While AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini have a conversational voice mode, the apps don’t exactly work with Apple CarPlay. That’s about to change, it seems, with an upcoming iOS software update.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple plans to make CarPlay available to voice-enabled chatbot apps. This would allow for use while driving without interacting with the iPhone.
According to the report:
The company is working on supporting apps in CarPlay in the coming months, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan has not been announced.
Apple only allows select categories of CarPlay apps, including entertainment, navigation, and communication. Allowing voice-enabled chatbot apps would be a big upgrade for CarPlay, especially since automakers are already integrating voice mode features with AI without CarPlay.
However, according to the report, Apple has no plans to allow users to replace Siri at the voice assistant level. Instead, it would just be a safer way to interact with a new category of iPhone apps via CarPlay.
There will still be limits. Apple won’t let users replace the Siri button on CarPlay or the wake word that invokes the service. Instead, users will have to open the app to activate third-party voice control, the people said.
The move is also separate from Apple’s efforts to improve Siri’s capabilities with Apple Intelligence, which will soon be upgraded with Google’s Gemini behind the scenes.
The report did not say whether the CarPlay update will be part of the upcoming iOS 26 release or saved for iOS 27. Apple is expected to ship the first version of Siri to connect to Gemini in iOS 26.4. Apple will introduce iOS 27 a few months later in June.
Mark Gurman also reported for Bloomberg that Apple plans to overhaul Siri during the iOS 27 cycle. According to Gurman, Apple plans to announce actual chatbot features for Siri later this year.
Read the full report on Bloomberg.
FTC: We use automatic income earning affiliate links. More.
