Electric car: how Rivian plans to use AI to bury Android Auto and CarPlay

Over the years, smartphone mirroring technologies on the car screen have developed significantly. And in fact, they have now become almost essential. Most of us use it every day, whether it's Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. And the vast majority of manufacturers offer these devices. Some have even gone further by integrating CarPlay Ultra. This is the case of Aston Martin, which was the first brand to do so. On the other hand, others are totally opposed to it.

This is for example the case of Tesla, but also of General Motors and Rivian. And now the American firm reveals the reason why it does not believe in this technology at all. Indeed, Wassym Bensaid, chief software officer of Rivian, spoke on this subject in The Verge's Decoder podcast. And he explains why he believes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will soon become obsolete.

Already, Wassym Bensaid recalls that Rivian has a very different vision from other manufacturers regarding the use of the touch screen. And for the firm, monopolizing each pixel of the latter is not useful to allow users to interact with their car.

Instead, she believes in artificial intelligence, and more specifically in the development of voice control. For Bensaid, “the way we interact with single-threaded applications, with single buttons and icons, will be completely remodeled to result in active integration offering a global user experience.”

Apple CarPlay will soon be obsolete

Rivian, for its part, made the choice from the start to turn to AI, by developing a dedicated assistant within its software ecosystem. The latter is capable of supporting many of the features offered by Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

And this while Bensaid believes that the system provided by the Apple brand is too intrusive. For the record, CarPlay Ultra now has access to all the car's driving data, including speed, among others.

This position is all the more delicate as Rivian develops part of its software with Volkswagen, via their joint venture. However, the German group wants to continue to offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to its customers: the Rivian teams therefore had to provide the necessary access in their software architecture.

And the American manufacturer is convinced that it made the right choice. Its spokesperson points out that with “the level of features that we have deployed to our customers, with the level of end-to-end integration, with the level of convenience that we offer, CarPlay, or Android Auto to that extent, is no longer a subject of discussion”. The engineer explains that when the Rivian R1S and R1T were launched, 70% of customers requested this function.

Today, that figure is down to just 25%. Thus, Wassym Bensaid believes that “the current boom in AI technologies once again confirms my conviction that RJ and Rivian made the right choice by investing in their own technologies and software”.

A point of context to keep in mind: this survey is internal to Rivian and only concerns its own customers or prospects. However, those who absolutely wanted CarPlay have undoubtedly given up on buying the brand, which can mechanically cause measured demand to fall. Bensaid himself acknowledges that an AI assistant capable of truly replacing CarPlay apps will take time to come to fruition.

For him, “we can now establish links with your personal device through a different interaction, rather than integrating the application end-to-end with the car or occupying the entire screen. A third way is now possible.”