Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) has selected Cerence Browse, Cerence’s AI-powered, cloud-based content domain, to bring the power and intelligence of internet search engines directly into Toyota and Lexus vehicles in its next-generation multimedia system. TMNA is the first automaker to deploy Cerence’s new cloud service, Browse.

Cerence Browse will enable Toyota and Lexus passengers to ask general information or real-time event questions—including (but not limited to) geography data, stock information, astronomy, holidays, currencies, politics, nutrition, celebrities, news events, and much more. While previous voice solutions have focused on providing answers to mostly driving- or trip-related questions—such as checking the weather, getting directions, or looking up restaurants—Cerence Browse brings a new level of overarching real-time knowledge, extending the capabilities of TMNA’s in-car experience.

Cerence Browse accomplishes this by connecting to several external knowledge sources and web search engines. It then transforms the user’s spoken requests to information queries and web searches, selects the best answer and converts this into a voice response that does not require the driver to take their eyes off the road.

Cerence Browse from Cerence Inc. on Vimeo.

We’re proud to be the first automaker to deploy Cerence Browse and empower our customers with on-the-go access to the information they’re accustomed to from other smart home or mobile voice assistants. Buyers of the all-new 2022 Lexus NX and 2022 Toyota Tundra models will be the first to experience this great feature.

—Charan Lota, vice president and executive chief engineer, Toyota Motor North America, Connected Technologies

Cerence Browse leverages Machine Reading Comprehension AI that scans through real-time information and extracts meaning, just as a human would, to find the best possible answer to general user questions such as “Tell me about the Space Needle,” as well as more specific queries such as “How tall is the Space Needle?”

Cerence Browse is a remarkable Deep Reasoning Network technology built to support automakers in creating unique, human-like responses to questions By implementing Cerence Browse, Toyota can expect to see overall in-car voice assistant usage increase, along with user engagement and satisfaction levels.

—Stefan Ortmanns, CEO, Cerence