Microsoft, TomTom Launch Voice Assistant That Makes Google Assistant and Siri Feel Old

The software giant wants to be in charge of the backend powering every piece of technology you find in a car, so it's working with renowned companies involved in the automotive industry to power their software.

The latest partnership is living proof. Microsoft joined forces with TomTom for an AI-powered voice assistant that makes existing solutions, including Google Assistant and Siri, feel outdated and old news.

Microsoft has long been under fire for its reduced focus on consumer products. Under CEO Satya Nadella, the Redmond-based Windows maker turned cloud and artificial intelligence into money-making machines, as the operating system and the Office productivity suite were no longer the only products bringing home the bacon (as a side note, Microsoft 365, the suite that replaces Office and comes with a subscription-based model, is a major catalyst for the company's growth).

The partnership with TomTom is powered by Microsoft's investments in such solutions.

Microsoft's generative artificial intelligence technology supported the development of an advanced voice assistant that completely changes how drivers interact with these technologies behind the wheel. The new assistant runs on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and offers a conversational experience that supports more than the basic voice commands available today.

If you used Google Assistant and Siri on Android Auto and CarPlay, you probably know that the most common commands involve setting navigation to a desired destination, playing a specific song, making a phone call, and sending a text to a contact. Google Assistant offers more advanced functionality on Android Automotive thanks to the deeper vehicle integration, including support for adjusting climate control settings.

However, Microsoft and TomTom say their new conversational automotive assistant comes with full integration for infotainment, location search, and vehicle command systems. In plain English, their assistant supports interaction with all these features, so you can " navigate to a certain location, find specific stops along their route, and vocally control onboard systems to, for instance, turn up the temperature, open windows, or change radio stations."

The magic relies upon how you interact with the assistant. Thanks to Microsoft technology, including Azure Kubernetes Services, Azure Cosmos DB, and Azure Cognitive Services, the assistant allows drivers to get a conversational experience and speak a single command for multiple requests. You can ask the assistant to set navigation to a specific address and look for stops along the route in one interaction.

You don't have to stick with specific words but speak naturally with the voice assistant, as the OpenAI Service should make the interaction feel more human.

The partnership between Microsoft and TomTom was originally supposed to bring the solution to customers that adopted the latter's Digital Cockpit.

If you're familiar with TomTom's products, you probably know already that the company's software is already available in a growing number of vehicles on the road. The TomTom Digital Cockpit includes new-generation capabilities, so carmakers already using the platform will receive the new conversational AI before others.

However, Microsoft and TomTom don't want to limit the new voice assistant to a single platform. The two companies say the assistant can be integrated into any other automotive infotainment system. Any carmaker or infotainment developer can adopt this voice assistant, including Android Automotive. I doubt Google will ever do this, though, as the search giant is also planning ChatGPT-inspired updates for Google Assistant, with features that will allow a more natural conversation in the car.

Microsoft and TomTom let customers fully customize the experience with the new-generation assistant, allowing them to customize the interface to retain the brand identity and offer a unique driver experience.

The approach is not new, as Google also allows carmakers that adopt Android Automotive to tweak the look and feel of the operating system to align with their customers' expectations. Carmakers want to retain their branding, and Android Automotive lets them integrate unique features to set the infotainment experience apart from the rest of the companies in the same space.

Apple is also working on a new-generation CarPlay that could eventually land next year on MY 2024 cars. The iPhone maker will let carmakers customize the look and feel of the new CarPlay, too, as the company admitted that vehicle manufacturers need a way to retain their brand identity when installing a new system for their infotainment services.

The partnership between TomTom and Microsoft isn't in its early days, as the two companies have been collaborating since 2016, when the navigation specialist was picked to power Azure Maps location services. TomTom's mapping data and services eventually powered Microsoft's first-party maps available on Bing, though the software giant never seemed interested in building a product that could compete directly against Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, and the other navigation solutions on the market.