Rivian cuts hundreds of workers after R2 deliveries start

TechCrunch • June 16, 2026 • business

Key Points:

Rivian is laying off less than 2% of its workforce, affecting hundreds of employees primarily in service, sales, and marketing teams, to improve efficiency.
This marks at least the fourth round of layoffs for Rivian since early 2024, coming just one week after the start of deliveries for its R2 SUV.
The company has delayed its goal to achieve profitability, originally set for 2027, due to high spending on autonomous vehicle technology development.
Uber plans to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian and purchase up to 50,000 R2 SUVs for use as robotaxis, although Rivian has yet to demonstrate fully autonomous driving capabilities.
Rivian currently offers only a hands-off, eyes-on-the-road autonomous feature, indicating it is still early in developing the technology needed for robotaxis.