Rivian announced on Thursday that it no longer expects to meet its long-standing goal of becoming profitable by 2027. The company attributed this delay to the significant costs of its accelerated self-driving technology development.
In a recent filing, Rivian stated it does not anticipate being EBITDA positive next year as research and development expenses rise. This admission was made alongside details of a new partnership with Uber to develop robotaxi versions of Rivian’s upcoming R2 SUV for the ride-hail network.
The company had previously assured shareholders that reaching positive EBITDA in 2027 was achievable, contingent on the successful launch of the R2 and growth in software revenue. However, several challenges have made that goal more difficult. The federal EV tax credit was discontinued, revenue from selling regulatory credits to other automakers has decreased, and costs have risen due to tariffs.
These pressures were already making profitability harder to reach. At least one analyst noted in February that they did not expect Rivian to achieve positive EBITDA for a number of years. The company reported total net losses of $27 billion between its 2009 founding and the end of 2025.
The primary reason for pushing back the profitability target is Rivian’s massive investment in autonomy. Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has stated the company is currently spending more on self-driving R&D than on any other area. Rivian’s annual filing shows it spent $1.7 billion on R&D in 2025, up from $1.6 billion the previous year. The company attributed this increase to costs for engineering, prototyping, and software to support the R2 launch and its AI and autonomy initiatives.
Rivian is developing its own comprehensive driving model and has designed custom processors and an autonomy computer to power the software. It aims to launch hands-off, eyes-off driving next year, with a longer-term goal of achieving “personal L4” autonomy, where a vehicle can operate without human intervention in specific areas.
The company first detailed many of these efforts publicly at its “Autonomy & AI Day” event in December. The newly announced Uber partnership represents an additional major endeavor. The deal involves Uber investing up to $1.25 billion in Rivian and potentially purchasing up to 50,000 R2 SUVs, though the initial commitment is for $300 million and an order for 10,000 vehicles, with much of the deal backloaded to around 2030.
Rivian faces other substantial expenses in the near future. It plans to start construction on a new factory in Georgia this year and is months away from beginning production of the R2 SUV. The company told investors in February it expects to spend between $1.95 billion and $2.05 billion this year.