Rivian’s AI Assistant Will Order Your Coffee & More in 2027

Rivian Assistant is about to get a lot more useful. In an interview on InsideEVs’ Plugged-In podcast, Rivian Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid said new AI integrations coming next year will let the assistant order your coffee on the way to work and handle service appointments for you.

“We’re very close,” Bensaid said. “We’re talking about things that we will launch in 2027.”

Coffee Runs and Self-Booking Service

Rivian Assistant launched on the R1 in May with Google Calendar support, and Gmail followed in October. Next, Bensaid wants it to work with apps and services outside the car.

Rivian Wave

“What I’m really excited about is the possibility in the future where you can bring your own personal digital ecosystem to the car through these AI integrations, and then also the possibility that you can start integrating with multiple other agentic experiences,” he said.

One example he gave was ordering coffee from the right place at the right time, so it’s ready and still at the right temperature when you arrive. Service is another. Bensaid said Rivian’s AI will be able to diagnose issues on its own, book a service appointment, and make sure the service center has the right parts before you show up.

He called that “a complete paradigm shift” for service. It would also save Rivian money, making service more competitive from a cost standpoint.

These features are already in the works, but Bensaid said they need to be more reliable before they’re ready for everyone.

Voice Control for Everything

Rivian’s long-term goal is for the assistant to do anything you can do on the touchscreen. “Our philosophy is eventually, through that deep OS integration, the end state is really having that ability to, through voice and through AI, you will be able to do everything that you’re doing with your fingers on the screen,” Bensaid said.

Rivian Wave

It’s not perfect yet. Owners have complained about some of the assistant’s shortcomings, and Bensaid admitted that “there’s still some refinements that we need to continue doing.” He said some of that work is on Rivian, while some depends on its AI partners.

This lines up with what RJ Scaringe said last month about bringing third-party AI agents to Rivian vehicles, including ones from companies like Anthropic. Scaringe was clear that agents won’t get access to steering, braking, or other vehicle-level controls.

Built In-House

Bensaid also explained how Rivian’s in-house approach makes this possible. The R2 moved from QNX to open Linux, giving Rivian full access to the source code, and it runs its infotainment on a cheaper set of chips. The R2 also uses about 70% less wiring than the first-gen R1.

The R2 got Rivian Assistant in a recent update, and its 200 Sparse TOPS of Edge AI compute can run a local language model. Rivian is also licensing parts of its AI assistant to Volkswagen as part of their joint venture.

Rivian’s AI & Autonomy Day in December should give owners a closer look at what’s coming before these features start rolling out next year.