Google’s Gemini is coming to your car, and it might actually be useful

Google just announced that vehicles with “Google built-in” will start getting Gemini as their default AI assistant. This isn’t just for new cars either — existing ones get it through a software update. That’s a nice change from the usual “buy a new car to get new features” nonsense.

Alankar Agnihotri, Google’s senior product manager for this stuff, said in the announcement that when cars with Google built-in first launched in 2020, they promised the car would get better over time. I’ll give them credit: actually delivering on that promise is rare in the auto industry.

So what does Gemini actually do differently? Google claims it handles natural conversations better, can grab vehicle-specific info, and adjust settings. Translation: you can say something like “turn on the heated seats and navigate to the nearest charging station” without sounding like you’re talking to a toaster. The current Assistant works okay, but it’s clunky for multi-step requests.

The real question is how well this works in practice. We’ve seen plenty of “AI-powered” car assistants that fall apart once you’re driving at 70 mph with road noise. Google’s track record with Assistant in cars has been decent — it’s faster and more reliable than most built-in systems from automakers. But Gemini is a different beast. It’s designed to handle more complex queries, but it also needs to not freak out when you ask it to change the radio station while navigating.

I’m cautiously optimistic. The software update approach means this isn’t just another vaporware promise. If Google can pull off the natural conversation part without introducing lag or errors, this could actually make in-car assistants less painful. That’s a low bar, but hey, progress is progress.