However, there is a flip side to this. More and more automakers are integrating Google properly into their systems, which gives Google, the company with the most information on the planet, even more information. If a company isn’t selling your data but using it anonymously to improve its business, then that’s an improvement in privacy. On the other hand, most of us are happy with Google and Apple collecting our data in exchange for incredibly useful systems built on the data the two companies collect.
Here are the bottom lines for Rivian, Tesla, and GM, though: If you give people the choice of using your system and one of the two systems they’re overwhelmingly likely to want to use, you have a shot at satisfying all of your customers. If you lock them into just your system, then your system better be fantastic and as good as that made by companies specializing in software and have been at the top of the game for decades. If you’re having to update every three weeks when Apple ‘s update schedule is measured in years, that should tell you something.