplier," with the company looking to license its electric architecture, software, AI models, and autonomy stack to various brands. Potential future ventures include a successful robotaxi business with Uber and the integration of autonomy into Rivian's own vehicles, opening up new design opportunities and experiences.
Other developments in the transportation sector include Bedrock Robotics raising $600 million for autonomous driving tech for construction vehicles, Dot Ai acquiring Envoy Technologies for $65 million, and Evos raising $9 million for AI agents to automate industrial businesses. Mana Battery is developing anode-free sodium batteries, while PlusAI, a developer of autonomous trucking technology, is preparing for an initial public offering.
Volvo is expanding its automated driving system with Nvidia, and Waabi has partnered with Warrior Logistics for self-driving trucks between Dallas and Houston. Laplace Intelligence is developing automated red-teaming for stress-testing robots and self-driving cars, and MIT startup LNK Energies is converting diesel trucks to hydrogen, reducing pollution and costs.
The Paris Auto Show showcased Tesla's SpaceX-powered Roadster, while Waymo expanded its robotaxi service to Canada and opened it to all users in select U.S. cities.
Written by urgent.news from TechCrunch's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
