Earlier this week, Volkswagen announced plans to augment its in-car voice assistant IDA with ChatGPT. I'll admit that I initially didn't quite understand the point, but I got a chance here at CES 2024 in Las Vegas to hear about the vision for this integration from Cerence, the company that already powers the back-end of VW's voice assistant. As usual, it's a bit of a rough demo, because it's hard to exactly see how ChatGPT will help you out when you're on the road when you're instead sitting in a stationary car inside of a convention center. But conceptually, the idea behind bringing ChatGPT into a car is all about avoiding a "dead end" when you as IDA something, Cerence told us. Drivers don't need to do anything different -- you just say "Hello IDA" or press the voice assistant button on the driver's wheel and start talking. And if there's something that IDA doesn't know, it'll check with ChatGPT.

AI is literally everywhere, so it's not a big surprise to learn that Volkswagen is planning to bring ChatGPT to its vehicles. As part of its CES 2024 announcements, the automaker says that its existing IDA voice assistant will work with ChatGPT across a range of its newer models. VW isn't the first to try this -- Mercedes-Benz announced ChatGPT integration in June of last year, so it seems like this is certainly a thing we're all going to have to get used to. Specifically, VW says that ChatGPT will be enabled in these specific models with the latest generation of the company's infotainment systems: ID.7 (pictured above), ID.4, It'll roll out ChatGPT as as "standard feature" in "many" production vehicles in Q2 of 2024; the company didn't say in which regions, but notes that the feature is only currently "being considered" for the US market.

From a smart device capable of urinalysis from your home toilet to a robot dog and a smart bird feeder, CES 2023 was full of fun surprises. It also proved the annual event continues to set the tone for the coming year in connected devices across the consumer and enterprise realms, spanning verticals such as healthcare, automotive, smart home, and beyond. In healthcare, the newly announced smart device for home toilets is from Withings, and it really does analyze a person's urine in realtime. U-Scan is a little Wi-Fi-connected device that contains a dozen test pods with various biomarker tests. It uses a clever design to test urine and then transmit test results to the user's app almost immediately.

BERLIN--Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Oliver Blume has put plans for a self-driving vehicle under review in the first sign since his appointment two months ago that he is walking back some of his predecessor's most ambitious technology ventures. Mr. Blume is likely to delay the Trinty self-driving electric car project and could cancel plans to build a new factory for the vehicle near its headquarters, people familiar with the matter said. In a message Thursday that was seen by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Blume and VW brand CEO Thomas Schäfer told employees, "We are using this opportunity to review all projects and investments and determine whether they are viable." The move shows how Mr. Blume, who took the helm in September after the board ousted Herbert Diess, is beginning to reorder VW's most ambitious--and fraught--endeavors to focus on near-term implementation of key software and technology for coming models. A personal, guided tour to the best scoops and stories every day in The Wall Street Journal.

Argo AI, a technology company that has been testing its driverless car platoform in Austin, is shutting down. The Pittsburgh-based company has been operating in Central Texas since 2019 in partnership with Ford Motor Company. Ford has been deploying prototypes in Austin to establish the city as a proving ground for autonomous vehicle technology. "In coordination with our shareholders, the decision has been made that Argo AI will not continue on its mission as a company. Many of the employees will receive an opportunity to continue work on automated driving technology with either Ford or Volkswagen, while employment for others will unfortunately come to an end," Argo AI said in a written statement.

Argo AI, the self-driving startup backed by Ford and Volkswagen, is shutting down, The Verge has learned. Employees were notified that an announcement would be made late in the day Wednesday. The company, which was founded by veterans of Google and Uber's self-driving car projects, has lost the financial support of Ford and VW, a source said. And according to TechCrunch, the company's resources will be absorbed by both automakers. Argo is estimated to have around 2,000 employees, though it did announce a round of layoffs earlier this year.

Self-driving car developer Argo AI suddenly announced that it was closing its doors this week. Some of its 1,800-odd employees, winnowed already by summer layoffs, are to be offered jobs to "work on automated technology with either Ford or Volkswagen," Catherine Johnsmeyer, an Argo spokesperson, said in a statement. The two auto giants had sunk some $3.6 billion into Argo and owned most of it. Now, they had decided to pull the plug. The end of Argo is just the latest sign that the global effort to get cars to drive themselves is in trouble--or at least more complex than once thought.

Volkswagen will invest €2.4 billion euros ($2.3 billion) to set up an autonomous driving joint venture with China's Horizon Robotics Inc. to strengthen the automaker's tech presence in its biggest market. The joint venture "will enable us to tailor our products and services even faster and more consistently to the needs of our Chinese customers," said Ralf Brandstaetter, who runs VW's China business. Teaming up with Horizon will help "drive the repositioning of our China business." VW is under pressure to improve its offering in China, its biggest market with roughly 40% of deliveries. Sales last year slid, outpacing an overall drop as the company struggled to keep up with local consumer tastes, particularly on digital offerings with many VW models exasperating drivers with frozen screens and complex functionality.

Volkswagen AG said Thursday that it will invest more than 2 billion euros ($1.94 billion) in a joint venture in China that aims to advance efficiency in automated driving. The German auto group said its Cariad software subsidiary will partner with Beijing-based Horizon Robotics, a supplier of smart-vehicle software solutions. Cariad will be the majority shareholder with a 60% stake, VW said, adding that the group will invest around EUR2.4 billion in the business. The JV will work to integrate numerous automated-driving functions in one chip, VW said. This will increase the stability of the system, saving costs and reducing energy consumption, VW said.

Volkswagen (VWAGY) is looking to expand its foray into the electric vehicle market with a $2.4 billion investment, the German carmaker said Thursday. The company is also pursuing a joint venture with Chinese firm Horizon Robotics, a major chipmaker in the world's largest economy. However, the deal is pending regulatory approval. Following the deal's completion, software firm CARIAD, a subsidy of the carmaker, will hold a 60% majority stake in the joint venture. The partnership is an effort to "speed up customization of automated driving solutions for the Chinese market," the company said in a statement.