Google's new Assistant is already enabled in its messaging app, its Amazon Echo-like Home device, and its new Pixel phone.
Now, the company wants to put Google Assistant in vehicles, too.
The artificial intelligence-powered Assistant is similar to Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa and gets smarter over time. It was first unveiled in Google's new messaging app, Allo, last month, powers Google Home, and comes standard on Google's new smartphone. According to the Wall Street Journal's Christopher Mims, Google is now pursuing partnerships with automakers to let the Assistant work directly with vehicles.
Google is following in the footsteps of other major tech companies who have partnered with carmakers to integrate their digital assistants. Apple's Siri works with GM vehicles — it was first launched in the Chevrolet Spark and Sonic in 2012 — and Ford announced at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show that it was partnering with Amazon to integrate its vehicles with Echo.
While the Journal didn't say how the integration would work, the Ford-Echo partnership was designed to let you start your vehicle or tell you how much charge your electric car has without walking outside.
There's no word yet on which automakers Google plans to partner with, but if it chooses the same route as its competitors and opts for an American automaker, Fiat Chrysler and Tesla are still up for grabs.
