Gemini might be gearing up for an Android Auto takeover

What started out as Bard all the way back in February 2023 has transformed into Gemini, a full-fledged AI assistant, in the span of two years. Not only can the model integrate with other apps to answer your queries, help you brainstorm, and complete tasks on your behalf via text, it can also do so via voice. The tech giant’s Gemini Live, on the other hand, aims to offer the same functionality, but in a way more conversational manner.

After being limited to the web, Gemini has expanded to a smorgasbord of surfaces, including smartphones, tablets, earbuds, TVs, and potentially on Wear OS wearables soon too. What’s next? Android Auto is the most plausible option.

Earlier this year in January, Google was spotted working on integrating the AI assistant into Android Auto, and although Gemini wasn’t active on the surface at the time, we did get a pretty good idea of what the feature would look like once active. Now, the folks over at Android Authority have been able to trigger Gemini on the in-vehicle display operating system, highlighting the AI assistant’s functionality.

For what it’s worth, the live implementation looks exactly like the screenshots seen in the past, complete with a dedicated Gemini AI mic button on the bottom right, and the blue and purple hue at the bottom edge to indicate that the AI assistant is listening or speaking.

Gemini on Android Auto isn’t available to try out yet

In the video example, we get to see a version of Gemini that doesn’t necessarily appear to be optimized for in-vehicle queries, acting similar to its implementation on mobile. Gemini on Android Auto was tasked with planning a trip under a specific budget, and although it was able to answer, complete with trip duration, a budget breakdown, and how to travel, the answers weren’t necessarily location-specific and/or optimized for an in-vehicle assistant. Maybe that’s not within Gemini on Android Auto’s scope, but it sure could be a welcome addition.

The AI assistant was then asked to “play something on Spotify,” a task that it was able to complete within seconds. Other queries, including questions about the weather and general facts, also yielded conversational and detailed results.

According to Android Authority’s report, the AI assistant was also asked for nearby restaurants. While Gemini was able to list some options, it omitted highlighting them on the in-vehicle display’s map, which could be a solid addition to Gemini’s feature set on Android Auto.

Essentially, Gemini might serve as a replacement for Google Assistant on Android Auto. Whether it offers a better experience, however, remains to be seen.