No More Boring Drives with Mercedes-Benz’s New Google-Powered AI Agent

Mercedes-Benz has partnered with Google Cloud to integrate conversational search and navigation powered by generative AI into its MBUX Virtual Assistant. The Automotive AI Agent, built on Gemini and Vertex AI, is specifically designed for the automotive industry and leverages Google Maps Platform to provide users with more detailed and personalised responses about navigation and points of interest.

The Automotive AI Agent is built utilising Google Maps Platform’s extensive database of 250 million global locations. It can process complex, multi-turn dialogues and retain the memory of user conversations, enabling seamless interactions.

Speaking about the partnership, Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said, “At Mercedes-Benz, we seek to offer our customers an exceptional digital experience. Our partnership with Google Cloud will further enhance in-car navigation, combining sophisticated location data with generative AI.”

The AI-powered system allows drivers to ask detailed questions and receive personalised responses. For instance, users can query the MBUX Virtual Assistant for nearby fine-dining restaurants and ask follow-up questions like, “Does the restaurant have good reviews?” or “What is the chef's signature dish?”

“Mercedes-Benz is known for providing an amazing driving experience, and our partnership will bring cutting-edge AI breakthroughs to make those experiences even better. This is just the beginning of how agentic capabilities can transform the automotive industry,” said Google chief Sundar Pichai. 

The first deployment of the new system will appear in the upcoming Mercedes-Benz CLA later this year, marking the debut of the company’s MB.OS operating system. Additional rollouts to other models with the MBUX Voice Assistant are planned.

Google Cloud’s Automotive AI Agent uses multimodal reasoning for natural language interactions and sources data from Google Maps Platform, which is updated nearly in real-time with over 100 million daily updates.

In 2023, Mercedes-Benz and Google formed a partnership where Google Maps supplies the geospatial data and navigation services, while Mercedes uses Google Cloud’s AI tools to efficiently develop and apply AI models.

The same year, Mercedes also announced that it going to add OpenAI’s ChatGPT within its in-house multimedia system MBUX Voice Assistant as part of an exclusive beta program available only in the US. This allowed drivers of more than 900,000 vehicles equipped with MBUX to engage in more dynamic conversations with the onboard AI.