Rivian Opens Invite-Only Point to Point Driver-Assist Beta as It Pitches Its Tech to Other Automakers

RIVN opened its Autonomy Early Access Program in October, inviting a limited number of owners to try Point to Point, a supervised feature that lets the vehicle handle turns, highway merges and surface streets along a planned route. Any Gen 2 R1 or R2 owner with an active paid Autonomy+ subscription can apply, while Gen 1 R1 and Canadian owners are excluded from this first phase. AutoGuide reported that the initial phase covers California and Florida.

Point to Point wires Rivian's existing Universal Hands-Free system into turn-by-turn navigation and remains Level 2 driver assistance, so drivers must stay attentive. James Philbin, Rivian's senior vice president of Autonomy and AI, said the company is tracking toward a year-end launch for this first public preview, ahead of a wider rollout in 2027.

The beta sits inside a bigger strategy. In an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt, Scaringe described plans to license Rivian's electric architecture, software, AI models and autonomy stack to other companies, and said he wants to expand the $5.8 billion joint venture with Volkswagen Group to cover AI and autonomy. He also said third-party AI agents will eventually run in Rivian vehicles, while vehicle-level controls such as braking and steering will not be handed to an agent (TechCrunch). Coverage named labs such as Anthropic as examples, but Scaringe's quoted remarks did not name a partner or give a timeline.

The next marker is Rivian's Autonomy & AI Day on December 9, where investors will look for how quickly the early access group grows, any pricing for the autonomy features, and whether licensing talks produce customers beyond the existing Volkswagen venture.