Ford is rolling out a new AI-powered assistant that can answer questions about your Ford or Lincoln vehicle, such as how much fuel you’ll need for your next road trip or whether your truck can tow that new motor boat.
The app is rolling out first to the Ford and Lincoln mobile apps, where it will work as a chatbot that can answer questions about the vehicle’s capabilities or future service needs. Since the app is linked to the customer’s vehicle, the assistant knows many of the details about the particular make and model, including fuel levels, cargo capacity, and towing capabilities. Ford plans on rolling out a voice-powered assistant that works inside the vehicles themselves sometime in 2027 — but for now, customers will have to make do with the app-based assistant.
The announcement comes as automakers scramble to add more AI-powered features for their customers in a race to stay on top of the fast-moving technology. Rivian recently launched its own voice assistant, as did Mercedes-Benz. Other automakers are turning to established suppliers, like BMW with Amazon’s Alexa and General Motors with Google’s Gemini. Meanwhile, cars with Google’s built-in operating system, like Volvo and Polestar, will also be getting Gemini.
Ford first announced its plans to introduce a chatbot earlier this year, alongside promises for a future Level 3 “eyes off” driver assist system. At the time, the automaker didn’t disclose which AI developers it was working with, noting that it was designing its assistant to be chatbot-agnostic so it can work with a variety of different large language models. As a stopgap measure, the company will be integrating Gemini into its vehicles as an “opt-in alternative” to Google Assistant, a partnership that was first previewed earlier this year.
Ford says that by starting with its mobile app, it can introduce more customers to its assistant than it could through a software update. The new assistant is being rolled out to customers in waves, with the goal of making it available to 8 million owners of Ford and Lincoln vehicles, the company said.
“By taking an app-first approach, we are bringing the future of Ford intelligence directly to customers instantly,” Mike Aragon, Ford’s president for integrated services, wrote in a blog post. “You don’t have to wait to buy a brand-new vehicle; we’re upgrading the ownership experience you already have, starting today.”
Aragon said that Ford’s assistant can answer questions from the owner’s manual, as well as offer live updates provided by the vehicle’s telemetry system. Owners can even upload pictures to check whether their vehicle is capable of carrying or towing certain payloads.
But the “true magic” will be when the assistant migrates from owners’ phones to their dashboard screens, Aragon predicts. This won’t be through phone mirroring, like Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but through “deep, thoughtful intelligence embedded directly into the driving experience.” The automaker’s Android-based Ford and Lincoln Digital Experiences will feature Gemini in the meantime, which can help with navigation, sending text messages, or playing media.
In the future, Ford envisions all these tasks handled by the new assistant, merging vehicle-specific requests with infotainment-level queries to enable vehicle owners to create their own custom system tailored to their preferences.
Ford said the assistant will be free to use, rather than placed behind a paywall or subscription — though the company wouldn’t say whether that will remain the case after the assistant becomes available through the vehicle’s own operating system.
Read the full article here
