American electric vehicle maker Rivian is making a big push to own the brains of its cars. According to a TechCrunch report published on 18 October 2026, the company has built its own AI models, is developing a full self-driving software stack and is designing a custom 5-nanometre processor with chip designer Arm and chipmaker TSMC.
What Rivian is building
- Its own AI models to power the in-car voice assistant, rather than relying entirely on outside providers.
- An end-to-end automated driving stack for its passenger vehicles and future robotaxis, linked to a partnership with Uber.
- A custom 5nm chip developed with Arm and TSMC to run these AI workloads inside the vehicle. The chip has not yet been named.
Licensing ambitions
CEO RJ Scaringe wants to license Rivian's technology to "many different brands". Rivian already has a $5.8 billion joint venture with Volkswagen Group covering electrical architecture and software, and Scaringe would like to expand that partnership into AI and autonomy. Rivian also owns about 31% of Mind Robotics, a startup founded by Scaringe, where former Ford, Apple and Tesla executive Doug Field serves as president.
"I'm wildly excited about what the next 10 years look like in transportation," Scaringe said.
Why it matters
- Control and cost: designing its own chip and models gives Rivian more control over performance, features and long-term costs, following a path taken by Tesla.
- New revenue: licensing software and hardware to other automakers could become a valuable business alongside selling vehicles.
- Industry shift: cars are increasingly defined by software and AI, and automakers are racing to avoid becoming just hardware suppliers to tech companies.
What to watch
Key questions include when the custom chip will reach production vehicles, how quickly the automated driving system can be deployed safely, and whether other carmakers sign up to use Rivian's technology.
This article is based on reports available as of 19 October 2026. Details may change as the story develops.
