American electric vehicle maker Rivian will open a new office in the UK dedicated to developing artificial intelligence and autonomous driving technologies.
Based in London, the new division has already started hiring senior staff responsible for software, machine learning and AI, overlooking the development of new algorithms for autonomous driving.
“Our mission is to solve the autonomous driving problem,” states one job posting to social media platform LinkedIn.
The move will allow Rivian to tap the UK’s expertise in self-driving vehicles, with them having been permitted to test on the nation’s public roads for the past decade.
Among the most prominent companies to take advantage of that was Nissan, which ran a fleet of modified Leaf EVs for eight years. It clocked 16,000 miles in total, without incident.
That scheme is soon set to expand: the government has announced that it will allow taxi and bus firms to run autonomous vehicles, without human supervision, in a pilot scheme from next spring. A wider roll-out is planned for two years’ time.
“Self-driving vehicles are one of the most exciting opportunities to improve transport for so many people, especially those in rural areas or unable to drive,” said Lilian Greenwood, minister for the future of roads.
Among the biggest beneficiaries of any development work done by Rivian in the UK will be the Volkswagen Group, which last year invested £4.6 billion in the American firm.
It plans to use Rivian’s software architecture in its next-generation EVs, starting with the ID 1 city car due in 2027.
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