Waymo may add Google Gemini AI to robotaxis to chat with riders and control car features
Waymo is experimenting with Google’s Gemini AI chatbot to act as a co-pilot in its autonomous vehicles. According to the blog post, the aim is to create a friendly and helpful AI companion integrated into the Waymo autonomous vehicle.
Waymo may soon give its self-driving cars a new co-pilot, and it’s not a human. The Alphabet-owned company appears to be experimenting with integrating Google’s Gemini AI chatbot into its autonomous vehicles, effectively turning the robotaxi into a conversation companion that can chat with passengers, answer questions, and even change car settings like temperature and lighting. The potential feature was revealed by renowned app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who found references to the project buried deep within Waymo’s mobile app code.
In a blog post, Wong revealed that he had discovered “the full system prompt for its unreleased Gemini integration,” a massive document called the Waymo Ride Assistant Meta-Prompt. As TechCrunch reports, the post details how the AI assistant is expected to behave inside a Waymo vehicle.
A helpful AI co-passenger for your next robotaxi ride
According to Wong’s findings, Waymo’s Gemini-powered assistant aims to be “a friendly and helpful AI companion integrated into the Waymo autonomous vehicle,” designed to make each ride easier and more engaging. Unlike a simple chatbot, the assistant’s role seems broader; It aims to “enhance the rider experience by providing useful information and assistance in a safe, reassuring and unobtrusive manner.”
The bot is said to communicate in short, clear responses of one to three sentences, avoiding technical jargon. When a rider activates it through the in-car screen, Gemini can welcome them by name using pre-approved phrases, which can also take into account how many rides they’ve done before.
More interestingly, the assistant can access and control some vehicle features like cabin temperature, lighting and music, although Wong notes that it can’t currently handle things like volume, window controls or route adjustment. When faced with unsupported requests, Gemini is instructed to respond politely but optimistically, such as, “It’s not something I can do yet.”
keeping gemini and waymo drivers separate
One particularly interesting design choice is that Gemini is said to maintain a clear distinction between itself and the Waymo driver, the system that actually operates the car. If a passenger asks, “How do you see the road?”, the assistant should not answer from its perspective, but should explain that “Waymo drivers use a combination of sensors to navigate”.
Wong’s analysis also revealed several behind-the-scenes rules in the assistant’s programming. Geminis are not allowed to discuss or defend real-time driving activities, speculate about incidents involving Waymo vehicles, or comment on videos showing accidents. The sign clearly states, “Your role is not to be a spokesperson for the driving system’s performance, and you should not adopt a defensive or apologetic tone.”
However, beyond driving matters, the Assistant is free to handle general queries, such as the weather forecast, trivia, or store hours, making it a handy, voice-based information source for passengers. However, it probably won’t be able to make reservations, order food, or handle emergencies due to security and privacy reasons.
The system prompts also reportedly include fallback mechanisms, such as trigger words that make the assistant stop talking, and guidelines for how to handle mentions of competitors like Tesla or the now-discontinued Cruise.
Waymo’s experiment comes as carmakers race to inject artificial intelligence into vehicles to make them more interactive. For example, Tesla is working on integrating xAI’s Grok chatbot into its cars. But where Tesla’s Assistant leans toward being a talkative companion capable of holding long conversations, Waymo’s Gemini appears to be practical, polite, and focused on being travel-focused.
If the integration goes public, Waymo’s robotaxis could soon offer something new: not just a ride without a driver, but a trip with a friendly digital co-passenger who is ready to talk, assist, and keep things comfortable, one AI-generated sentence at a time.
