Rivian’s Software Chief, Wassym Bensaid — also co-CEO of its joint venture with Volkswagen Group — said the partnership could eventually create software for the wider auto industry.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, and first cited by InsideEVs, the executive said that the tech stack jointly developed by the two automakers “could become basically an opportunity for a standard technology stack that others can use as well.”
Bensaid, who was initially scheduled to speak at the Web Summit in Lisbon this week, was instead present at a media event celebrating the joint venture’s first anniversary.
Reference OS for Auto Industry
Bensaid believes RV Tech’s software could become the Android of cars — a standard “reference operating system” that other automakers could use as the foundation for their own technology stacks.
The software chief admitted that licensing out tech is “a very different ball game and a very different margin profile” compared to “making cars,” referring to Rivian‘s core business.
The EV maker has a record industry-wide cumulative loss of over $23 billion, as it moves into the launch of its more affordable vehicle, and despite better-than-expected results in the third quarter.
RV Tech will work in “a solution that can be easily customizable, that can be easily expandable, so that it’s ready once we have bandwidth to go, and truly work on those third-party OEM opportunities,” Bensaid added.
First VW Vehicles
After integrating the software within the upcoming Rivian R2, the joint venture will include it within a selected range of models from Volkswagen Group‘s brands.
Bensaid confirmed to InsideEVs that the architecture concepts for the first vehicles from VW have been finished.
The information was revealed just a few hours after the German automaker announced that engineering prototypes of the ID.1 are already undergoing testing at RV Tech’s facilities in California.
Production of the compact vehicle is expected to begin in 2027.
Other vehicles include a model by the premium brand Audi and the first electric vehicle by VW-backed Scout Motors.
According to Rivian‘s Software Head, the Audi and Scout will have very similar architectures, each using three zonal ECUs — such as the second-generation Rivian R1 models.
Volkswagen revealed on Wednesday that the models will begin winter testing in the first quarter of 2026.
ICE Vehicles
At the same media event, Carsten Helbing — the joint venture’s co-CEO and Bensaid’s counterpart at Volkswagen Group — confirmed that the software will also be compatible with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
“For sure, it is an extremely capable architecture and we could allow for future use to also use it for ICE,” Helbing said.
The tech chief added, however, that “as we already outlined, our clear focus is on BEV [battery electric vehicle] implementation and whatever comes after that is to be decided at a later stage.”
The information revealed contradicts an earlier report by the German outlet Manager Magazin, which had stated that Rivian would neither work on petrol vehicles nor develop a highly customizable software stack.
Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies
Exactly a year ago, the two automakers formalized their partnership, with the German company committing an investment of up to $5.8 billion in the EV maker.
In turn, Volkswagen adopts Rivian‘s zonal architecture and software stack for its future electric vehicles.
The Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) is expected to be used on up to 30 million vehicles across multiple brands and price segments of the Group.
A year after its inception, the joint venture counts with over 1,500 employees and operates in the US, Canada, Sweden, Serbia and, as of recently, Germany.
Volkswagen concentrates most of its human resources in Europe, where it has a larger network, while Rivian‘s efforts are primarily in the US.
The joint venture has also established a development team in Canada earlier this year.
RV Tech is headquartered in Palo Alto, California — where Rivian maintains substantial operations focused on autonomy, AI, software, and hardware development.
VW Impact on Rivian Financials
Upon reporting its quarterly earnings results last week, Rivian‘s management disclosed that about half of the total Software and Services revenue came from the joint venture.
The EV maker received the first two $1 billion tranches of VW’s $5.8 billion investment in the first and second quarters, after reporting a positive gross profit in both periods.
It expects an additional $1 billion equity infusion in 2026, a $1 billion loan in October 2026, and roughly $460 million in equity either in January 2028 or upon the start of joint vehicle production (which is likely to be anticipated).
Volkswagen is set to surpass Amazon as Rivian‘s largest shareholder as of the third quarter.
As of June 30, Volkswagen held 146 million Rivian shares. It did not yet disclose its quarterly
Amazon has held a 158-million-dollar stake in the company since its initial investment.
