Google Put Gemini Behind the Wheel Before It Learned to Drive

Ask Gemini a question on Android Auto this week and there was a decent chance it would think about it for roughly ten seconds, then simply give up. No answer, no error worth reading. Just a dead end, delivered while you’re doing 65 on the interstate.

Android Authority and 9to5Google both documented the bug on Oct. 2, with reports spanning Pixel, Samsung and Motorola phones, including the Galaxy Z Fold 8. A Google representative later told Android Authority that “a fix for this issue was rolled out this week.” Good. But a fix isn’t the point. The point is that this keeps happening, and drivers no longer have anything to fall back on.

The pattern, not the bug

Look at the last few months of Gemini in the car and a pattern shows up fast.

• June: Gemini-initiated calls on Android Auto started failing with a generic “Something went wrong” message. Google acknowledged it and pushed a fix through the Google app. One Reddit user summed up the mood in a line TechRadar quoted: “The whole Gemini migration has been a dumpster fire.”
• Sept. 4: Google began switching off Google Assistant on Android phones, Wear OS watches, headphones and Android Auto. Per The Decoder’s reporting, once the transition finishes, there’s no option to go back.
• Oct. 1: Android Central reported that owners of foldables such as the Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 couldn’t place calls through Android Auto with the phone closed. The tell: users who switched back to the old Assistant said their calls went through again. Motorola and Google are both looking into it.
• Oct. 2: Gemini starts timing out on questions entirely.

Each issue on its own is the kind of thing that ships and gets patched in any big software rollout. Together, they describe an assistant that wasn’t ready to be the only option in a car.

Cars are not phones

Here’s my problem with how Google handled this. On a phone, a flaky assistant is an annoyance. You sigh, unlock the screen and tap what you need. In a car, voice is the interface. It’s how you call your kid’s school, reroute around a crash or reply to a text without taking your eyes off the road. When it fails, the workaround is picking up the phone, which is exactly the behavior Android Auto exists to prevent.

The old Google Assistant wasn’t clever. It was deterministic. “Call Mom” called Mom, every time. Gemini is far better at open-ended questions, and I don’t doubt it will be the better co-pilot eventually. But Google traded reliability for capability in the one place where reliability matters most, and it did so on a fixed calendar date rather than when the product was ready.

Notably, Google left Assistant in place on cars with Google built-in for now. That’s a tacit admission that the stakes in a vehicle are different. Android Auto drivers deserved the same caution.

What Google should do now

I’m not arguing for bringing Assistant back. That ship has sailed, and maintaining two assistants forever isn’t realistic. But Google can make Gemini behave more like a car product and less like a chatbot beta:

1. Hard-code the basics. Calls, texts, navigation and media controls should run on a fast, predictable path that doesn’t depend on a large language model deciding what you meant.
2. Fail loudly and usefully. If Gemini can’t answer, say so in two seconds, not ten, and offer the obvious next step.
3. Publish known issues. Google confirmed a batch of Android Auto media fixes on Oct. 2, including better autoplay behavior. That kind of transparency should cover Gemini, too, in one place drivers can check.

To its credit, Google has been responsive. The June calling bug got fixed. The timeout bug got fixed within a day of making headlines. The foldable issue is on its radar.

The verdict

Responsiveness isn’t the same as readiness, though. Google set a shutdown date for Assistant and stuck to it while Gemini was still stumbling over the car’s most basic jobs. If you drive with Android Auto, keep your Google and Gemini apps updated, and don’t be shy about filing feedback when something breaks. Google clearly reads it.

But the company owes drivers more than quick patches. It owes them an assistant that works the first time, every time, at highway speed. Until Gemini can promise that, it shouldn’t have been the only voice in the car.

Sources: Android Authority, 9to5Google, Android Central, TechRadar, The Decoder. Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash.