Right-To-Repair Agreement, Rivian’s Dealership Feels, Shutterstock All In On AI

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Midweek kudos to you for rolling in early today! It's Wednesday and we are talking about the government right to repair acronyms, Rivian taking the ever inventive dealership route, and AI images staying in the game for the long haul.

There’s a new agreement for automotive right-to-repair between automakers and independent repair shops. The updated commitment affirms the previous 2014 “memo of understanding” and includes telematics data.

• The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the Automotive Service Association and the Society of Collision Repair Specialists said the deal means that repair shops will have access to the same diagnostic and repair information as authorized dealer networks, and covers all vehicle technologies, including BEV, PHEV and FCV.
• There are currently 2 bills in Congress that consider right-to-repair.
  • The REPAIR Act (Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair) would mandate that owners and independent shops have the same access to tools and data as the dealer network, and those tools and equipment be made available to the independent repair industry.
  • The SMART Act (Save Money on Auto Repair Transport) would reduce the time automakers can enforce patents on collision repair parts against aftermarket parts suppliers from 14 yrs to 2.5 yrs.
• The 3 groups sent a letter to Congressional leaders saying that “It should reassure you that independent repairers and automakers are not at odds on automotive data access, but rather in lockstep on this fundamental principle: Consumers should have choice when it comes to repair options.”

As EV adoption continues its slow growth, Rivian is using a familiar tactic to get their trucks in front of consumers, opening its first “Spaces” showroom in Vancouver.

• The “dealership” will be located at The Amazing Brentwood shopping mall and is part of Rivian’s goal of increasing its physical retail presence.
• Each Space is designed behind a casual experience with no hard selling.
• The automaker plans to have Spaces in downtown NYC, Austin TX, Laguna Beach CA and the Vancouver location.
• All Spaces will be unique, some featuring green areas, augmented reality, or being built out of an old theater.
• In the next year, Rivian is expected to announce the R2 series, consisting of a crossover and a Ford Maverick-sized pickup. The R2s are expected to be priced in the 40K-60K range, which is around 30K cheaper than the R1 models.

In contrast to other image-sharing platforms, Shutterstock is all-in on AI, extending its partnership with Open AI for another 6 years.

• The AI company has been training its DALL-E image model using Shutterstock’s library since 2021.
• Last year, Shutterstock added Open AI’s image generator on its website, banning the sale of AI images that weren’t created with DALL-E. They created a “Contributor Fund” to compensate artists when their art is used to trai

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