- Tesla is rolling out the Grok AI assistant across cars in New Zealand and Australia.
- The assistant will be able to answer a "vast array" of questions and help with navigation.
- Grok is already integrated into ELon Musk's social media company X.
If you own a Tesla and are a fan of AI, then good news - Tesla has officially begun the rollout of "Grok," an advanced AI companion, to eligible vehicles across New Zealand and Australia starting today (Tuesday, 24th February 2026).
Developed by Elon Musk's company xAI, Grok is designed to provide drivers with "accurate, insightful responses to a vast array of questions".
Beyond general inquiries, the AI is being integrated into the driving experience, and is capable of initiating navigation commands, discovering points of interest, as well as adjusting routes on the go. To use Grok for navigation, vehicles must be running software version 2025.44.25 or later.
Tesla ANZ says the rollout is occurring in waves, with Hardware 3 (HW3) vehicles receiving the update first. Owners of Hardware 4 (HW4) vehicles are expected to receive the update in the coming days, and drivers can enable the feature through their vehicle's steering wheel by setting the personality to "Assistant".
To be eligible for the Grok update, Tesla vehicles must meet the following criteria:
- Be equipped with an AMD processor.
- Be running vehicle software version 2025.26 or later.
- Have an active Premium Connectivity subscription or a Wi-Fi connection.
Tesla and xAI say that all interactions are securely processed by xAI and all conversations remain anonymous to Tesla and are not linked to the individual user or their specific vehicle.
Grok (named after a word created by American sci-fi author Robert A. Heinlein to mean "to understand intuitively or by empathy, to establish rapport with") is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot based on xAI's large language model (LLM) that is already integrated with Musk's social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and Tesla vehicles (including the Cybertruck) in the US since a July 2025 update.
xAI describes Grok as having been designed to "answer questions with a bit of wit" and as having "a rebellious streak", claiming that the bot had been "modelled after The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so is intended to answer almost anything", which has led to a somewhat controversial history of bringing up conspiracy theories and referencing Elon Musk's personal views.
All of which is in keeping for cars that to this day features a wide variety of fart sounds in its infotainment system, although critics have accused xAI of skewing Grok politically rightward with updates since 2023, which won't necessarily help soften that unfortunate "Swasticar" name it attracted during Musk's brief foray into US politics...
Tesla owners will be notified of the Grok update today via the Tesla App.