Rivian's In-House AI Chip Will Replace NVIDIA, Enabling Autonomous Driving for New Models

American electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian has recently announced a major breakthrough, launching its self-developed artificial intelligence chip, a new generation of in-vehicle computer, and related AI models. The company plans to replace the current NVIDIA chip system in future models to provide stronger support for autonomous driving capabilities.

The upcoming R2 SUV will be the first model to feature the newly named Rivian Autonomy Processor 1 (RAP1) chip and will also be equipped with a new LiDAR sensor. Through the collaboration of the chip, sensors, and AI models, Rivian is moving closer to achieving full autonomous driving capabilities.

Vidya Rajagopalan, Vice President of Electrical Hardware at Rivian, introduced that the new chip uses "multi-chip packaging" technology, offering a high memory bandwidth of 205GB per second, which is crucial for AI applications. The RAP1 chip will drive the new generation of in-vehicle computer, the Autonomy Compute Module 3, capable of processing 5 billion pixels per second, four times the performance of the current NVIDIA systems used in Rivian vehicles. Currently, Rivian's SUVs and trucks only offer driver-assisted driving functions that require constant supervision by the driver. However, the company plans to launch a subscription service called "Autonomy+" for users of its second-generation models in early 2026.

This new service will continue to expand and will be supported by Rivian's self-developed autonomous driving chips and computing platform. The pricing for Autonomy+ is a one-time payment of $2,500 or $49.99 per month. In comparison, Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) service costs up to $8,000 as a one-time fee or $99 per month. Rivian went public in 2021 and was once seen as a strong competitor to Tesla, launching full-size electric pickup trucks and SUVs. However, it has faced challenges in operations, and its only factory located in Illinois is expected to produce less than 50,000 units this year, far below its production capacity.

Key Points:

- 🚗 Rivian has launched its self-developed AI chip RAP1, planning to replace NVIDIA chips to enhance autonomous driving capabilities.

- 💻 The new in-vehicle computer will increase processing power four times, supporting the processing of 5 billion pixels per second.

- 📅 Future will launch the "Autonomy+" subscription service, with more competitive pricing.