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Rivian\u2019s chief software officer, Wassym Bensaid, joined Nilay Patel in the latest Decoder interview<\/a>. And his comments on CarPlay show Rivian continuing to double down on its refusal to support Apple\u2019s platform.<\/p>\n Rivian\u2019s software chief explains why customers don\u2019t need CarPlay<\/p>\n Nilay Patel\u2019s Decoder podcast often features high-profile guests in the automotive world, and Patel always asks about CarPlay. Last fall, for example, Rivian\u2019s CEO RJ Scaringe joined the show and said that<\/a> \u201ccustomers will appreciate\u201d the lack of CarPlay eventually.<\/p>\n Decoder\u2019s latest episode<\/a> features Rivian\u2019s software chief, Wassym Bensaid. It arrives shortly after Rivian launched its highly anticipated AI assistant<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition to talking about the assistant, and Patel\u2019s positive and negative experiences with it, the conversation highlights CarPlay.<\/p>\n Bensaid explains that the whole debate over excluding CarPlay is made \u201ccompletely obsolete\u201d by the rise of AI. Here\u2019s the full quote:<\/p>\n What we\u2019re seeing right now with the advancement of AI technologies is just another reason why I deeply believe that RJ and Rivian made the right choice by investing into our own technology and software. Cars are moving from, as you said, the buzzword \u201csoftware-defined\u201d to \u201cAI-defined.\u201d The possibilities now for such deep AI integration in the car make the entire CarPlay debate completely obsolete.<\/p>\n He goes on to say that \u201cagentic integration\u201d will entirely upend the way users interact with apps.<\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, Bensaid does tout internal surveys to support Rivian\u2019s approach to building its own software systems. He said that five years ago, CarPlay was the top request from Rivian customers. After shipping the R1T and R1S, \u201cmore than 70 percent of customers were requesting CarPlay.\u201d <\/p>\n However, in a recent survey \u201cthat number is less than 25 percent.\u201d That\u2019s a big shift, though I do wonder if the data shows any change from prospective customers, not people who already drive a Rivian.<\/p>\n You can read or listen to the full interview here on The Verge<\/a>.<\/p>\n Do you think CarPlay\u2019s importance is changing at all with the rise of AI tools? Let us know in the comments.<\/p>\n Best iPhone accessories<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Rivian-next-gen-R1-hero.jpg.webp\")
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