Other Manufacturers Kicking the Tires on Rivian Software / Interested in Partnership

[Rivian Mom]

Saw multiple reports yesterday morning about other manufacturers reaching out to Rivian about a partnership similar to VW. You can read the report via the link below.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/rivian-says-other-automakers-knocking-door-about-tech-vw-joint-venture-2025-01-24/

I found the report to be very interesting considering the timing relative to the other reports of Rivian moving towards more autonomy built into its platform and the recent Executive Orders regarding in-car technology from China.

The EO effectively eliminated some major players from the board for any legacy auto makers who were looking to outsource autonomy integration or were going to rely on Chinese technology to power their autonomous platforms. For companies that see in house development as too big of a fish to swallow, the idea of VW's JV with Rivian is probably very appealing. I think there's skin for VW as well, since they could theoretically create a software stack that works in other vehicles together under the JV and benefit from licensing as a partner.

I personally don't think that these things are happening in a vacuum, and it could lead to some really interesting developments around the time that Rivian releases their full year results for 2024.