TL;DR Google and Mercedes just gave us a glimpse at what Gemini will be able to do inside cars, and it’s pretty impressive.
The demo video shows Mercedes’ Chief Software Officer, Magnus Östberg, and Google Cloud’s Head of Automotive, Steve Basra, take the Gemini-powered Mercedes CLA out for a drive.
The duo interacts with Gemini in the car like one would with Gemini Live on their phones.
The tech will arrive in the US before the end of the year, and the new Mercedes CLA will be the first production car to feature it.
Just yesterday, we got an early look at Gemini inside Google Maps, and now, Google and Mercedes-Benz are giving us a first glimpse at how Gemini will soon be built directly into cars.
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Mercedes-Benz and Google Cloud first announced their partnership in January, revealing plans to integrate Gemini-powered conversational capabilities into the MBUX Virtual Assistant in the upcoming Mercedes CLA. The two companies have now demonstrated how it all works, not through a standard press release, but via a video showing Mercedes’ Chief Software Officer, Magnus Östberg, and Google Cloud’s Head of Automotive, Steve Basra, taking the new CLA for a test drive around Google’s campus.
Right away, you can see what a difference Gemini makes compared to the Google Assistant. The upgraded MBUX Virtual Assistant understands follow-up questions and engages in natural, context-aware conversations without requiring the driver to touch the console. During the demo, Östberg starts by asking the car to navigate to a specific address, then follows up by requesting nearby coffee shops. The assistant displays a list of options, even recommending one in particular. When Östberg asks whether that cafe serves pastries, the system immediately responds, pulling out accurate details directly from Google Maps to ensure both navigation and business information are precise. The interaction feels pretty seamless, just like Gemini Live conversations on phones.
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