Apple plans to allow third-party voice-controlled AI apps in CarPlay, Bloomberg reports. Siri is the default voice assistant for things like controlling music and looking up directions, but future AI apps in CarPlay could handle the complicated, open-ended requests Siri can’t answer.
The expanded support would let developers like OpenAI or Google offer versions of their ChatGPT and Gemini apps for CarPlay. Similar functionality is possible just by connecting a smartphone to a car over Bluetooth and using an AI app’s voice mode, but CarPlay support would presumably make the process a little more seamless.
Not so seamless that it replaces Siri, however. Bloomberg writes that these third-party apps won’t be able to replace the Siri button in the CarPlay interface or use their own wake words (“Hey Google,” etc.). Instead, anyone who wants to spend a long drive talking to Gemini will have to open the app first. That could cut down on the utility of using one of these apps, but Apple presumably wants to get Siri to a place where CarPlay users prefer it as their in-car assistant anyway.
Apple and Google recently announced that Gemini would power future versions of Siri and Apple Foundation Models, the AI models underpinning Apple Intelligence. The delayed, updated version of Siri Apple introduced alongside Apple Intelligence in 2024 is supposed to be able to take actions on user’s behalf, work across apps and understand the context of what’s on screen, all things Gemini can currently do. Reports suggest Apple wants to eventually use Google’s Gemini models to transform Siri into a proper conversational chatbot, too. That future version of the voice assistant could be right at home in CarPlay.
DeepSeek’s namesake chatbot would be used for “AI interaction”, which enables a Tesla EV’s driver to have casual conversations with the system, while also getting the latest news and weather information, according to the updated terms of use posted this month on the US carmaker’s mainland website.
ByteDance’s Doubao large language model (LLM) would facilitate voice commands for navigation as well as in-vehicle media and amenities such as air conditioning, according to the updated terms.
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A user activates the upgraded voice assistant system by saying “Hey, Tesla” or another designated phrase, providing a more intuitive approach than clicking a button on either the EV’s steering wheel or multimedia terminal.
Volcano Engine, the cloud computing services unit of ByteDance, is responsible for the AI systems integration using an encrypted application programming interface, a protocol that enables different software applications to communicate.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Visitors check out a Tesla electric vehicle on display at the third China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing on July 16, 2025. Photo: EPA alt=Visitors check out a Tesla electric vehicle on display at the third China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing on July 16, 2025. Photo: EPA>
Tesla’s latest initiative reflects the carmaker’s efforts to boost orders on the mainland’s highly competitive EV market, as the AI systems from DeepSeek and ByteDance would appeal to domestic buyers.
Details on when Tesla’s upgraded voice assistant system would be available and on which models remain unknown. Tesla’s recently launched six-seat Model Y L SUV, which supports a voice wake-up feature, will start deliveries next month.
Tesla’s updated terms, meanwhile, cautioned users that AI-generated content “may be incomplete, incorrect or contextually unsuitable”, adding that the technology should not be used to “endanger national security” or “disclose state secrets” as stipulated by China’s laws.
Still, Tesla was nearly half a year late in adopting Chinese AI solutions. As of mid-February, more than a dozen domestic carmakers – including BYD, Geely and Stellantis-backed start-up Leapmotor – had already announced plans to release cars with DeepSeek-enabled AI features.
Total EV deliveries – comprising passenger cars and commercial vehicles like buses – slid 5 per cent from a month earlier to 1.26 million units in July, according to data from the government-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. It was the first month-on-month drop in the Chinese EV market since May.
ByteDance has become a popular AI supplier for carmakers on the mainland. Last year, the TikTok and Douyin owner teamed up with Mercedes-Benz to integrate its LLM into the German carmaker’s in-car systems in China.
The Beijing-based unicorn ByteDance had also formed an “automobile LLM ecosystem alliance” with more than 20 firms that included Geely and Great Wall Motor.