Rivian Automotive Inc. unveiled its advanced self-driving roadmap for 2026—a push to keep up with giant rival Tesla.
Rivian’s first step in expanding the hands-free, assisted driving capabilities in its vehicles is the debut of its own custom semiconductors, the company announced Dec. 11. The EV maker has created a new in-house chip, Rivian Autonomy Processor (RAP1), to power its third-generation autonomy computer, ACM3.
“These chips have a combined total of 1,600 trillion operations per second (TOPS),” Chief Communications Director Marina Hoffman wrote on LinkedIn. “For context, your iPhone has about 30 TOPS.”
Currently, Rivian car owners can drive hands-free wherever there’s a painted or dotted line. Rivian says the new platform dramatically expands the existing hands-free capability, bringing Rivian closer to the world of hands-free assisted driving—a market currently dominated by Tesla.
“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,” Chief Executive RJ Scaringe said in a statement.
“L4” refers to the fourth level of autonomous driving, also known as high automation or “eyes off driving.” The range goes up to level five, or full automation.
Rivian reported that, with the universal hands-free software, its trucks and SUVs can self-drive on roads with clearly marked lanes, covering roughly 3.5 million miles in the U.S. and Canada.
“The next major step beyond point-to-point will be eyes off, meaning you can navigate point-to-point with your hands off the wheel, but importantly, your eyes off the road,” Scaringe said. “And 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 the vehicle.”
Like Elon Musk’s company, Rivian is monetizing its hands-free assisted driving features through a subscription program. The annual subscription for Autonomy+, which customers can use in existing R1 vehicles starting in February, is priced at a one-time fee of $2,500 or $49.99 per month. Tesla’s full self-driving package costs $99 a month.
The initial update will include hands-free driving and lane change on command.
Later in 2026, there will be the ability to auto-park and merge onto the highway.
Rivian also said the autonomy platform will soon include LiDAR (light detection and ranging) in its sensor system, which currently uses 10 HDR cameras and five radars to form a precise picture of the vehicle’s surroundings. LiDAR will be integrated into future R2 models toward the end of 2026, the company said.
“This represents an inflection point for the ownership experience—ultimately being able to give customers their time back when in the car,” Scaringe said.
The Rivian Assistant
Rivian revealed its ongoing work to integrate AI in its future EV infrastructure as well.
The new RAP1 chip includes an AI compiler and platform software that is designed to learn how to handle real-world situations from each drive.
At the Dec. 11 event, Rivian also presented a foundational autonomous model it called the Large Driving Model (LDM) and said it “will distill superior driving strategies from massive datasets into the vehicle.” Rivian said it will use the data from the LDM “to develop powerful new features, improve service infrastructure, and even power predictive maintenance” for future EVs.
So far, the manufacturer has created a voice interface dubbed the Rivian Assistant that will also launch in early 2026 on Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1 vehicles. The AI assistant is part of the company’s Rivian Unified Intelligence (RUI) program, which will help with vehicle diagnostics and service.
The assistant will soon power Rivian’s mobile app as well.
The automaker announced all the technology updates during a new company event, Autonomy & AI Day, held at its offices in Palo Alto. On the day, Rivian shares fell 6.1% to $16.43. The following week, Rivian hit a new 52-week high of $22.64 on Dec. 19.
Since Dec. 11, the automaker’s stock has jumped about 36% to $22.42 at press time with a market cap of $27 billion.
Additionally, several analysts from firms such as Baird and Goldman Sachs have upgraded their price targets citing a potential boost from Rivian’s upcoming R2 vehicle launch in 2026.
