Rivian is pretty sure customers want AI, not Android Auto

Electric vehicle maker Rivian is about to launch its new SUV, the R2, on June 9. In a recent podcast appearance, the automaker’s software chief Wassym Bensaid dismissed the possibility of Rivian embracing popular third-party infotainment integrations like Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, saying that “deep AI integration” makes “the entire CarPlay debate completely obsolete.”

Appearing on the Decoder podcast to talk about the R2 and Rivian’s joint venture with Volkswagen, RV Tech, Bensaid told The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel that the company’s proprietary Rivian Assistant AI will be able to interface with other AI assistants like Gemini, eliminating the need to project software from your phone onto an in-car display.

Bensaid acknowledged that Rivian’s customers wanted integration with systems like Android Auto and CarPlay at one time, referencing surveys that showed “more than 70 percent of customers were requesting CarPlay.” But in a more recent survey, he says, that number was under 25 percent. Thanks to improvements in Rivian’s own software, Bensaid says, “CarPlay or Android Auto is no longer the topic of discussion.”

Patel pressed Bensaid on what seems like an irreplaceable benefit of platforms like Android Auto and CarPlay: baked in support for all your apps without any extra work for automakers. Bensaid said that “in the future,” it’ll be possible for Rivian Assistant to integrate with Gemini to control specific apps on your phone by voice, eliminating the need for popular third-party infotainment integrations.

Rivian’s been a notable US holdout in Android Auto and CarPlay adoption, and given Bensaid’s comments, it doesn’t seem like that’s likely to change any time soon.

Rivian describes the subscription-based Rivian Assistant as an “AI-based digital co-pilot.” As Bensaid explains it, the software is deeply integrated in Rivian’s vehicles, where it can do things like adjust some vehicle settings and features, summarize texts from a paired phone, and answer troubleshooting questions about your specific vehicle.