RJ opened the first ever Autonomy and AI Day explaining why Rivian believes it is positioned to lead in this next phase of the industry. The company is leaning hard into compute, custom hardware, large scale AI systems, and a shared data foundation that touches every part of the ownership experience.
Let’s break it all down.
Large Driving Model and Rivian’s Data Loop
Rivian explained how its autonomy stack is powered by a self improving data loop feeding the company’s Large Driving Model, which is trained similarly to an LLM. Reinforcement learning distills high quality driving behavior into efficient onboard models. Every release improves the system, and Rivian laid out a trajectory that moves toward point to point, eyes off and eventually personal Level 4.
Universal Hands Free Coming to Gen 2
Rivian confirmed that a major software update will bring Universal Hands Free to Gen 2 R1T and R1S. This hands free experience will cover over 3.5 million miles of roads across the US and Canada as long as there are clearly painted lane lines. It is a huge expansion of the assisted driving envelope for current owners.
Autonomy+ Sub Launching in 2026
Rivian also announced Autonomy+, an autonomy tier with continuously expanding features launching early 2026.
Pricing is $2,500 one time or $49.99 per month.
Rivian Unified Intelligence
Rivian is reorganizing its entire platform around Rivian Unified Intelligence, a data foundation that ties together telemetry, cloud models, service systems and customer facing features. It is the backbone for predictive maintenance, smarter diagnostics and upcoming AI driven tools.
Rivian Assistant Coming in 2026
Rivian also officially unveiled its new Rivian Assistant, a next generation voice experience arriving early 2026 on Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1 vehicles. The assistant uses a blend of edge models and in vehicle intelligence to understand your schedule, recognize context, and handle everyday requests.
On R2, it will even run fully offline thanks to a more powerful infotainment computer, reducing latency and keeping more of the experience on device.
AI Powered Service and Diagnostics
Rivian is embedding AI into the service workflow. Technicians will have access to an AI driven expert system that analyzes telemetry and vehicle history to pinpoint issues faster and more accurately. These same tools will eventually power the mobile app as well, making self service diagnostics significantly smarter.
