Rivian delays 2027 profit goal to prioritize autonomy R&D

On Thursday, electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian disclosed that it no longer expects to meet its 2027 profitability goal. The company stated in a company filing that it does not expect to be EBITDA positive—earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization—by next year. This shift comes as the automaker redirects its capital toward self-driving technology. Joseph Spak, an analyst at financial institution UBS, had previously noted that he did not expect the company to reach positive EBITDA for a number of years, pointing to the company’s total net losses of $27 billion recorded between its inception in 2009 and the end of 2025.

The primary driver of this delayed profitability is Rivian’s heavy investment in research and development. The company’s annual filing shows that R&D spending rose to $1.7 billion in 2025, up from $1.6 billion in 2024. Rivian attributed this increase to “increases in engineering, design, and development costs, prototyping costs, and software expenses to support our R2 launch and AI and autonomy initiatives.” This spending is set to continue, with the company expecting to spend between $1.95 billion and $2.05 billion this year. Additionally, Rivian plans to start building a factory in Georgia this year.

To offset these costs and scale its technology, Rivian announced a partnership with ride-hailing company Uber to develop robotaxi (autonomous ride-hailing) versions of its upcoming R2 SUV (an upcoming vehicle model). The terms of the deal include:

• An initial investment of $300 million from Uber.
• An initial order of 10,000 R2 SUVs.
• A total potential investment of up to $1.25 billion from Uber.
• A potential purchase of up to 50,000 R2 SUVs, with much of the deal backloaded to around 2030.

Rivian is focusing its efforts on building its own large driving model and autonomy computer. The automaker hopes to launch eyes-off, hands-off driving next year. Its ultimate goal is to achieve personal L4 capabilities—referring to Level 4 autonomous driving as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers, where a vehicle can operate without human intervention in specific areas. Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe recently showcased these driver-assistance capabilities to investors and media at the company’s Silicon Valley campus.

Why it matters

Rivian is betting its long-term viability on winning the autonomy race, sacrificing near-term profitability to build the software and hardware stack necessary for a robotaxi future with partners like Uber.