Apple Gives In to AI: CarPlay Set to Welcome ChatGPT and Gemini

Apple is gradually shifting its artificial intelligence strategy, and CarPlay is becoming one of the most visible platforms where that change will play out. The company is preparing to open its in-car system to third-party AI assistants, including the market’s most popular players—ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The arrival of outside AI in CarPlay was only a matter of time.

Apple has already acknowledged that it has fallen behind in the AI race, and its recent partnership with Google effectively confirms a change in direction. According to sources, support for third-party chatbots could arrive in CarPlay within the next few months, with major changes expected in upcoming versions of iOS. At the same time, Apple has no plans to abandon Siri entirely.

Apple’s voice assistant will remain available in CarPlay and will continue to serve as the default option. Third-party AI assistants will not be able to automatically replace Siri; instead, they will operate as standalone apps. This means users will need to manually launch ChatGPT or Gemini if they want to use them instead of the built-in assistant. This approach gives Apple some breathing room.

The company still plans to release its own AI-powered version of Siri, but the timeline remains unclear. The longer this process drags on, the greater the risk that users will fully switch to alternative solutions and stop viewing Siri as a serious digital assistant.

Apple is expected to reveal key details at its annual WWDC conference, traditionally held in the spring. The final release of the new iOS version will most likely arrive in the fall, which is when CarPlay could gain full support for third-party AI assistants.

For now, ChatGPT and Gemini are already available on the iPhone, while Siri is expected to become “smarter” in the future by leveraging Google’s models. That means even users tired of AI’s growing presence may have little choice to accept it: artificial intelligence in the car is quickly becoming unavoidable.

Apple is betting less on in-house development and more on its ecosystem. For CarPlay, this is a step forward, but keeping Siri as the default assistant shows that the company is still reluctant to fully give up control over the user experience.