EV giant Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) might deploy a new voice assistant on its vehicles as part of its Spring software update.
What Happened: As per Tesla hacker Green, the upcoming software update will have Amazon music playback support and a new Tesla voice assistant narrated by the "Jenny neutral" voice by Microsoft.
The assistant, like Google Assistant or Amazon's Alexa, will be activated by a wake word, he said, looking at the update's source code.
Other (than the release notes) stuff from 2024.14.3
— green (@greentheonly) May 1, 2024
– Amazon music playback support
– beginning of what looks like "tesla voice assistant" that would be activated by a wakeword-? (Aka car always listening for it), narrated by "Jenny Neutral" voice by Microsoft.
The company will also remove its occupancy sensor in the driver's seat, he said, possibly because it has other options such as the interior cabin camera to ensure a driver is seated.
– new track mode windows with a bunch of settings about stability control and whatnot
— green (@greentheonly) May 1, 2024
– "restricted drivers" that have extra restrictions, profile icon will have "training wheels" attached.
– Driver occupancy sensor (resistive pad) in the seat is on the way out
Why It Matters: Tesla teased its spring software release in April and said it would come with immersive full-screen vehicle controls when parked and expandable autopilot driving visualizations.
Autopilot refers to Tesla's advanced driver assistance system aimed at easing driving with the help of multiple external cameras.
The update will also allow drivers to open their trunk by simply standing behind it with the phone key or sync their Spotify queue across vehicles and devices.
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Photo courtesy: Tesla