GM continues its crusade of removing Android Auto and CarPlay from its vehicles, and that’s now going to include future gas vehicles instead of just EVs, while the carmaker is also building out a Gemini-powered assistant.
GM today announced that future vehicles under the Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC brands will feature a new AI voice assistant powered by Google Gemini. There aren’t a ton of details on this experience yet beyond it supporting “natural conversations” that can integrate both with phone-based services like messages as well as features of the car such as navigation. It would feature access to vehicle data, meaning the assistant would be able to provide more native and personalized information.
GM explains:
Beginning next year, GM vehicles will feature conversational AI with Google Gemini, making it possible to talk to your car as naturally as you would to a fellow passenger. In the future, GM will introduce its own AI, custom-built for your vehicle. With your permission, it will be fine-tuned with your vehicle’s intelligence and your personal preferences, all connected by OnStar. This could include explaining one-pedal driving in your new vehicle, spotting a maintenance issue early, or finding the perfect place for dinner en route to your destination.
That’s set to arrive sometime next year, but also in the pipeline is a further war on phone-projection systems like Android Auto and CarPlay.
In an interview with The Verge, GM’s Mary Barra and Sterling Anderson engage in yet another discussion about GM’s support, or lack thereof, for Android Auto and CarPlay. GM ripped out this functionality on EVs in recent years, and it seems future gas-powered vehicles are next in line.
When asked why GM’s gas-powered vehicles don’t remove Android Auto and CarPlay, Barra said that it “depends on when you do an update to that vehicle,” referring to an overhaul of the vehicles’ software stack. Directly asked if “we should expect new gas cars will not have smartphone projection,” Barra replied that “that’s the right expectation” as GM’s new software gets to a “major rollout.”
The whole interview is an interesting listen – including a bizarre comparison that tries to say phone-projection a car doesn’t make sense for the same reason you wouldn’t use phone-mirroring apps on a laptop – but we’ve time-coded the YouTube embed below to the relevant discussion about CarPlay (and, by extension, Android Auto).
More on Android Auto:
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