Continental drives new automotive innovations with Google Cloud

image of two white cars with both front hoods open revealing engine bay | Continental and Google Cloud

Key Takeaways

Google Cloud and Continental have formed a strategic partnership to enhance the automotive industry by integrating Continental's automotive technology expertise with Google's data and AI technologies, aiming for innovative and user-focused solutions.

Continental will incorporate Google Cloud’s Conversational AI into its Smart Cockpit High-Performance Computer, enabling natural language communication between passengers and vehicles, thus enhancing in-car connectivity and user experience.

The collaboration is expected to accelerate innovation, reduce costs, and improve efficiency in developing new automotive solutions, ultimately delivering safer, more efficient, and better-connected vehicles for consumers.

Google Cloud and Continental have announced a strategic partnership to provide innovative, flexible and future-oriented digital solutions for the automotive industry.

Founded in 1871, Continental develops technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. The technology company offers safe, efficient and intelligent solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation.

The partnership will combine Continental’s expertise in automotive technology with Google’s data and AI technologies to create a new generation of safe, efficient and user-focused automotive solutions. Furthermore, both companies will expand their strategic partnership into additional fields of collaboration in the future, with the goal of building greater in-car connectivity and customer experiences.

Continental will integrate Google Cloud’s Conversational AI technologies into its Smart Cockpit High-Performance Computer (HPC) solution, running on Android Automotive OS, to help reduce automotive voice assistants. These solutions will open up new and innovative ways for passengers to communicate with their cars using natural language, facilitated by generative AI. Continental’s Smart Cockpit HPC enables an adapted system performance for a pre-integrated function set and offers fast response times and an intuitive user interface.

Key highlights of this partnership include accelerated innovation to develop new automotive solutions that are safer, more efficient and better connected. This partnership is expected to also lower costs by reducing complexity and development times and bringing new products to market faster, which will improve the user experience overall.

Philipp von Hirschheydt, Continental executive board member and head of the automotive group sector, said: “By working with Google Cloud, we can accelerate our innovation and enhance our solutions for the software-defined vehicle. This collaboration will help our customers to reduce costs, improve efficiency, flexibility and increase value for all.”

Behshad Behzadi, VP engineering Google Cloud GenAI, said: “Our partnership with Continental has great potential and we’re very much looking forward to the collaboration. Together with Continental, we will be able to bring our Conservational AI technologies to vehicles, making it easier and faster for automotive companies to leverage Generative AI to create new passenger experiences in cars.”

Daniel Holz, VP EMEA North at Google Cloud, said: “We are excited to partner with Continental.

“This partnership will enable us to bring our expertise in software, AI and cloud computing to the automotive industry. Together, we can create a new generation of connected automotive solutions that are not just convenient but help deliver more safety and better travel experience for passengers.”