GoKawiilIn Brief
Rivian is laying off hundreds of workers just one week after it began deliveries of its hotly-anticipated R2 SUV, the company has confirmed to TechCrunch.
The company said the layoffs will affect less than 2% of its overall workforce, and that it was done to boost efficiency. It’s at least the fourth round of cuts Rivian has made since the beginning of 2024. The Wall Street Journal first reported the new round of cuts on Tuesday.
“We recently restructured a handful of teams within Rivian as we work to profitably scale our business,” the company said in a statement. Rivian said the cuts impact its service and customer teams, which include sales and marketing.
Rivian had been looking to turn its first profit in 2027 after accumulating losses of around $30 billion to date. But Rivian pushed that goal back in March because of how much money it’s spending on developing autonomous vehicle technology.
The profitability delay was revealed to investors alongside news that Uber plans to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian and purchasing as many as 50,000 R2 SUVs to be used as robotaxis. Rivian has yet to demonstrate that it can develop such capabilities, though, as it currently only offers a hands-off, eyes-on-the-road feature.