Rivian buys UK team for 3D tests

Rivian has acquired Third Dimension, a 15-person company based in the United Kingdom. The purchase is part of Rivian's effort to create three-dimensional test environments for its self-driving software. TechCrunch first reported the transaction, and Rivian has not disclosed the final price.

Third Dimension was established in 2024 by Tolga Kart and Piotr Sokólski. Kart previously worked on Autopilot simulation at Tesla for more than two years. Before that, he spent five years as a senior director on Call of Duty at Activision. He later led engineering at Parallel Domain, a synthetic data company. Sokólski spent four years at Wayve, where he built photorealistic neural simulators for autonomous vehicles. The startup raised a $7 million seed round led by Felicis in October 2024. At that time, the company listed game studios, film producers, the US military, and autonomous vehicle firms as potential clients.

The entire Third Dimension team is now joining Rivian's autonomy and AI group. James Philbin leads that division. The move also expands Rivian's operational footprint in London, as most of the staff are based there. Philbin told TechCrunch that simulation is central to training and validating autonomous driving systems. He added that the team has built technology that turns real-world data into detailed 3D environments.

The new process uses footage from owners of the R1S, R1T, R2, and Rivian commercial vans who opt into camera data sharing. Philbin said the fleet sends back more than 400,000 driving sequences every day. Most of this material shows routine driving. The scenarios that most challenge autonomous systems are rare. Examples include a mattress in the fast lane, a police officer waving traffic through a red light, or a child running out between parked cars. Engineers can recreate these real scenes in 3D and alter variables instead of waiting months for the events to occur naturally.

Other companies are pursuing similar strategies. Waymo unveiled its Waymo World Model in February, which is built on Google DeepMind's Genie 3. The tool generates scenarios that vehicles have not previously encountered. Tesla has also demonstrated a neural world simulator for its Full Self-Driving software.

Rivian faces specific timeline pressures. In March, Uber agreed to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian to deploy R2 robotaxis. Only $300 million of that amount is paid upfront. The remaining funds depend on autonomy milestones. The first milestone requires 10,000 driverless R2 vehicles on Uber's network in San Francisco and Miami starting in 2028.

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