What’s the story
Tesla has upgraded its electric vehicle (EV) voice assistant system in mainland China.
The company has integrated artificial intelligence (AI) technology from DeepSeek and ByteDance to improve customer interaction in the world’s largest automotive market.
The move is part of Tesla’s effort to enhance user experience by providing more natural and intuitive communication with its vehicles.
Drivers can have casual conversations with the system
The updated terms of use on Tesla’s mainland website reveal that DeepSeek’s chatbot will be used for “AI interaction.”
This means a Tesla EV driver can have casual conversations with the system, and also get real-time news and weather updates.
The integration of this technology is expected to make the voice assistant more engaging and informative for users.
Doubao handles voice commands for navigation and in-vehicle media
Tesla’s upgraded voice assistant system also uses ByteDance’s Doubao large language model (LLM).
This tech will handle voice commands for navigation and control in-vehicle media and amenities like air conditioning.
The integration of Doubao is expected to make the voice assistant more efficient in carrying out user commands, further improving the overall driving experience.
Voice assistant can be activated by saying ‘Hey, Tesla’
The upgraded voice assistant system can be activated by saying “Hey, Tesla” or another chosen phrase. This is a more intuitive method than pressing a button on the EV’s steering wheel or multimedia terminal.
ByteDance’s cloud computing services unit, Volcano Engine, is handling the AI systems integration with an encrypted application programming interface (API), a protocol that allows different software applications to interact.