Rivian's Bold Move: Building Its Own AI Chips for Autonomous Driving
Rivian, the electric vehicle manufacturer, is making a bold move by developing its own AI chips for autonomous driving. This move comes as a response to the growing competition in the market, with companies like Tesla and other automakers already working on this technology for years. The company's goal is to eventually sell Level 4 autonomous vehicles to customers, and it has unveiled several new features to support this goal.
At an event in Silicon Valley, Rivian showcased its proprietary silicon chip, the Rivian Autonomy Processor, which is just 5 nanometers in size. This chip is designed to integrate processing and memory onto a single multi-chip module and will power the company's third-generation computer. Rivian claims that its neural engine can perform an impressive 800 trillion operations per second (TOPS), and its third-generation computer can do 1,600 trillion 8-bit integer operations per second (INT8 TOPS) while utilizing data sparsity.
The chip can process an astonishing 5 billion pixels of camera data per second and features RivLink, a low-latency interconnect technology that allows for the connection of multiple processing chips. This technology is enabled by an in-house-developed AI compiler and platform software.
Rivian's move to develop its own chips aligns it with Tesla, as both companies are trying to brute-force their way to self-driving cars. However, the rest of the auto industry is increasingly relying on Nvidia's solutions. As an EV-only manufacturer, Rivian sees vertical integration as a key element in its future growth.
In addition to the new chip, Rivian is also introducing a series of advanced features for its vehicles. These include hands-free driver assist (Level 2 Plus) and eyes-off driving (Level 3). The company plans to roll out hands-free driving for its second-generation R1 vehicles on 3.5 million miles of roads across the US and Canada, a significant improvement over the 135,000 miles covered earlier this year. This feature will be available on more than just highways.
Rivian is also launching an AI-powered voice assistant, the Rivian Assistant, which will be deeply embedded in the vehicle's operations and pair with third-party apps like Google Calendar. The assistant is designed in-house but augmented by third-party models for enhanced functionality.
Despite the competition, Rivian remains a scrappy and capable player in the autonomous driving race. With its new chip and advanced features, the company is positioning itself to eventually catch up to the big names in the industry, including Tesla.
