“Eventually I see us delivering APIs and having an ecosystem of partners who develop their own apps, and I’m super excited to see those,” Bensaid told TechCrunch on the sidelines of the event.

Rivian embracing a third-party developer ecosystem helps explain why it’s been so vocal about not integrating phone mirroring features like CarPlay. Like General Motors, Rivian hopes to not only customize its in-car experience, but create a software environment where all kinds of different applications can work with and on the vehicle’s software, potentially leading to new revenue opportunities.