Volkswagen is taking its ChatGPT voice assistant experiment on the road. Or more specifically, to vehicles it sells in the United States.
The German automaker announced in January at CES 2024 plans to add an AI-powered chatbot into all Volkswagen models equipped with its IDA voice assistant. But the U.S. was excluded in that initial rollout.
Now, the automaker is making its ChatGPT-integrated Plus Speech voice assistant — which is an AI chatbot based on Cerence’s Chat Pro product and a large language model from OpenAI — available in new U.S. vehicles. The rollout begins September 6 with the 2025 Jetta and Jetta GLI models, along with 2024 ID.4 vehicles equipped with an 82-kWh battery. Most 2025 models will offer Plus Speech with AI as they enter the market.
Caveat: A subscription is required, although the ID.4 and ID Buzz comes with three years of free access.
