My guess is that all of these companies see it as an innovative space. Either the goal is pure prestige or to find some niche thing they can patent and sell to

My guess is that all of these companies see it as an innovative space. Either the goal is pure prestige or to find some niche thing they can patent and sell to everyone else. They have to build the whole car because they have to. I think of it as, "most of the people who made money during the gold rush were those who sold shovels." They're looking to find the right shovel, but need the whole process in-house to do that.