Post by Thomas Allgeyer

VW just killed its €1.5B AI deal with Bosch. Same week, BMW and Mercedes-Benz pulled L3. Access to AI is easy to rent right now. Owning the flywheel underneath it is what's hard, and what actually compounds. Our bet: whoever owns the stack wins this. Next-Gen Vehicle Intelligence CW 25/26 This is what stood out to us across 70 shortlisted posts, 34 fresh voices. Automotive chiplets will be production-ready in vehicle architecture within two years Half of new E/E architecture programs launching through 2029 still won't use true zonal processing China's OTA cadence and BYD's Xuanji A3 chip are outpacing German OEMs on vertical integration BMW and Mercedes-Benz pulled their L3 offerings to focus on L2+ and cost efficiency UNECE approved the first global safety framework for driverless vehicles, judging systems by scenario coverage instead of mileage Featured read: Augustin Friedel tracks the shift from L3 retreat to L4 buildout – Waymo entering Germany, Wayve's AI Driver going into Stellantis vehicles for Uber's network, and Mobileye launching its own robotaxi service against customers like Moovit and MOIA. Every partnership announced this week is also a bet that could get renegotiated in four years. Before the announcement, someone has to answer whether the demand is real. Our Early-Stage Market Validation does that for Tier 1 suppliers: secondary research, direct OEM expert interviews, and facilitated customer meetings, so you know whether to accelerate or kill the project before seven-figure commitments become eight-figure write-offs. Thank you to everyone who shared their insights. Enjoy the read!