Ford has an AI assistant and new BlueCruise hands-free technology on the way

Ford is developing an AI assistant that will debut in the company’s smartphone app, before expanding it to its vehicles in 2027, the company announced Wednesday at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show. The company also introduced a new generation of its BlueCruise advanced driver assistance system, both cheaper to manufacture and more capable, ultimately leading to eyeless driving in 2028.

Wednesday’s announcement was one of only a few from a major automaker at CES, marking a stark turnaround from the late 2010s, when they dominated the show. And it wasn’t achieved in a flashy main event; Ford instead discussed current events during a speaker session titled “Great Minds” that aimed to “explore the intersection of technology and humanity.”

Ford says its digital assistant is hosted by Google Cloud and will be built using commercially available LLMs, and that the company gives it deep access to vehicle-specific information. This means the wizard can answer general questions like “how many bags of mulch can my truck bed hold?” » But it also means that owners will be able to request granular information in real time, such as the lifespan of the oil.

The company deploys the assistant in its Newly redesigned Ford app in early 2026. Native integration into the vehicle will take place in 2027, although the company does not specify which models it prioritizes.

Ford hasn’t gone into detail about what the in-car experience will look like, but it’s not hard to imagine the possibilities when looking at some of the most technologically advanced automakers.

Last month, Rivian introduced its own digital assistant that sends and receives text messages, handles complex navigation requests and changes climate controls. Tesla integrated Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot into its vehicles, which customers used to generate on-site sightseeing tours. Some of these capabilities may dwarf what Ford has in mind, but the automaker also has a full year to work out the integration into the car.

The new BlueCruise system introduced Wednesday is 30% cheaper to build than current technology, according to Ford. It will debut in 2027 on the first electric vehicle built on the company’s low-cost “universal electric vehicle” platform, which is expected to be a mid-size pickup truck.

Ford is promising more with this next-generation BlueCruise system, including eyeless driving in 2028. But it also says the system will be able to handle “point-to-point autonomy,” similar to what Tesla offers with its fully autonomous (supervised) driving software. Rivian also teased a point-to-point system coming later this year. All of these systems require drivers to be ready to take control of the car at any time.