GM is introducing its Google Gemini-powered AI assistant for cars in 2026

General Motors will add the Google-powered Gemini conversational AI assistant to its cars, trucks and SUVs starting next year, the US automaker said Wednesday during an event in New York City.

The introduction of the Google Gemini is one of several tech-focused announcements made at the automaker’s GM Forward event, and will be one of the first to reach consumers’ hands. Others, including an overhaul of the electrical architecture and computing platform and an automated driving feature that allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel and their eyes off the road, won’t come to GM’s brands until 2028.

General Motors is the latest automaker to rely on AI-based assistants that promise to respond to driver requests in a more natural way. Stellantis is collaborating with French AI company Mistral, Mercedes is integrating ChatGPT, and Tesla has brought xAI’s Grok system to its cars.

GM’s integration with Gemini is the next logical step for the automaker. Vehicles produced by GM brands Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC already have “Google Built-in,” an operating system that gives drivers access to Google Assistant, Google Maps, and other apps directly from the car’s infotainment screen. In 2023, Google began using Google Cloud’s Dialogflow chatbot to handle non-emergency OnStar features, including common driver queries like steering and navigation assistance.

GM’s Gemini-powered AI assistant will have similar levels of capability and perform better, according to Dave Richardson, senior vice president of software and services.

“One of the challenges with current voice assistants is that if you use them, you’re also likely to get frustrated with them because they’re trained on certain code words or because they don’t understand accents very well or if you don’t pronounce it quite right, you won’t get the right response,” Richardson told TechCrunch. “The great thing about large language models is that they don’t seem to be affected by that. They have context about previous conversations that they can bring up. They’re also flexible in how you talk to them…so overall, you get a better, more natural experience.”

This can make crafting and sending messages, planning routes with extra stops (like a charging station or favorite coffee shop), or even preparing for a meeting on the go a hassle-free experience. The assistant will also have access to the web to be able to answer certain questions such as, “What is the history of this bridge I am driving over?”

Gemini Assistant will be made available via the Play Store as an over-the-air upgrade for OnStar-equipped vehicles, model year 2015 and older.

GM’s new voice assistant is a step toward the automaker’s goal of developing its own tailored AI that connects to your car’s systems through OnStar, GM’s in-car concierge service. The way GM executives described the technology at a New York City event, it sounds like a combination of a wearable health pendant and an AI pendant, but for your car.

The assistant promises to access vehicle data to provide maintenance alerts and route suggestions, and explain vehicle features such as one-pedal driving, and turning on the heat or air conditioning before entering the car.

“The idea here is to take [an existing] “A big language model, and you train it and optimize it in a specific domain. We’ll take a basic model and train it on the specifications of the car, then distill it down and run it on the car,” Richardson said.

While GM has a close relationship with Google and will already be implementing Gemini in certain vehicles, Richardson said GM plans to test several foundational models from other AI companies, which could include OpenAI, Anthropic and others.

Richardson said drivers will be able to control what information the assistant can access and use, and it can learn from your habits to make personalized recommendations. GM’s focus on user controls is notable given the company’s recent controversy over selling customer driving data and geolocation to insurance brokers.

Any data GM gets from drivers goes directly toward improving the product and will not be sold to generate additional revenue for the automaker, Richardson said. Over the past two years or so, GM has assembled a new data team — including Christina Montgomery, who spent 30 years as head of privacy and trust at IBM — to put standard processes and data management technology into place.

“Everything we do will be driven by customer consent, so you can always opt in or out,” he said. “Our view is that data and privacy should be built into everything we do.”

This article has been updated with comments from Dave Richardson.