Aidan Gomez, a co-founder and the CEO of the generative AI startup Cohere, has been appointed to the board of electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian, as confirmed by a regulatory filing. This move indicates Rivian’s interest in incorporating AI into its operations and establishing itself as a software innovator in the automotive sector.
Rivian has expanded its board to include Gomez, and his term is set to conclude in 2026, according to the filing. Gomez’s extensive background lies in data science and artificial intelligence. In 2019, he founded Cohere with Nick Frosst and Ivan Zhang, focusing on developing AI foundation models aimed at enterprises. The startup provides its generative AI services to companies like Oracle and Notion.
Before founding Cohere, Gomez worked as a researcher at Google Brain, Google’s deep learning division under the leadership of Geoffrey Hinton, a Nobel Prize winner. Gomez is also renowned for his co-authorship of the 2017 technical paper “Attention Is All You Need,” which significantly influenced the development of today’s leading generative AI models.
His skills are expected to benefit Rivian, particularly as the company embarks on a $5.8 billion joint venture with Volkswagen Group aimed at software development. As part of this initiative, Rivian will contribute its expertise in electrical architecture to Volkswagen Group and will likely offer existing intellectual property rights related to the venture.
The joint venture might, in the future, commercialize its technology to other businesses. Additionally, since 2023, Rivian has been developing an AI assistant for its electric vehicles, according to Rivian’s chief software officer, Wassym Bensaid, during an interview with TechCrunch in March. Bensaid clarified that the AI work concerning the orchestration layer for an AI assistant is independent of the Volkswagen partnership.
RJ Scaringe, the founder and CEO of Rivian, has highlighted Gomez’s AI expertise as a valuable asset, emphasizing that Gomez’s insights and knowledge will assist Rivian in incorporating innovative technologies into their products, services, and manufacturing processes.
