Google said on Oct. 20 that it has started rolling out Personal Intelligence for its Gemini assistant on Android Auto, the system that lets drivers use their phone's apps on the car's screen. Gemini was already available in cars, and Personal Intelligence already worked in the Gemini app on phones and the web. What is new is the feature reaching the car. Google says cars with Google built-in, which run Google's software in the car itself, get it in the coming months.
With your permission, the feature lets Gemini pull details from the Google apps you already use, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Photos, Google Maps, YouTube and Search, so you can speak naturally without spelling out the details. Google gave examples. Ask "What's my flight gate? And is my flight on time?" and Google says Gemini answers both at once, without you digging out the confirmation email or searching for delays. Say "Take me to my doctor's appointment" and there is no address to remember. Google says it can also find a car wash from a photo you took last week and start directions there, or suggest restaurants along your route that fit your usual tastes.
Personal Intelligence stays off until you turn it on, and you pick which apps it can see in Gemini's settings. If you have already switched it on in the Gemini app, it comes with you into the car. In cars with Google built-in, personal answers come only when your phone is connected. Without the feature, navigation, music, calls and questions still work, but the answers aren't tailored to you.
Google calls Personal Intelligence a beta. It is for personal Google accounts held by people 18 and older, not for work or school accounts, and it isn't available in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or Nigeria. Google says Gemini will try to point to or explain the information it used from your connected apps, so you can check it, and it tells users to check Gemini's answers.
Google hasn't said how long the rollout will take to reach every Android Auto driver, which cars with Google built-in will get it first, or when it might come to the places now left out.