Mercedes teams up with Google for in-car AI system

Drivers will be able to hold “natural-language” conversations with their car’s virtual assistant as part of a collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Google.

The German automaker and the American tech giant have announced that they’re expanding their strategic partnership to introduce new conversational capabilities to the MBUX Virtual Assistant, which is powered by Google Cloud’s new Automotive AI Agent.

Mercedes-Benz is one of the first car makers to use an Automotive AI Agent that was “specially tuned” for the automotive industry, the companies said. The system was built using Gemini on Vertex AI.

It was designed to provide users with detailed and personalized information from Google Maps in a conversational style, including responses about navigation, points of interest, and more.

According to the two companies, users will be able to converse naturally with the car’s virtual assistant, enjoying an “enhanced” search and navigation experience as a result.

The assistance will respond with accurate and up-to-date information to questions like “Could you guide me to the nearest fine-dining restaurant for a unique culinary experience?” or “What is the chef’s signature dish?”

It will be able to handle complex, multi-turn dialog and retain memory of conversations, allowing users to pick up where they left off later, according to the companies. The system will start rolling out with Mercedes-Benz's new CLA series later in 2025.

Drivers and passengers will get information they need “within seconds,” said Mercedes-Benz chief executive Ola Källenius, adding that the firm’s partnership with Google “will further enhance in-car navigation, combining sophisticated location data with generative AI.”

Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google and its parent company Alphabet, said: “This is just the beginning of how agentic capabilities can transform the automotive industry and I’m excited to see our partnership drive progress forward.”

Previously, Mercedes-Benz also tested a voice assistant powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT that was rolled out to American customers through Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI Service in 2023. In China, the automaker has partnered with TikTok owner ByteDance to develop in-car AI systems.