Rivian rolls out 'Hey Rivian' AI assistant with full vehicle control
Electrek • • technology
Key Points:
- Rivian is rolling out its AI-powered Rivian Assistant to all Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1 owners via an over-the-air update, enabling voice control of core vehicle functions through a Connect+ subscription.
- Built on the Rivian Unified Intelligence framework, the assistant integrates custom large language models to understand natural language and vehicle context, allowing hands-free control of drive modes, climate, ride height, and more.
- The assistant supports multi-step commands, AI-enhanced messaging, vehicle troubleshooting, general knowledge queries, and agentic integrations starting with Google Calendar, enabling complex workflows like scheduling and navigation combined.
- Compared to Tesla’s Grok assistant, Rivian’s system offers more comprehensive native vehicle control from launch, while Tesla’s still lacks climate and media control; Rivian’s subscription is also priced lower at $14.99/month.
- Privacy controls allow users to disable wake words and limit data sharing, with personal context saved per driver profile; the feature is currently English-only and requires a cloud connection.