Tech bros at Auburn Hills and Seattle are on the outs after the cancellation of a planned tie-up between the automaker and retail giant.
Once billed as the SmartCockpit project and originally planned for release in 2024, the collab was intended to bring an integration with Amazon’s smart home and security technology. Whether the software would only let users turn on garage lights during the drive home or actually permit them to reorder a box of toilet paper whilst behind the wheel was never really made clear.
It’s worth noting that ex-CEO Clueless Carlos Tavares may have been a champion of the project, saying at the time that “working together with Amazon is an integral part of our capability building roadmap, based on both developing internal competencies and decisive collaborations with tech leaders, and it will bring significant expertise to one of our key technology platforms, STLA SmartCockpit.”
While that is a nearly unfathomable amount of corporate word salad that was probably written by an office junior, it should be noted this project was jettisoned after Tavares was hustled out the door. The split between Stellantis and Amazon was mutual, apparently. “Stellantis remains a valuable partner for Amazon, and the companies continue to work together on a range of initiatives,” both brands said in a statement.
There’s little word on the SmartCockpit (powered by STLA Brain – no, really) itself, presently described on the company site as using AI and multi-modal interfaces (voice, touch, gesture, glance) to integrate the likes of navigation, entertainment, and other items into yer drive home.
[Image: Stellantis]
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