DETROIT – Auto writer Paul Eisenstein from Headlight.News is on a mission this week to save dogs from testing lab experiments and shelters that kill dogs if they are not adopted within a specified period of time. It’s called operation Frodo. It’s the sixth year for this humanitarian effort.
Paul met other auto journalists in Omaha, Nebraska, to find homes for beagles and basset hounds in the Western US, including Oregon and Washington state. He returns to Detroit on Dec. 18.
Auto Writer Paul Eisenstein
Paul also reported some auto news in this video interview. Rivian announced plans to launch what it calls Universal Hands-Free (UHF) Driving in early 2026. The hands-free autonomous driving package, dubbed Autonomy Plus, will launch in early 2026 for customers with second-gen R1 models, and will be priced at $2,500 for a one-time purchase or $49.99 per month as a subscription.
The company says it will be available on more than 3.5 million miles of U.S. and Canadian roads, and it will also be capable of operating off-highway on roads with clearly painted lines.
Diving deeper: The AI event also included a few other key AI-related announcements. In-house silicon AI multi-chip design: Rivian is developing the Rivian Autonomy Processor (RAP1), a custom 5nm, multi-chip processor set to back the company’s Autonomy computer, starting in late 2026 with the upcoming R2 lineup.
Major AI update for the Rivian Autonomy Platform: The company is leaning further into AI with a ‘Large Driving Model’ (LDM) AI platform, set to be trained for self-driving.
Rivian Unified Intelligence and updated Rivian Assistant: Rivian is also leveraging AI into what it calls Rivian Unified Intelligence (RUI), a multi-modal and multi-LLM data foundation set to help improve service infrastructure, add predictive maintenance, and manage some vehicle functions, backed by an all-new Rivian Assistant AI voice interface.
Watch this video interview for more details.
You also can read Paul’s reviews on www.headlight.news.
