Back in February, We learned that Apple plans to integrate AI assistants into CarPlay. The news came with the first beta for iOS 26.4, though Apple didn’t actually include a way for testers to try out the integration in the software. Instead, the company confirmed the news CarPlay Developers Guidestates that “CarPlay voice-based conversation app” support will require at least iOS 26.4.
well, Apple launched iOS 26.4 last weekAnd while the update delivered a number of new features, none of them included AI chatbot integration with CarPlay. The company also released the first beta for iOS 26.5 Without mentioning the next feature. I’ll admit that the idea of using ChatGPT, Cloud or Gemini with CarPlay completely fell off my radar, rather than when Apple’s big AI Siri upgrade Will actually launch. But OpenAI hasn’t forgotten about it.
ChatGPT is now available in CarPlay
In a surprising move, OpenAI is now rolling out ChatGPT support in CarPlay. The company announced this news In Thursday’s post on XWith the following tagline: “The voice mode you know, now available on the go.” OpenAI confirmed in a post that the feature works with iPhones running the latest version of iOS (iOS 26.4) — and of course, in cars that support CarPlay.
I have a car with CarPlay, so I had to try this feature. My iPhone is already running iOS 26.4, so that wasn’t a problem, but I needed to update the ChatGPT app to its latest version. Before I did, I couldn’t see apps in CarPlay. After the update, ChatGPT appeared on the last app page in my CarPlay window.
I tried it, and it works as you’d expect: when you launch ChatGPT in CarPlay, it opens directly in voice mode. (You are driving, after all.) There are only two buttons on the screen: “End,” which ends the session, or “Mute,” which mutes the session, presumably so you can talk to other people in the car without hearing ChatGPT (or other drivers’ swearing?).
After launching the app, you can simply talk to ChatGPT and it can respond. It’s actually a driving-friendly version of the familiar voice mode.
CarPlay doesn’t stop ChatGPT from being delusional
I don’t really have many takeaways here other than this: in my very short time testing this feature, the AI started to get confused almost immediately. I asked if he knew what I was doing, and he said he didn’t. When I pressed that I thought he could guess given the context, he admitted that he knew I was using CarPlay, so I was probably driving. I asked how long this feature had been around, and he mistakenly thought I was asking about CarPlay, so he said 2014. When I corrected him, and asked how long the ChatGPT integration has been a feature in CarPlay, he said late 2023.
What do you think so far?
“Late 2023?” I asked. “Yeah, right!” Reply to ChatGPT. “So it’s still pretty recent, but it’s been expanding a lot since then, especially with updates from OpenAI and Apple. So, yeah, you’re right at the beginning of that wave!” I asked if he knew what year it was now. ChatGPT acknowledged that it was 2026, meaning “it’s been a few years since that initial rollout,” and thanked me for pointing it out.
“Okay,” I said. “But I was under the impression that this facility was brand new, like it literally just came out today.” This marked the first time in this conversation that ChatGPT was “thinking”, signaled by a subtle tune playing in the background. When he got back to me, he confirmed the feature launched with iOS 26.4. “This is the first time third-party chat apps like ChatGPT have been available in CarPlay, so it’s brand new!” When I asked why he originally said 2023, he said it was a mistake. When I pressed him to tell me the source he was pulling that information from, he said he “must have accidentally recalled an earlier timeline.”
This is not a new problem. All generative AI hallucinatesNot just ChatGPT, and that’s something to expect when using the technology. But I can’t help but think that CarPlay only makes the problem worse: you can’t easily check the AI yourself when you’re on the road; All you can do is ask him to fact-check himself. Sure, it can correct a mistake, as it did when I challenged it, but it can also feign correction. If you rely on this tool to answer your questions while on the road, you may find some false information that you brush off as truth.
Disclosure: Lifehacker’s parent company, Ziff Davis, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging that it infringed Ziff Davis’s copyright in training and operating its AI system.
