Mercedes-Benz wins 2025 AI Impact Award for turning cars into personalized assistants, Knight Rider-style

Mercedes-Benz has won Newsweek’s 2025 AI Impact Award in the Best Outcomes, Automotive/Transportation UX Systems category for transforming its vehicles into AI-powered, hyper-personalized assistants. The recognition highlights the company’s new MB.OS infotainment system, which debuts with the CLA-Class model and integrates conversational AI, behavioral AI, and agentic AI to create what the company calls “the cleverest car we’ve ever made.”

What you should know: Mercedes-Benz’s next-generation vehicles represent a fundamental shift from traditional luxury to intelligence-driven experiences.

• The CLA-Class serves as the company’s first software-defined vehicle, featuring the new MB.OS operating system with integrated AI search, customizations, and recommendations.
• Three types of AI power the system: conversational AI for natural dialogue, behavioral AI for personalized recommendations and automated driving, and agentic AI for hyper-personalized experiences.
• The system combines ChatGPT for natural conversation and Google Gemini for location-based navigation, automatically selecting the best AI agent based on user prompts.

The big picture: Mercedes-Benz has been building toward this AI integration for three decades, with machine learning first introduced to vehicles in 1996 and a Silicon Valley R&D hub established in 1994.

• Over 3 million vehicles already use the company’s AI features, including ChatGPT integration, proving the technology’s scalability beyond concept cars.
• The company views this as redefining luxury from material-focused to intelligence-focused experiences.

How it works: The MB.OS system creates seamless integration between AI assistants and vehicle systems with contextual memory capabilities.

• Users can adjust climate control, ambient lighting, and other functions through voice commands while the system remembers previous interactions to refine future responses.
• MBUX Surround Navigation provides spatially aware navigation with real-time updates using Google and AMAP routing.
• The system maintains privacy and safety controls, with Mercedes-Benz retaining full control over data, interfaces, sensors, and actuators.

What they’re saying: Company executives emphasize the strategic nature of this AI integration rather than trend-following.

• “We’re not just launching a new car – we’re introducing a new category of vehicle that learns, adapts, and grows with you,” Magnus Östberg, chief software officer at Mercedes-Benz AG, told Newsweek.
• “We’re not chasing AI trends; we’re delivering capabilities we’ve been developing for decades,” Östberg added.
• “True luxury means technology that disappears into the background until the exact moment you need it, then delivers precisely what you want,” a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said.

Beyond vehicles: Mercedes-Benz plans to expand AI integration across manufacturing operations and cost reduction initiatives.

• The company achieved a 19 percent reduction in fixed costs between 2019 and 2024 and expects an additional 10 percent reduction over the next three years through AI implementation.
• Digital twins will enable greater production flexibility and reduce retooling interruptions.
• AI-enhanced Apptronik Apollo humanoid robots are being tested for repetitive manufacturing tasks and internal logistics operations.

Why this matters: The award recognition positions Mercedes-Benz as a leader in the automotive industry’s shift toward software-defined vehicles, demonstrating how traditional luxury brands are adapting to compete in an AI-driven market where intelligence becomes a key differentiator alongside traditional craftsmanship and materials.