The Fight for Control in the Cloud

If you follow the headlines in the auto space, you’ll notice that increasingly more of those headlines relate to the software that runs on and data that comes from the car. The auto industry has been talking about “Software Defined Cars” (SDVs) for over a decade now, but there is a subtle change that is occurring.

The core concept of the SDV is that by defining more of the components of the vehicle as software, it can become upgradeable. The emerging battleground today is who should have the right to own and manage that software and by extension, the ability to use the data.

As a driver, being in control can mean the difference between wanting to sue your automaker for sharing data with an insurance company without your knowledge or happily sharing your data for a discount because you’re fed up with your bill.

At a geopolitical level, the US Government, eyeing the incredibly low prices and flashiness of new Chinese EVs, is trying to limit software from China from these vehicles. It wants your car to be like your iPhone: hardware made in China, software made in the US. Of course the concerns are founded in the question: who is in control of the software and the data?

When we started DIMO we set out to build a credibly neutral infrastructure layer for vehicles. In a future with autonomous vehicles, frequent software updates for cars, and connected cities, there must be some way to verify data and state across these connected objects, and we believe that infrastructure must be open source. Without an open source foundation we run the risks of privacy being taken away and abuses running rampant. We’ll build a better a better way with DIMO.