Aidan Gomez, co-founder and CEO of the generative AI startup Cohere, has been appointed to the board of electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian, as disclosed in a regulatory filing. This move indicates Rivian’s growing interest in leveraging AI in its operations and positioning itself as a leader in software development within the automotive sector.

The size of Rivian’s board has been increased, with Gomez’s term set to expire in 2026, according to the filing.

Gomez boasts an extensive background in data science and AI. He co-founded Cohere in 2019, alongside Nick Frosst and Ivan Zhang, with a focus on developing AI foundation models for enterprise clients. The startup provides its services to notable companies such as Oracle and Notion.

Prior to founding Cohere, Gomez worked as a researcher at Google Brain, the deep learning division of Google, led by Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton. He is also recognized for co-authoring the 2017 technical paper “Attention Is All You Need,” which laid the groundwork for many of today’s most advanced generative AI models.

Gomez’s expertise could be particularly valuable to Rivian as the company navigates its new $5.8 billion joint venture with Volkswagen Group, aimed at developing software. Under this joint venture, Rivian will share its expertise in electrical architecture with Volkswagen Group and its affiliated brands, and is expected to license its existing intellectual property rights to the venture.

There is a possibility that the joint venture may sell its technology to other companies in the future.

Since 2023, Rivian has been working on an AI assistant for its electric vehicles, according to Rivian’s chief software officer, Wassym Bensaid, in an interview with TechCrunch in March. The AI project, focusing on the orchestration layer or framework for an AI assistant, is separate from the joint venture with VW, Bensaid noted at the time.

Gomez’s AI expertise and background in data science are clearly appealing to Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe, who stated that his “thinking and expertise will support Rivian as we integrate new, cutting-edge technologies into our products, services, and manufacturing.”