Rivian teases its AI future, but its stock drop shows Wall Street isn't impressed

MW Rivian teases its AI future, but its stock drop shows Wall Street isn't impressed

By William Gavin

The electric-vehicle maker is hosting its first-ever 'Autonomy and AI Day'

Rivian Automotive talked up a new chip on Thursday.

Rivian Automotive (RIVN) executives have dedicated the day to their vision for artificial intelligence and self-driving vehicles. But, so far, their words haven't been enough to break the stock from an AI slump that's gripping much of the stock market on Thursday.

The Irvine, Calif.-based electric-vehicle maker held its first "Autonomy and AI Day," which kicked off at 12 p.m. Eastern time. At the core of that road map is Rivian's first in-house processor, which executives said provides a significant improvement on its previous chips, which were developed by Nvidia (NVDA).

The Rivian Autonomy Processor will deliver four times the performance of the current system in its vehicles, according to the company.

That approach mirrors Tesla's $(TSLA)$, which has made developing in-house AI chips a priority. CEO Elon Musk has said the future of his electric vehicle maker hinges on mass-producing its own next-generation chips.

Rivian is also adding light detection and ranging sensors to its next-generation R2 midsize SUV, which will enter the market next year. That means Rivian will be adopting a more costly approach that's similar to what Alphabet $(GOOGL)$-backed Waymo is employing. It's an approach that's also thought to have safety benefits. Tesla, by contrast, uses a camera-only approach.

"We expect that at launch in late 2026, this will be the most powerful combination of sensors and inference compute in consumer vehicles in North America," Vidya Rajagopalan, an executive overseeing electrical hardware, said at the event.

CEO R.J. Scaringe outlined Rivian's road map to improving its suite of driver assistance features, which includes hands-off, eyes-on driving on certain roads. By the end of the year, Rivian expects to allow that feature to be used on more than 3.5 million roads in North America, up from less than 150,000 roads currently.

See More: Tesla's stock has an AI halo. Can Rivian's get the same treatment?

That should help Rivian collect more data from its customers, which will be important as it tries to scale its technology. Scaringe said Rivian plans to launch "point-to-point" navigation next year, which will allow the vehicle to drive users to their destination with little input from a human.

Following that is hands-off, eyes-off driving, which much of the industry is also working on. For example, General Motors $(GM)$ said in October it aims to introduce that capability on some highways in 2028.

"This gives you your time back. You can be on your phone or reading a book, no longer needing to be actively involved in the operation of a vehicle," CEO Scaringe said of Rivian's plans.

Eventually, Rivian plans to pursue software that allows its vehicles to operate independently, which Scaringe said would open the company up to ride-share opportunities. While Rivian is primarily focused on personally-owned vehicles, Deutsche Bank has said it could partner with ride-hail providers, such as Uber Technologies (UBER).

The company also announced an AI assistant that will be rolled out in early 2026. Rivian has been working on that technology for almost two years, TechCrunch reported Tuesday.

Rivian stock was down more than 7% on Thursday shortly after the presentations wrapped up.

Some of that could be due to concerns over the cost of Rivian's plans, as the company continues to burn through cash. Rivian last year switched to an entirely house-designed autonomy solution, rather than relying on third-party suppliers. Developing its technology over the next few years, along with the cost of scaling production for Rivian's EV lineup, will be pricey.

Part of Rivian's plan to boost revenue is a new subscription plan for its advanced driver-assistance features. The plan, Autonomy+, is set to launch in early next year for either a one-time $2,500 payment or $49.99 per month.

That would be far cheaper than what Tesla charges for its Full Self-Driving, which can be purchased for a one-time $8,000 payment. However, Tesla only charges customers $99 per month in its subscription plan.

-William Gavin

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December 11, 2025 13:33 ET (18:33 GMT)

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