Beyond EVs: Rivian founder & CEO RJ Scaringe on AI, robotics and the next big bet

Joining me this week is RJ Scaringe, founder & CEO of Rivian, the electric automaker backed by Amazon and Volkswagen.

RJ has wanted to build cars for as long as he can remember — telling his father at age 10 that he hoped to one day start an automotive company.

Years later, in 2009, he took the leap. There was "no money, no team, no technology, no suppliers, no brand and no production infrastructure," as he puts it.

Now, as the company launches a new vehicle, doubles down on AI and autonomous driving, and charts a path to steady profitability, RJ takes us through the lessons from building an automaker from the ground up — and one of the world's most closely watched EV companies.

In this conversation, we dive into:

00:00 Introduction

01:26: Early beginnings

07:06: Starting Rivian from a clean sheet in 2009, post-recession

12:31: Navigating skepticism and 'comically bad' investor meetings in the early days

16:04: Meeting Jeff Bezos and securing Amazon's investment

17:24: Entering the market with its first two vehicles, the R1T and R1S

21:57: Launch of the R2 this year