BMW to employ surprise AI assistant in cars – as it continues to distance itself from Apple CarPlay

BMW and Amazon have announced that Alexa+ technology will be used to power the next generation of BMW's in-car voice assistant. That will mean a smarter AI assistance, with better understanding of natural conversational language.

Amazon announced Alexa+ in February 2025 as an evolution of its popular voice assistant, underpinned by more sophisticated AI to better compete with the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini. The new system has wide-ranging ambitions, running initially on Amazon's Echo devices, but promising agentic powers so it can do a lot more for you.

Taking the Alexa+ experience into the car isn't about replicating Alexa in another location, it's about providing access to the underlying technologies, so that BMW can have a more sophisticated AI experience – while still allowing that link into Alexa that BMW has offered for some time.

BMW actually uses something called Alexa Custom Assistant and was the first brand to take advantage of this technology. The latest step is empowering Alexa Custom Assistant with the Alexa+ architecture, so it benefits from those enhanced powers.

"By leveraging Amazon's advanced AI technology with Alexa+, we've created an intelligent assistant that feels truly BMW, delivering the convenience and experience our customers expect," said Jörn Freyer, VP of user interaction at the car maker.

The Alexa Custom Assistant is built on Alexa+ technology giving access to 70 different language models and those agentic AI skills I mentioned, which is where the voice assistant can act on your behalf to complete particular tasks (like making reservations, for example).

BMW introduced its first voice assistant (different to previous voice control options) in 2018, which enabled "Hey BMW" as a command in the car. I was impressed when this system originally launched and it was clear that BMW didn't just want an off-the-shelf solution, it wanted something that felt truly bespoke and BMW in its nature.

Bespoke is important to BMW, because it's one of the brands that's resistant to just rolling over and allowing a brand like Google or Apple to take care of the in-car experience.

BMW has previously been vocal about wanting to own the experience – as well as protecting customer data – and while it allows access to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, it won't be adopting Apple CarPlay Ultra. This takes over all the screens in your car with an Apple-y look and feel. which the manufacturer wants to steer clear of.

Instead, BMW continues to invest in its own systems, looking to make sure that when you get into a BMW, you're getting a BMW experience. That includes the move towards larger screens, more immersive AR elements and greater intelligence.

Working with Alexa+, via Alexa Custom Assistant, means BMW doesn't have – pardon the pun – to reinvent the wheel just to get its voice assistant up to scratch.

The new assistant is expected to make its debut in BMW models soon – although it's not yet clear which models will see it first and whether older models will get an upgrade.