Rivian Acquires Third Dimension to Build 3D Autonomy Tests From Fleet Data

Rivian has acquired Third Dimension, a 15-person UK startup, to integrate its generative AI tools into the electric vehicle maker's self-driving development pipeline.

The company did not disclose the purchase price for the acquisition. TechCrunch first reported the deal. Third Dimension, which was founded in 2024, specializes in building three-dimensional environments compatible with game engines. The startup raised a $7 million seed round in October 2024 led by Felicis. At that time, it listed game studios, film production, the US military, and autonomous vehicle companies as potential clients.

The founders bring specific experience in autonomous simulation. CEO Tolga Kart previously spent more than two years at Tesla working on Autopilot simulation. Before Tesla, he served as a senior director on Call of Duty at Activision for five years. He later led engineering at synthetic data company Parallel Domain. Cofounder Piotr Sokólski spent four years at Wayve developing photorealistic neural simulators for self-driving cars. The entire team is moving into Rivian's autonomy and AI group, which is led by James Philbin. This move also expands Rivian's operational presence in London.

Philbin told TechCrunch that simulation is central to training and validating the company's autonomous driving systems. He noted that Third Dimension has built technology that turns real-world data into detailed 3D environments. The process relies on footage from owners of the R1S, R1T, R2, and commercial vans who opt into camera data sharing. According to Philbin, the fleet sends back more than 400,000 driving sequences every day. While most of this material is uneventful, the rare scenarios that challenge autonomous systems, such as a mattress in the fast lane or a child running between parked cars, are difficult to wait for in natural occurrence.

Engineers can now recreate these real scenes in three dimensions and alter variables to test system responses. This approach follows similar efforts by competitors. Waymo unveiled its World Model in February, built on Google DeepMind's Genie 3, to generate scenarios its vehicles have not encountered. Tesla has also demonstrated a neural world simulator for its Full Self-Driving software.

The acquisition occurs as Rivian faces time pressure from its partnership with Uber. In March, Uber agreed to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian to deploy R2 robotaxis. Only $300 million is paid upfront, with the remainder contingent on autonomy milestones. These milestones include placing 10,000 driverless R2 vehicles on Uber's network in San Francisco and Miami beginning in 2028.

Consumer timelines for autonomy have also shifted. Rivian's point-to-point driving feature is scheduled to reach a small group of invited Autonomy+ owners later this year. Those testers must sign a nondisclosure agreement. CEO RJ Scaringe initially promised eyes-off driving for 2026 in January 2025, but the company now targets 2027 for that capability. Level 4 capability is planned for 2028 on the Gen 3 hardware shown at Rivian's AI and Autonomy Day.