里维安与大众集团的58亿美元的合资企业正在扩大，以包括AI助手。
根据该公司第三季度投资者介绍发布星期四，Rivian 现将其AI语音助理技术的元素颁发给大众汽车集团，作为更广泛的合资企业的一部分。
Rivian没有透露许可费、付款条件，然而，最近推出到里维安车辆的AI助手可以在汽车制造商的低价EV(ID EVERY1)上出道。 小型四门后舱被预定为2024年成立的合资企业下第一辆使用里维安软件和电气架构的VW车。
里维安和VW集团的合资企业在此前已经扩张过一次，至少在财政上是这样。 公司最初是一家价值高达50亿美元的合资企业宣布，但在几个月内，VW提高了到2027年在里维安投资高达58亿美元的承诺。 最初的捆绑通过一家独立公司正式化，该公司于2024年11月被踢出，专注于将里维安的电气架构和软件带到大众汽车的下一代车辆。
Rivian认为扩展以包括人工智能辅助技术
里维安花了两年时间开发其AI助手，然后才在去年展出。 这一开发工作持续了比预期更长的时间，助理最终于2026年9月推出至其旗舰R1S SUV,R1T皮卡和新的中型R2 SUV.
里维安对其AI助手有着巨大的期望，这使得司机和乘客能够与车辆互动并控制某些功能。 Rivian创始人兼CEOR J Scaringe在Disrupt 2026的舞台上告诉TechCrunch，公司已经创建了自己的内部代理框架，了解一个人在与车辆交谈时想要采取的行动，并把它引向汽车软件的右侧。 这种能力最终可以让里维安车辆运行由包括Anthropic在内的其他公司创建的AI agents.
内部人工智能助理方案也符合里维安争取更加纵向一体化的推动，这是公司第三季度收入报告中所强调的一项战略。
“我们不懈地注重纵向一体化，仍然是一个核心的竞争分歧者，使里维安能够无缝地统一我们的硬件和软件结构，为我们客户带来重大价值。”
这一策略导致里维安大修了它的旗舰R1T卡车和R1S SUV，将电池包和悬浮系统的一切改变为电气架构，传感器堆栈，软件用户界面。 其新的电动架构系统并计算出所使用接线量并减少了用于控制车辆的电子控制装置，即计算机的总数从17个不同的ECU减少到了7个。 里维安认为，该基金会将使其能够建造能够满足先进软件和自动驾驶所需的计算需要的车辆。
这一技术吸引了VW的注意(和金钱)，它一直努力为客户提供一种在特斯拉等竞争对手中发现的以软件为核心的现代汽车。
Rivian在投资者的介绍中一再提出纵向一体化案，指出由于它控制着整个技术堆栈，包括计算、传感器、显示、照明和声音，“它可以迅速推出全车辆的OTA更新，远远超出基本内容。”
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The $5.8 billion joint venture between Rivian and Volkswagen Group is expanding to include AI assistants.
Rivian is now licensing elements of its AI voice assistant technology to Volkswagen Group as part of the broader joint venture, according to the company’s third-quarter investor presentation released Thursday.
Rivian didn’t disclose the licensing fees, payment terms, or which Volkswagen vehicles will use the technology. However, the AI assistant, which recently rolled out to Rivian vehicles, could make its Volkswagen debut in the automaker’s low-cost EV called the ID EVERY1. The small four-door hatchback is slated to be the first VW vehicle to use Rivian’s software and electrical architecture under the joint venture established in 2024.
The joint venture between Rivian and VW Group has already expanded once before, at least financially. The companies initially announced a joint venture valued up to $5 billion, but within months VW upped its commitment to invest up to $5.8 billion in Rivian by 2027. The initial tie-up, formalized through an independent company that kicked off in November 2024, focused on bringing Rivian’s electrical architecture and software to Volkswagen’s next generation of vehicles.
Rivian described the expansion to include elements of its AI assistant technology as “a proof point for the extensibility of the platform we’ve built in-house.”
Rivian spent two years developing its AI assistant before showing it off last year. That development work continued longer than expected, with the assistant finally rolling out in September 2026 to its flagship R1S SUV, R1T pickup truck, and new midsize R2 SUV.
Rivian has big aspirations for its AI assistant, which allows drivers and passengers to interact with the vehicle and control certain functions. Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe told TechCrunch onstage at Disrupt 2026 that the company has created its own in-house agentic framework that understands what action a person wants to take when they talk to the vehicle, and routes it to the right part of the car’s software. That capability could eventually allow Rivian vehicles to run AI agents created by other companies, including Anthropic.
The in-house AI assistant program also fits into Rivian’s push to become more vertically integrated — a strategy the company emphasized in its third-quarter earnings report.
“Our relentless focus on vertical integration remains a core competitive differentiator, allowing Rivian to seamlessly unify our hardware and software architecture to deliver significant value to our customers,” the company noted in its investor presentation.
That strategy led to Rivian overhauling its flagship R1T truck and R1S SUV, changing everything from the battery pack and suspension system to the electrical architecture, sensor stack, and software user interface. Its new electric architecture system and compute platform slashed the amount of wiring used and reduced the total number of electronic control units, or computers, used to control the vehicle from 17 different ECUs to seven. That foundation, Rivian argued, would allow it to build vehicles that can handle the computing demands required for advanced software and automated driving.
That technology caught the attention (and money) of VW, which has struggled to offer customers a modern software-centric vehicle found in competitors like Tesla.
Rivian made that vertical-integration case repeatedly in its investor presentation, noting that because it controls the entire technology stack, including compute, sensors, displays, lighting and sound, “it can roll out rapid, vehicle-wide OTA updates that go well beyond the basics. “
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