I drove Tesla FSD, Rivian Autonomy+ ‘hands-free’ driving systems. Here’s how they compare

Livestream Menu Rivian is trying to catch up to Tesla's "hands-free" capabilities, but with additional safety guardrails. Based on recent drives totaling hundreds of miles, Rivian has surpassed legacy competitors such as General Motors with its advanced driver-assistance system but is still behind Tesla. Rivian expects to deliver point-to-point driving later this year but, for now, its advanced driver-assistance system is a giant leap forward for the company. RIVN SPCX TSLA Rivian's in-vehicle AI assistant launched in its vehicles on May 12, 2026. Michael Wayland / CNBC DETROIT — What's the best advanced driver-assistance system on the market? Ask Rivian Automotive's new artificial intelligence and it will say its creator. "Rivian's is truly exceptional … an unmatched blend of safety and technology," the chatbot told me during hourslong drives in one of its R1T pickup trucks in which the vehicle largely controlled itself on several Midwest highways. While the Rivian AI bot may be biased, that's exactly the company's goal with a new generation of vehicle software and technologies: to be the best. Rivian is trying to catch up to — and then surpass — Tesla's FSD (Supervised) capabilities, but with additional safety guardrails that the Elon Musk company doesn't use. Based on recent drives totaling hundreds of miles, Rivian's Autonomy+ has surpassed legacy competitors such as General Motors' Super Cruise with its ADAS. But it's still playing catch up to Tesla's FSD when it comes to nonhighway driving and point-to-point driving, where a vehicle is designed to navigate itself from start to finish. I drove a recent version of FSD (Supervised) v14 to compare the technology. Rivian expects to deliver point-to-point driving later this year but, for now, its system is a giant leap forward for the company compared with what it previously offered and is clearly laying the groundwork to better compete with Tesla. "That's the next step," said James Philbin, senior vice president of autonomy and AI at Rivian. "Tesla's system you use is a point-to-point system. So that that's the next big leap for us in a way, is getting to that same point-to-point type interaction and that system where it really does the full driving task." To be clear, no vehicle on sale today is self-driving or autonomous. Drivers always need to pay attention and be ready to take over. Many advanced driver-assistance systems, or ADAS, can control a vehicle's speed, braking and steering using cameras, sensors and/or mapping data.