Rivian Launches 'Hey Rivian' AI Voice Assistant with Full Vehicle Control
Tags AI · Consumer
Rivian rolled out its AI-powered voice assistant to all Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1 owners via over-the-air update. The assistant, activated by 'Hey Rivian' or the left steering wheel button, offers native vehicle control over drive modes, ride height, front trunk, climate, cameras, and range data — functionality that Tesla's Grok assistant still lacks months after launch. Built on Rivian Unified Intelligence, a multi-modal AI framework integrating custom LLMs with an orchestration layer, the assistant requires a Connect+ subscription ($14.99/month). It will also be available on the upcoming R2 platform with 200 sparse TOPS of edge AI compute.
Technical significance
Rivian's assistant launching with full vehicle control from day one highlights a gap in Tesla's AI strategy — despite launching Grok months earlier, it still cannot control core vehicle functions. The multi-modal framework with an orchestration layer suggests Rivian is building toward more agentic in-vehicle AI that can chain actions across services. The 200 sparse TOPS edge compute on the R2 indicates that vehicle-native AI processing is becoming a competitive differentiator.