Tesla is edging closer to debuting an AI-powered voice assistant for its electric cars, according to Elon Musk.
The billionaire entrepreneur and Tesla CEO revealed the development during a recent livestream on X, formerly Twitter, the social media platform he also owns.
“Grok in Tesla’s is coming soon,” Musk said while streaming Path of Exile 2, an action RPG that’s all about killing foul monsters and snatching up loot.
“So, you will just be able to talk to your Tesla and ask for anything,” he elaborated.
Grok is the name of X’s AI chatbot with a sense of humour, which recently became free for all account holders after a period of exclusivity for paying users.
What separates it from ChatGPT and other large-language models is its ability to access real-time data from X, including posts and images.
Grok is coming to Tesla's soon... pic.twitter.com/R8IvKKhbwJ
— Robin (@xdNiBoR) January 7, 2025
However, it doesn’t currently have as advanced a voice mode as its rivals. While X users can dictate their queries to the bot, it only types back its responses.
Whereas Musk appears to be teasing something more significant, like the AI assistant-like powers of ChatGPT.
To that end, Tesla may be building the foundation for such an upgrade. Last December, owners of the EVs found they were able to say ‘hello” or “hi” to the cars after pressing the voice-command button, to which the system responded by saying “hello” back.
Digging around in the software’s code, an X user also found that Tesla was developing a wake word for a possible AI voice assistant.
This would feasibly allow drivers to talk directly to the car instead of using the voice-command button, similar to how users say “Hey Alexa” to start interacting with Amazon’s digital helper.
With Grok baked in, you should theoretically be able to drive around while talking to your car about practically anything, from the latest news to gift ideas for a loved one’s birthday to prepping for an important work meeting.
A bit like having your very own KITT from Knight Rider, albeit minus the crime-solving and David Hasselhoff-style perm.
