Rivian Announces Built-in Digital AssistantMotorTrendVoice control has been around in cars forever, and digital assistants are hardly new. Rivian Assistant, though, is promising to be a new kind of both that not only talks to you conversationally but can also control nearly every aspect of your car, not to mention access the internet at large. It’ll be rolled out to all compatible Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1T and R1S vehicles and incorporated into the upcoming R2, but only if you pay for the Connect+ wireless service.Why It MattersMost in-vehicle digital assistants and voice command systems are constrained because they were developed by third parties. Whether you like Siri or Alexa or Gemini, each was grafted onto cars rather than designed for them. As a result, they often can only control a few vehicle functions, can’t read the owner’s manual, and generally don’t do a whole lot. Rivian says its assistant is different because it was developed internally and is connected to every aspect of the vehicle and the company through the Rivian Unified Intelligence digital framework and the vehicle’s Zonal electrical architecture.In short, because Rivian develops most of its own electronic control units rather than buying them from third-party suppliers, Rivian Assistant can talk to any vehicle system the company allows it access to. It also means the assistant can read the digital owner’s manual and answer technical or maintenance questions about the specific vehicle it’s in. This means rather than just turn on the seat heaters or change the radio station, it can do things like change the ride height or drive mode, open and close the frunk, and tell you how much range you’ll have left at your destination.2026 Rivian R2.MotorTrend - MotorTrendThe CarPlay/Android Auto Replacement?The highlight for most owners, though, will be its text messaging system. No automaker has come up with an in-house texting program that works nearly as well as Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, and Rivian refuses to incorporate either of those phone-mirroring programs. Now, it says Rivian Assistant will be able to read and summarize your incoming texts then help you draft your response. If it works anywhere near as well as CarPlay, it would be a huge upgrade for Rivian owners.AdvertisementAdvertisementBecause the AI is agentic, you can talk to it like a normal person rather than using specific commands. Rivian says it understands context, so you can ask it to do things the way you’d ask a passenger. Their example, tell it to “make everyone’s seat toasty except mine,” and it’ll turn on all the other seat heaters but not the driver’s. Many digital assistants promise this with varying degrees of success, so we’ll see how well Rivian’s works when we test it.Search the InternetAlthough it’s built into the vehicle, a lot of processing is no doubt handled over the air, which is why it requires the Connect+ cellular data connection. This means Rivian Assistant can also consult the internet, answering about any question you can ask it including contextual ones like, “When did this song come out?” It’ll also allow you to more easily search for generic destinations like a coffee shop on your route rather than having to spell out the exact stop you want to add.Rivian says it’ll also play nice with third-party apps, though the only one available at launch will be Google Calendar. The assistant will be able to read your calendar and move appointments or let the person you’re scheduled to meet know when you’ll be there based on your navigation system’s estimate.Rivian R1T/R1S dashboard.MotorTrend - MotorTrendPrivacy MattersRivian says that while the assistant will learn your routines, it will keep that information to itself secured in your driver profile. You also have the option of turning off its memory so it can’t track you, limit your location sharing, and turn off the “Hey Rivian” prompt. (You can still activate the assistant with the wake word off by holding the leftmost steering wheel button.)AdvertisementAdvertisementBecause AI is known to hallucinate, Rivian warns the assistant “may occasionally provide inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated information” and urges you to “independently verify any critical information.”For right now, Rivian Assistant only speaks English. The company has not indicated whether other languages will be supported in the future, but it seems likely especially as the company considers international expansion.