Compilation / Zhang Gull
Editor/ Qian Yaguang
Design / Leather
Source/POLITICO By Lean Nylen
Today, the most common topic in the automotive industry, besides electrification, chips, and batteries, we often see such ambitions in the news: from car companies to technology companies. In fact, the real tech companies are already here on their own.
When Ford announced that it would pre-install Google Maps, Assistant and Game Store for its cars starting in 2023, ceo Jim Farley said that as two of the biggest leaders in the U.S. automotive and Internet industries, the historic collaboration also marked the beginning of a "reinvention" of the car — it would be an office on wheels that would connect everything you could imagine, even better than a phone or laptop.
Announcing his 6-year partnership with Google on CNBC, Farley said: "We are constantly investing hundreds of millions of dollars every year to build cars, but only maintaining the most basic universal experience, far from being comparable to smartphones." ”
In the interests of both sides, Through this cooperation, Ford has re-consolidated the prestige that Tesla should have as a classic car brand, and Google has also been given the opportunity to show its products to millions of drivers and passengers.
The smartphone war is over, and Google and Apple have won. Now, the two winners have turned their attention to cars again, and Amazon has joined the new Monopoly game.
Draft: Levy Creative▼
The embarrassment of traditional car companies
In the past few decades, automakers often need to start designing cars 3-5 years before the vehicle is on the road, so it is easy to fall behind the pace of technological innovation.
James Hodgson, a self-driving car analyst at ABI Research, said the technology of new cars today is years outdated by the time they reach dealers, and the connectivity of the Internet and consumer expectations for devices are much higher.
This mismatch has forced automakers to outsource the entertainment capabilities of dashboards to tech companies, and customers are able to connect their advanced smartphones to automotive systems while driving. Today, almost all cars support Apple's CarPlay or Google's Android Auto.
Automakers have been trying to incorporate cutting-edge technology into the cars themselves, but they are somewhat weak. As a result, they are also increasingly eager to get help from Silicon Valley, hoping to adopt Silicon Valley technology and profitable business models that allow consumers to order services on a monthly basis, rather than spending money on products at once.
The stakes are enormous. Tech companies and automakers envision a future where passengers can seamlessly blend work, play and chores, easily ordering, scheduling work sessions or watching movies in the comfort of their cars. Driving data on these vehicles can also automatically update maps, inform city workers of road conditions, and tell brick-and-mortar retailers where customers are driving.
Jim Heffner, vice president of Cox Automotive Mobility who specializes in autonomous and connected cars, said: "Driving is no longer the focus, data will be the core cornerstone. Apple, Google and other companies all want to be major players in this space. ”
Apple first released CarPlay in 2014, and Google followed up with Android Auto the following year. Drivers can make calls, listen to music, or play Netflix, but all the work is based on the phone, just output on the car's speakers and screen.
Now, that's exactly what they want to change — building software for the car itself.
Google: Big shots
Back in 2015, Google and Ford began talking about a partnership to pair Google's software and self-driving car division Waymo with Ford's car manufacturing skills. As Ford insisted that the technology be unique to its products, the deal broke down. Because Google wants it to also be able to sell its self-driving technology to other automakers.
The breakdown of the talks also led to the ouster of Ford's then-CEO, Mark Fields, who was questioned whether he could lead Ford to make substantial progress in autonomous driving and accelerate corporate transformation.
At the same time, Google continues to expand its Android ecosystem for cars. Volvo, Stellantis and General Motors have all struck deals with Google.
Like smartphones, car companies can simply use the Android operating system as the basic software for their entertainment devices. But if they want some of Google's more popular products, like Google Maps or Google Voice Assistant, they have to formally sign a contract with Google.
Google offers car companies a package called Google Automotive Services (GAS), there is no single choice, only to sign the entire package. For example, to gain access to Google Maps, car companies must agree to google's Play Store and voice assistant.
Honda, Volvo, and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance at the time all agreed to use the package, while Chrysler, Jeep, and Plymouth only used the Android operating system, with Amazon's Alexa as the main voice assistant and TomTom as the navigation.
GM has also taken a compromise strategy, using Google from 2022. Among the earlier models, GM developed its own navigation system based on Mapbox, called Maps+, which was one of Google's few remaining map competitors.
Finally, Ford finally signed an agreement under the leadership of new CEO Farley, allowing automaker engineers to work directly with Google's software designers to embed technology into cars while creating self-driving cars. They call this collaboration the "Team Upshift."
Waymo, which became an independent brand of Google's parent company Alphabet in 2016, began offering self-driving taxi services in Chandler, a phoenix suburb of Arizona. In the summer of 2021, the service has expanded to San Francisco. Waymo's carefully selected passengers, requesting services through an app, can shuttle through much of the city, not the city center, of course.
The self-driving company has also partnered with Volvo, Chrysler and Jaguar Land Rover to incorporate its technology into their cars, though none of them have launched a product yet.
Google's involvement in the automotive ecosystem is becoming so broad that the Connected Car Systems Alliance, a leading industry standards organization, announced in October 2021 that it would set an international benchmark for software integration between cars and Android systems.
Apple: A two-pronged approach
There are currently more than 600 CarPlay-compatible models on the market from multiple automakers. Apple is undoubtedly the leader in in-vehicle intelligent systems.
Apple is reportedly planning to work with automakers to upgrade CarPlay and expand the iPhone's use in cars, including controlling air conditioning and adjusting seats, as well as accessing speedometers, temperature and humidity sensor readings. Apple internally refers to the move as "IronHeart," and the entire project is still in its early stages.
At the same time, Apple clearly has greater ambitions to break through the automotive field through its own car-making project, the Titan Project. Since its inception in 2014, the project has oscillated between building self-driving software and fully autonomous vehicles, and the project leader alone has changed several times. Little is known about this project.
Previous online disclosures show that Apple has applied for dozens of patents related to cars, including internal climate control, rotating seats, gesture driving, car-to-car charging and body displays.
Apple has reportedly negotiated with Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota over the years as partners to help it build cars; in early 2020, Apple also held acquisition talks with electric vehicle startup Canoo — all of which ended in failure.
ABI's Hodgson said: "Apple has always been reluctant to delegate the brand to someone else. They want an end-to-end experience. ”
Amazon: Step by step
E-commerce giant Amazon is also interested in connected cars, both to get closer to consumers and to match their delivery needs.
In 2014, the company tried to enter the smartphone market through Fire phones, but suffered a rout. While Fire was like a commercial disaster, one part of the project survived and eventually became a key to Amazon's assault on the automotive space — Alexa.
Alexa Auto, the earliest version of Amazon's voice assistant for cars, is a smartphone app that connects to cars via Apple Car Play or Google Android Auto. But access to car systems through Apple or Google means that the functionality Alexa can provide will be limited, so Amazon has changed its strategy and started working directly with automakers.
BMW and GM first launched Alexa in 2018, and since then, more automakers, including Audi, Jeep and Land Rover, have equipped the voice assistant.
With the built-in Alexa, drivers can remotely lock or unlock doors, turn on the engine, or check the amount of oil through smart speakers in their homes. Similarly, Alexa in the car can check the thermostats in the home, turn on/off the lights, provide weather information, and help users buy products at Amazon or its subsidiary Whole Foods.
For cars without built-in Alexa, Amazon has now introduced a popular car Echo speaker that's only pocket-sized and can be mounted on dashboard vents.
Amazon spokeswoman Frankie Tobin said Alexa was able to work with voice assistants created by automakers such as Ford, BMW, General Motors and Audi.
"We believe that voice agents should be interoperable on a single device (or vehicle) and that voice-enabled products should support multiple simultaneous wake-ups so that customers can easily interact with the voice service of their choice," Tobin said. ”
ABI's Hodgson said voice controls are particularly attractive to automakers because they can play a role when a driver's hand doesn't leave the steering wheel or eyes don't leave the road. And Alexa's widespread use in the home means it has amassed a customer base that values integration.
Cox's Hefner said Amazon hasn't been as successful as Google in working with traditional automakers because it takes a "hybrid" approach and focuses on new faces in the automotive space:
In September 2019, Amazon announced an order of 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian, which at the time had not yet become as famous as it is today. Amazon owns a 20 percent stake in Rivian, who raised nearly $12 billion (about 76.45 billion yuan) when it went public in November 2021, making it one of the world's most valuable automakers;
In 2020, Amazon acquired California-based Zoox, which is building self-driving taxis;
And just into 2022, Amazon has a "new love" - an agreement with Stellantis to order electric delivery vehicles. The announcement also triggered an immediate decline in Rivian's stock price.
Amazon's goal is to have the world's largest delivery fleet and zero carbon emissions by 2040. Hefner thinks Amazon could move to a model whereby delivery services are made directly and explicitly in exchange for transactions and data.
"Today, they connect consumers, suppliers and markets," he said. In the future, when transportation is just a way to move from point A to point B, Amazon still wants to serve consumers. ”
Brand loyalty vs monopoly?
While Silicon Valley and automakers are excited about the future of connected and self-driving cars, regulators and privacy advocates have different ideas.
They worry that tech companies will soon treat cars like mobile phones, bundling their unique operating systems with specific products, forcing competitors out and dominating another important area of the global economy.
Charlotte Slaiman, director of competition policy at Public Knowledge, said: "Wait until 5 or 10 years from now, it will be too late to remedy anti-competitive practices. For many consumers, buying a car is a long-term decision. If a consumer buys a car that will take 5-10 years, so it is tied to the service of a certain company for a long time, and healthy industry competition will be greatly hit. ”
Katharine Trendacosta of the Digital Civil Liberties Group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said: "These companies have a lot of data that they shouldn't have, and they have used it irresponsibly and have a history of violating their commitment to protect privacy." ”
For example, when Google acquired online ad service Provider DoubleClick in 2008, it promised not to merge data from its consumer products with data from advertising services, which they later repented.
In early 2021, Eric Gundersen, the former CEO of online mapping provider Mapbox, complained to Congress that Google's restrictive contracts affected Mapbox's ability to offer alternatives. Over time, he said, these exclusive deals will continue to give Google a potential monopoly advantage.
When Ford announced its deal with Google, it assured that owners would be able to install Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa, but those products would have to work in an environment built and optimized by Google. Moreover, only Google and Ford have access to the user data generated by the system, which will be stored in google cloud.
Google says any data sharing with other companies is subject to its privacy policies and the terms of its contracts with automakers.
However, "this is not really an open system." An executive at an auto supplier who spoke on condition of anonymity and competing with Google accused Google of "controlling everything through their systems, including deciding what information is released downstream." ”
Google's lawsuit penalties and commitments
Google makes Android free for everyone, but it's nothing new to use restrictive contracts for some of the more popular products:
Europe's top competition authority fined Google 4.34 billion euros (about 31.34 billion yuan) in 2018 for using similar rules of the game on android smartphones, although Google is appealing the decision;
In 2020, a coalition of 38 U.S. states and territories also sued Google for the same reason, with officials noting that the lawsuit was crucial as it moved into the automotive space.
Google said in a statement that the connected car market is a highly competitive and growing market. Ultimately, manufacturers can choose which voice assistants to install on their cars, and users are free to choose which software to install and use.
Peter Schottenfels, a Google spokesman, said Google's automotive partnership provides innovative products and new services and benefits for consumers.
"There's huge competition in the connected car space, and we're competing for market share with Apple CarPlay, Amazon Alexa, Nuance Automotive, and others." "The Android Automotive Operating System is a customizable, open platform where manufacturers and users alike have the option to download and install a wide variety of third-party applications," Said Shotenfels. ”
Image source: PIXABAY▼
While U.S. states have highlighted their concerns, their lawsuit won't go to trial until September 2023, and with a highly likely appeal, their case is unlikely to be resolved until 2025. This long time means that they will most likely not be able to stop Google or any tech company from dominating the auto industry.
Before joining public knowledge groups, Slaeman, who investigated monopoly cases at the Federal Trade Commission, believes that one of the problems in the tech space today is that even as technology changes, the tech giants can still maintain power. The transition to new technologies should have seen a new innovative competitor, and it had the opportunity and strength to show its ambitions.
While Apple cars may seem like a decent new technology, a less friendly view of Apple's strategy is that Apple makes no difference, and they want to go deeper into their lucrative ecosystem.
Apple has been implementing some extremely restrictive maintenance policies for its computers, phones and tablets. It wasn't until November 2021, driven by the White House and federal regulators, that Apple introduced a personal repair strategy that allowed consumers to repair their own devices.
Smartphone 2.0?
Apple's 30% share of all digital sales has been spat at by software developers as an "Apple tax," as is Google. Both sides, after being criticized, announced in 2021 that the share of software developers with annual net sales of less than US$1 million (637,000 yuan) would be reduced to 15%.
Other major tech companies, including Spotify, Tinder parent Match and Epic Games, have slammed the policies, urging policymakers in the United States, Europe and Asia to break the dominance of Apple and Google. In August 2021, South Korea became the first country to prohibit the two companies from forcing businesses to use their payment systems.
Google said automakers that offer their maps, assistants and Play Stores can choose to offer alternative app stores based on the contents of the contracts they have signed.
In the summer of 2021, U.S. senators from both parties introduced legislation to force Apple and Google to open up their smartphones, allowing other app stores or cheaper payment methods. But experts say the legislation is specific to smartphones and is likely not going to affect connected cars.
Sarah Roth-Gaudette, executive director of The Progressive Advocacy Group Weight for the Future, which focuses on digital rights, said: "The tech giants have made enough profit from our day-to-day use. If they gain a foothold in the automotive industry, they could turn all of our behavior into profitable data points. ”
Looking at the U.S. market alone, antitrust enforcement is relatively lax due to the lack of national privacy laws in the U.S., which means there's nothing to stop Google, Apple and Amazon from dominating the new market, she said. It is important that "we put these safeguards in place so that we don't get to the worst".
Both Ross-Gaudette and EFF's Trentta Costa highlighted laws under consideration in the House and Senate that would prevent tech companies from poaching promising competitors in emerging sectors such as automotive to improve the competitiveness of their products.
"If we have rules that can be applied to anything they do in the future, we'll have a better outcome, a more benign market." Trentacosta finally said.
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