supervised point-to-point – Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe says the company is on track to roll out a supervised self-driving system—point-to-point driving under human supervision—later this year. He compared the planned capability to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving, a step up from Rivian’s current Un
Rivian is aiming to move from driver-assist to something closer to real self-driving—this year.
At a Masters of Scale event in Anaheim on Thursday. CEO RJ Scaringe said the company is on track to release a supervised system that can handle point-to-point driving on routes with supervision from one destination to another. He framed the plan as a step that would be “very similar to Tesla’s FSD. ” pointing to an upgrade that could reach Rivian’s second-generation vehicles and its new R2.
“Later this year, we’ll have full supervised point-to-point, which will be very similar to Tesla’s FSD,” Scaringe said. “And that’ll roll out to all of our Gen 2 vehicles and, of course, R2.”
That promise is a marked contrast to Rivian’s current setup. The company’s existing self-driving feature is called Universal Hands-Free. Scaringe described the underlying capability as an ADAS that can manage steering and speed control on about 3.5 million miles of clearly-marked roads in the US and Canada. Universal Hands-Free, he said, does not navigate turns, traffic lights, or parking lots like Tesla’s FSD Supervised.
Scaringe’s comparison suggests Rivian sees a rapid path from its current “hands-free” system to a driving experience that can move between destinations—under supervision. The CEO did not specify whether the miles the self-driving technology can handle would be limited when it first launches. Rivian did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The timeline matters because it would compress a big leap in capability into the span between customer availability and what Rivian has already promised. Last December. Rivian announced a push to develop fully autonomous driving technology for its future vehicle lineup. enabling hands-free. eyes-off driving. At Thursday’s event, Scaringe added that unsupervised self-driving is planned for next year.
The company’s push is not only about selling cars with advanced driver assistance. Rivian has also positioned autonomy as a route toward robotaxi fleets. In March. the company signed a $1.25 billion deal with Uber. under which the ride-hailing company could buy up to 50. 000 R2 vehicles for its robotaxi aspirations.
There’s a clear sequencing to Rivian’s strategy in the way its CEO laid it out: supervised point-to-point driving later this year across Gen 2 vehicles and the R2. then an unsupervised version next year. The immediate question for consumers and the market is how quickly Rivian can expand capability beyond the confines of its current Universal Hands-Free system—especially around the areas it currently does not handle like turns. traffic lights. and parking lots.
Rivian RJ Scaringe supervised self-driving point-to-point driving Universal Hands-Free ADAS Tesla FSD Gen 2 vehicles R2 Uber deal robotaxi fleets autonomous driving
So like Tesla but Rivian edition? Cool I guess.
I don’t get it—“supervised” self-driving means nothing if you still have to watch it like a hawk. Also 3.5 million miles sounds made up lol. Later this year though??
They said “from one destination to another” but then it’s still only on clearly-marked roads? That’s basically not point-to-point if I can’t just go anywhere. My uncle has a Tesla and it still freaks out at turns, so I’m skeptical. And I’m pretty sure FSD doesn’t even work right without nags so what’s the point of switching wording?
RJ always talking like it’s just a software update away. Meanwhile I’ll be the one paying for whatever it does when it can’t handle traffic lights/parking lots. “Universal Hands-Free” sounds like the same thing with a new name. If it rolls out to Gen 2 and R2 then great… but I need it to actually not miss exits.