On 20 October Google began rolling out Personal Intelligence on Android Auto. It is the feature that lets Gemini use the data in your Google account to give answers tailored to you, even while you are behind the wheel. For anyone living in Italy or Switzerland, though, there is a big caveat: both are among the territories left out, at least for now.
What changes in practice
Until now, Gemini in the car answered general questions and handled navigation, music and calls. With Personal Intelligence, the assistant can draw, with your permission, on Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Photos, Maps, YouTube and your search history. That means you don’t have to explain the context every time.
Google’s examples give the idea. Ask about your flight and Gemini pulls the gate and any delay together in a single answer. Snap a photo of a car wash and then ask to be taken there. Or ask for a restaurant and the suggestion takes your habits into account.
Without the feature, Gemini carries on doing what it did before: navigation, music, phone calls and general questions. Only the degree of personalisation in its answers changes.
How to switch it on
The feature is optional. You turn it on from Gemini’s settings, and your apps stay disconnected until you decide to link them one by one. You can switch it off at any time from the same settings. If you had already enabled it in the Gemini app on your phone, you will find it waiting on Android Auto without doing anything else.
Cars with Google built in
The October launch covers Android Auto, the system that projects your phone onto the car’s screen. For cars with Google built in, the ones that run Android Automotive directly, Google says it is coming “in the coming months”. In that case, personalised answers only work when you are in the car with your phone connected.
Where it isn’t available
This is the point that matters most to SpazioiTech readers. According to the official page, Personal Intelligence is not available in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or Nigeria. Workplace accounts for business, school and university are also excluded. You need a personal Google account and must be at least 18.
There is no date for extending it to the excluded countries. Gemini itself, the company points out, is available in cars worldwide: what is missing is the personal layer.
Who it’s interesting for
- People in the United States or the other covered markets who use Gmail and Calendar to organise journeys and appointments: this is where the assistant saves the most steps.
- People who drive a lot for work, but with a personal account: Workspace accounts remain excluded.
- People in Italy or Switzerland: for now you stay with the “generic” Gemini. There is nothing to switch on and no point looking for workarounds.
What we think
The idea makes sense. You can’t type in the car, and every extra sentence is a distraction: an assistant that already knows which flight you’ve booked or which photo you took shortens your requests and, at least in theory, means less time with your mind elsewhere.
The flip side is the amount of data involved. Mail, calendar and photos are the core of your private life, which is exactly why opt-in and app-by-app linking are the right choice. It remains to be seen how clear the screens where you grant permissions turn out to be in practice.
The exclusion of Europe is the least welcome part, but not a surprising one: features of this kind often reach the rest of the world before the European Economic Area. Google gives no reason, so we won’t guess at causes. The practical advice is to wait. If you want to understand better how the driving experience is changing with Android Auto, we have covered Google Maps’ new labels, a more modest update but one that is already available everywhere.
Written by the SpazioiTech newsroom with the help of AI tools, from facts verified across at least two independent outlets, and checked before publication. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Translated from the Italian original. Read in Italian
