Rivian Explains Why CarPlay Debate Will Become ‘Completely Obsolete’

On the latest episode of The Verge‘s Decoder podcast, Rivian’s software chief Wassym Bensaid explained why the EV maker still refuses to offer Apple CarPlay.

In short, Bensaid said Rivian does not want CarPlay to fully take over the software experience.

“The challenge with screen mirroring solutions is that they take over every single pixel in the car,” he said.

Instead, Rivian prefers to offer its own interface with “end-to-end integration.”

Bensaid added that “deep AI integration into the car” will eventually make the debate over offering CarPlay in vehicles “completely obsolete.” He believes that Rivian owners will be able to access the core functionality of many apps through an AI agent, rather than needing to rely on CarPlay or Android Auto.

“I really believe that the way you interact with apps which are mono-threaded, single buttons, single icons, a lot of that will be now completely reshaped into a world where it will become an agentic integration that presents itself into a wholesome user experience to the user,” Bensaid explained. However, he admitted that an AI agent becoming an “alternative solution” to CarPlay apps will take time to materialize.

Already, Rivian owners are increasingly less interested in CarPlay, according to Bensaid. He said that Rivian’s internal statistics showed that more than 70% of customers wanted CarPlay when their vehicles first launched around five years ago, but he said a recent survey showed that figure is apparently less than 25% now.

“With the level of features that we have shipped to customers, with the level of end-to-end integration, with the level of convenience that we are bringing, CarPlay is, or Android Auto to that extent, is no longer the topic of discussion,” he said.

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