Rivian acquires UK startup Third Dimension to speed up self-driving development
U.S. electric vehicle maker Rivian has acquired Third Dimension, a U.K. startup that uses AI to turn images and video into lifelike 3D worlds. Rivian will use the technology to speed up its driver-assistance and self-driving systems.
Electric vehicle maker Rivian has bought Third Dimension, a U.K.-founded startup that uses artificial intelligence to build lifelike three-dimensional environments from images and video. The financial terms were not disclosed. Rivian plans to use the technology to turn real-world data into 3D simulations, helping it develop advanced driver-assistance features and the self-driving system for robotaxis it intends to supply to ride-hailing company Uber.
Team and funding
Third Dimension's 15-person team, most of it based in the U.K., will join Rivian's autonomy and AI group, which is led by James Philbin. He told TechCrunch in an interview that the purchase gives Rivian a chance to expand its AI hub in London.
The company was founded in 2024 by CEO Tolga Kart and Piotr Sokólski. It raised $7 million in seed funding from venture capital firms including Abstract Ventures, MVP, Soma Capital and Solari Capital. The technology was originally built to speed up video game development, but the founders also saw uses in defense and autonomous vehicles.
Why simulation matters
Simulation is a key tool for developers of self-driving systems, who use it to train and validate their software. Simulators have traditionally been built on rendering or video game engines and often relied on synthetic data. Kart said a quality gap between such virtual environments and the real world remains, and the usual workaround is to feed simulators ever-larger volumes of data. Third Dimension's AI-based approach aims to match the physical world more closely.
Rivian collects driving data from tens of thousands of R1S pickups, R1S SUVs, delivery vans and R2 SUVs on the road, provided owners have enabled external camera sharing. The data is aggregated and anonymized. According to Philbin, Rivian receives more than 400,000 sequences per day from customer fleets. The new technology will let the company simulate complex driving conditions without waiting for rare real-world edge cases to occur.
