Rivian rolls out AI voice assistant to Gen 1 and Gen 2 vehicles

rivian is rolling out its new ai-powered voice assistant to gen 1 and gen 2 vehicles today via a software update. built on the company's rivian unified intelligence platform and augmented by third-party models, the assistant allows drivers to control core vehicle functions like hvac and drive modes verbally without android auto or carplay. the system supports natural language queries to perform complex tasks, such as reading and rescheduling google calendar events or finding nearby car washes, though users must subscribe to the connect plus service to access the feature.