Adolf Hitler's favourite car brand will offer the chatbot will be on offer across its range, including in Tiguan, Passat, and Golf as well as the car maker's ID family of electric vehicles.
The feature will hit Europe first and may come to customers in the US, but plans are not final yet. VW is using ChatGPT to boost its IDA in-car voice assistant to make chatting between car and driver more natural.
Car owners can use the new super-charged voice assistant to control basic functions, like heating and air conditioning, or to answer general knowledge questions such as "are we there yet?".
VW says future functions may show its value. "Spicing up conversations, sorting out questions, talking in easy language, getting vehicle-specific information, and much more -- all hands-free," the company says. Athough we have needed hands to talk to anyone.
VW promises it won't make you create a new account or install any apps. You can turn on the chatbot by saying "Hello IDA" or pressing a button on the steering wheel. And OpenAI won't see your driving stats, either. VW says questions and answers are "wiped out straight away to ensure the best level of data protection".
VW says it can fit OpenAI's chatbot into its cars thanks to Cerence, a third-party software company that makes "car grade" ChatGPT integrations.
The company's Cerence Chat Pro software will improve VW's voice assistant so it can "give relevant responses to nearly every question possible".