Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian has acquired Third Dimension, a U.K.-based startup founded by veterans of the gaming and autonomous vehicle industries. The company uses artificial intelligence (AI) to transform images and videos into realistic 3D environments.
However, Rivian is not entering the gaming industry. Instead, it plans to use Third Dimension’s technology to convert real-world data into 3D simulations, accelerating the development of its advanced driver-assistance systems and autonomous driving technology for robotaxis it plans to supply to Uber.
Although the financial terms of the acquisition remain undisclosed, Third Dimension’s 15-member team, most of whom are based in the U.K., will join Rivian’s autonomy and AI division, led by James Philbin. According to Philbin, the acquisition also creates an opportunity for Rivian to expand its AI hub in London.
Founded in 2024 by CEO Tolga Kart and Piotr Sokólski, Third Dimension raised $7 million in seed funding from venture capital firms, including Abstract Ventures, MVP, Soma Capital, and Solari Capital. Although its technology was originally developed to accelerate video game production, the founders identified additional applications in defense and autonomous vehicles.
Under Rivian’s ownership, the team will now focus on automated driving. Currently, Rivian offers its “Universal Hands-Free” driving software, which allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel on highways while continuing to monitor the road. By the end of the year, the company plans to introduce an upgraded version that can manage an entire journey across surface streets and highways without requiring drivers to touch the wheel. However, drivers must remain attentive and be prepared to take control when necessary.
Meanwhile, Rivian is pursuing full autonomy for its R2 SUV robotaxis, which are expected to become available through the Uber app in 2028.
“The team is excited to be able to focus on one problem,” Kart said. “I think as a small company, having to serve many, many different masters is very hard, and so we’re very excited to come work on a problem that has such an amount of scale, where our technology makes a true difference.”
Simulation plays a critical role in autonomous vehicle development, helping engineers train and validate self-driving systems. Traditionally, developers have built simulators using rendering technologies or video game engines, often relying on synthetic data. Although these virtual environments can resemble real-world conditions, a gap between simulated and physical environments persists, Kart explained. To address this limitation, developers typically feed increasingly large volumes of data into simulators in an effort to improve their accuracy.
Third Dimension uses AI to replicate real-world environments more closely. Combined with Rivian’s extensive data, the technology could become a valuable tool for simulating complex driving scenarios.
“For us, it’s about taking real scenarios but making them simulatable,” Philbin said. “These are not synthetic kinds of video game styles; they’re real things that happen in the world, but now we get that extra dial of being able to move the cameras around, shift other agents, and have maybe different lighting or weather conditions. So it’s a really powerful tool for us.”
