Mercedes-Benz believes there is a market for drivers who wish to talk to their cars.
Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.
That’s the thinking behind the luxury car company’s effort to bring conversational artificial intelligence (AI) into its vehicles via a partnership with MIT spinout Liquid AI, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday (Nov. 5).
The goal here is not to have AI do the actual driving, but to adjust features such as heating and infotainment to attract customers in a difficult market, Mercedes said.
“With more product launches ahead and AI changing the way we work, we are focused on building a faster, more efficient and even more competitive Mercedes-Benz,” CEO Ola Källenius said on the company’s earnings call last month.
This came as Mercedes cut its expectations for the year as it warned of a cooling market in China and higher costs for the closing quarter of 2026. The carmaker has said it will deploy AI throughout the business as part of an efficiency program, the WSJ added.
The report noted that while Mercedes’ U.S. division has used conversational AI in its cars since 2026, the Liquid AI partnership is designed to be a faster and more intuitive experience.
Founded in 2023, Liquid AI makes AI models designed to run directly on a device rather than on the cloud for greater privacy and lower latency.
“An AI-based system that allows more free conversation interaction is something that we believe is absolutely a priority for customers,” said Jason Hoff , CEO of Mercedes-Benz North America.
Source link







