Waymo Brings Gemini Into Its Custom Ojai Robotaxis
Waymo has built Gemini directly into its custom Ojai autonomous vehicles, giving riders an in-cabin voice assistant that operates alongside — but fully independent of — the Waymo Driver self-driving system.
Details
- What Gemini does in the vehicle: Riders can tap an icon on the in-car screen and use voice commands to control cabin features (Google’s example: “turn the A/C to 65”), search for nearby businesses and amenities, learn about local landmarks and points of interest, and ask general-knowledge questions
- Separate from the driving system: Gemini runs independently of the Waymo Driver that actually operates the vehicle. It stays completely inactive until a passenger deliberately engages it, so it has no role in navigation or driving decisions
- Activation is opt-in and manual: There’s no passive listening — riders choose when to bring Gemini into a ride by pressing the on-screen icon
- Ojai is Waymo’s custom vehicle: The integration ships specifically in Waymo’s purpose-built Ojai vehicles rather than the retrofitted third-party cars used in parts of its fleet
- Rollout scope unspecified: Google’s post doesn’t name which cities or how many vehicles have the feature yet, nor a timeline for wider availability; it points to Waymo’s own “Waypoint” blog for further detail
What happened next
This is one of the more concrete signs of Gemini moving into physical, real-world products beyond phones and browsers — an in-vehicle assistant riding alongside a live self-driving system. The open questions are rollout scope and whether Gemini’s role expands beyond cabin control and local search into trip-relevant tasks over time.