Co-Pilots of the Future: Apple Opens CarPlay to ChatGPT and Google Gemini for Smarter Road Trips

Apple plans to allow third-party AI voice assistants, including ChatGPT and Google Gemini, to run natively within CarPlay, giving developers the ability to build in-car conversational experiences. These assistants will face restrictions—Siri retains control of steering wheel activation and system functions, and third-party apps cannot use passive wake-words—requiring manual activation via the CarPlay interface. This move complements Apple’s effort to enhance Siri (potentially with Gemini) while offering power users standalone AI options in the interim.