Rivian hires former Waymo exec for new autonomy, AI role

Rivian has hired former Waymo executive James Philbin to lead autonomy and AI at the automaker, a new role that signals the company's interest in automated driving technology. Philbin was director of software engineering for two years at Waymo. Before that, Philbin worked for five years at Amazon's self-driving subsidiary Zoox, where he lead computer vision and perception. "As we look at our future roadmap and the integral role of AI/ML, James' arrival couldn't come at a more impactful time," Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe wrote in a LinkedIn post. Scaringe reiterated that point Wednesday while onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt.