Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies (RV Tech) is a 50/50 joint venture launched in November 2024 that fuses Rivian's software and electrical-hardware know-how with Volkswagen Group's global manufacturing scale. Co-headquartered in Palo Alto, it builds the zonal electrical architecture, operating systems, in-vehicle AI, and cloud-connectivity stack that will power next-generation software-defined vehicles across Volkswagen, Audi, Scout, Rivian, and more - aiming to make every new car smarter, cheaper to build, and continuously upgradable over the air.
Jeffrey Chou is the CEO and co-founder of Sonatus, the Sunnyvale-based company building AI-powered software-defined vehicle platforms for the automotive industry. A serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a track record of exits to Cisco and Brocade, Chou co-founded Sonatus in 2018 with Yu Fang, applying datacenter-era thinking to automobiles. Under his leadership, Sonatus has raised over $110 million, won the 2022 PACE Innovation Partnership Award with Hyundai, and deployed its platform across more than 6 million production vehicles globally from Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia.
Sonatus is a Sunnyvale-based automotive software company building the AI-powered, software-defined vehicle. Its Digital Dynamics platform - including Sonatus Updater, Automator, Collector AI, and AI Director - lets automakers deploy, monitor, and update vehicle software and edge AI models without rewriting code. Sonatus technology is in production in over 6 million vehicles, including models from Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
Lei Zhang is the CEO of CARIAD, Inc., Volkswagen Group's U.S. automotive software subsidiary based in Mountain View, California. A seasoned technology executive with 16+ years spanning Microsoft, Google, Huami, and NIO, Zhang now leads CARIAD's Interior, Infotainment & Digital Experience division globally. Known for pioneering NIO's NOMI digital assistant and championing software-defined vehicle innovation, he earned MotorTrend's Software-Defined Vehicle Innovator Award in 2023. His work sits at the intersection of Android OS expertise, AI-driven user experience, and the fast-evolving world of connected, electric mobility.