Apple is planning to bring access to a number of third-party AI chatbots to its CarPlay in-car platform, according to a new report. Right now, Apple only enables drivers to interact with Siri, but that looks set to change.
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman’s sources claim that Apple is planning to enable drivers to consult rivals like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Apple already offers ChatGPT as an option within iOS, while it is working with Google to bring Gemini’s skills to Siri starting this spring. So it would make sense for Apple to bring the chatbots to CarPlay too.
It won’t work as the normal prompt does in CarPlay, Gurman says. Users would have to tap the individual app within the CarPlay interface to access the chatbot.
Gurman writes (via 9to5Mac): “The company is working to support the apps in CarPlay within the coming months, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan hasn’t been announced.
“There will still be limits. Apple won’t let users replace the Siri button on CarPlay or the wake word that summons the service. Instead, users will need to open the app to activate the third-party voice control, the people said.”
It’s not yet clear whether the planned integration of chatbots within CarPlay is set for the iOS 26 release cycle or whether Apple might save it for iOS 27. Either way, Gurman doesn’t get much wrong so it’s safe to say this will be happening.
