Rivian Unveils Custom Silicon, R2 Lidar Roadmap, and Universal Hands Free
by doctoboggan on 12/11/2025, 6:17:19 PM
Comments
by: TulliusCicero
Autonomy subscriptions are how things are going to go, I called this a long time ago. It makes too much sense in terms of continuous development and operations/support to not have a subscription -- and subscriptions will likely double as insurance at some point in the future (once the car is driving itself 100% of the time, and liability is always with the self driving stack anyway).<p>Of course, people won't like this, I'm not exactly enthused either, but the alternative would be a corporation constantly providing -- for free -- updates and even support if your car gets into an accident or stuck. That doesn't really make sense from a business perspective.
12/11/2025, 6:50:00 PM
by: suprnurd
Where I live I am often surrounded by Waymo vehicles... is Lidar 100% safe for people to be around? I ask because I read an article about how Lidar on one of the new Volvos could destroy your phone camera if you pointed it at it? If Lidar can do that to a phone camera, can it hurt your eyes?
12/11/2025, 6:38:26 PM
by: uberman
Why do people what self driving cars at all? I certainly hate the thought of having to pay for any of this. Even if the end product is subscription based, all these feature cost money up front making new cars super expensive.
12/11/2025, 9:48:59 PM
by: ricardobeat
Those blue stripes look amazing in a retro-future kind of way. About time cars started getting back some personality.
12/11/2025, 10:01:07 PM
by: viburnum
Quite the qualification for self-driving: "as long as there are clearly painted lane lines."
12/11/2025, 10:02:33 PM
by: doctoboggan
I loved to see that they plan on running the Rivian Assistant LLM onboard using their new Gen 3 hardware. Great that they see that as a valuable feature and I hope to see the industry move that way.
12/11/2025, 6:54:41 PM
by: plebianRube
In the future, we could use some sort of traffic management system, were cars which conform to a standard are able to 'link-up' and move as one unit like a train, it would relieve alot of the stop and go and improve flow on congested roads, possibly with denser traffic. I'd bet alot of daily commuters woild subscribe to something like that.
12/11/2025, 9:38:49 PM
by: bjord
is everyone designing their own silicon getting so much additional them-specific utility out of it that it's actually worth it?
12/11/2025, 6:34:52 PM
by: asadm
I hear many Rivian customers really love Comma.ai, so much that they are #1 on Comma dash.
12/11/2025, 6:54:58 PM
by: nicksergeant
Meanwhile, the only thing people really want from Rivian is CarPlay / Android Auto support, lol.
12/11/2025, 6:44:34 PM
by: herbturbo
That all sounds great but with CARIAD now being involved at Rivian I won’t hold my breath on that roadmap being executed.
12/11/2025, 9:51:44 PM
by: porphyra
Rivians have been spotted with giant Velodyne VLS-128 "Alpha Puck"s since several years ago [1]. But from last I checked, Rivian's ADAS is still struggling with ping-ponging in lanes on curved stretches, and it only works on a small set of pre-mapped highways. Highly doubtful that "universal hands free" is coming.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/mqijd2/rivian_r1t_spotted_with_lidar_rig_in_palo_alto_as/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/mqijd2/riv...</a>
12/11/2025, 7:01:39 PM
by: orliesaurus
Watching this unfold... I keep thinking about the supply chain... how many rare minerals go into this custom silicon?<p>ALSO what happens when the first generation hits end-of-life... will there be a clear path to recycling? I want to believe these platforms will last more than a subscription cycle...<p>BUT I guess we won't know until we see a teardown...
12/11/2025, 7:01:32 PM
by: daemonologist
The R2(-D2) livery is a fun touch
12/11/2025, 6:56:18 PM
by: thebeardisred
What I'm wondering is that the stack up of licensed processor IP looks like.
12/11/2025, 7:09:58 PM
by:
12/11/2025, 10:09:15 PM
by: nextstep
These companies are only surviving because of US protectionism. This tech is more expensive than then Chinese equivalent from 2-3 years ago (look at what Xiaomi or BYD released as their 2024 models).<p>These cars will not sell well outside of the US.
12/11/2025, 10:01:35 PM
by: frankfrank13
Is there some tight coupling on autonomy + electric cars? Seems the only 2 viable hands-free car companies are Tesla and Rivian. I don't see myself ever getting an electric car, but it doesn't seem like the big car companies are anywhere near this.
12/11/2025, 6:53:36 PM
by: magguzu
I'm getting real tired of seeing Silicon Valley reinvent trains.
12/11/2025, 10:24:37 PM
by: criddell
Is the paint job supposed to resemble R2-D2?
12/11/2025, 6:54:32 PM
by: mrcwinn
This is really poor execution. You're taking a complex, low margin vehicle and introducing even more cost and supply chain complexity. On top of that, you're essentially making a proxy bet that more expensive hardware (LIDAR) will beat Tesla's software bet.<p>It's absolutely fair to criticize Elon for his ridiculous FSD timeline claims, but here we are now evaluating the market: if you have experienced the latest FSD, Waymo's and now Rivian's bet is just so obviously the exact wrong bet.
12/11/2025, 7:34:50 PM
by: cyberax
Yet no AndoidAuto. Pass.
12/11/2025, 6:36:29 PM
by: mtoner23
how about they try to make their cars profitably first....
12/11/2025, 7:17:31 PM
by: 7e
No, Waymo is just going to license their tech to normal automakers, like Toyota, and those licensees will win. Rivian is run by a Musk-wannabe but even this stock pump isn’t going to help with his sociopath, multibillion dollar compensation package.
12/11/2025, 6:35:54 PM
by: idontwantthis
Can anyone explain why RIVN is down 8% after this announcement? Were investors expecting hands free handjobs or something?
12/11/2025, 6:42:31 PM
by: esafak
If only they had a good designer. They have the ugliest frames.
12/11/2025, 9:25:37 PM