AUTONEWS

TomTom Taps Microsoft To Copilot Its AI-Powered Voice Assistant For Vehicles

TomTom is teaming up with Microsoft to develop an AI assistant that will enable better interaction between customers and TomTom’s products. The company says this new AI assistant means that “drivers can converse naturally with their vehicle and ask the AI-powered assistant to navigate to a certain location, find specific stops along their route, and vocally control onboard systems to, for instance, turn up the temperature, open windows, or change radio stations.” Sounds nifty.

TomTom will be taking advantage of all the technologies Microsoft offers, the most important technology being Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. This will be a key integration as it will give TomTom’s AI assistant access to the large language models (LLMs) it needs to be able to deliver the kind of smooth interactions TomTom is looking to offer to prospective customers.

TomTom is hoping that the combination of the companies’ expertise will lead to a solid offering. TomTom’s Chief Revenue Officer, Mike Schoofs, states that “with both companies integrating what they do best into one solution, we’re transforming the in-vehicle experience, enabling drivers to ask their car for anything and trust it will deliver."

This new AI assistant will now be built into its Digital Cockpit product, which is available to manufacturers that are looking to upgrade their infotainment platforms. This advancement will help TomTom in its effort to try and make the Digital Cockpit the platform of choice for manufacturers.

Even with its strong partnership with Microsoft it will be an uphill battle for TomTom to convince people that using its platform will be a better experience. Users mostly prefer to have access to Android Auto or Apple CarPlay instead of being forced to use whatever is available in a vehicle.

Mundoquatrorodas