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Waze Adds Gemini AI, Smarter Navigation And New Motorcycle Mode

Waze is rolling out a major upgrade to its navigation platform, introducing AI-powered features, deeper personalisation and new tools designed to make driving less distracting and more responsive to real-world conditions.

Google Brings Gemini Deeper Into Waze

The Google-owned app is integrating Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, as part of the company’s broader push to bring AI across its products.

Among the headline updates is conversational voice search, allowing users to find places based on intent rather than exact names. Drivers can ask questions such as “Find me a coffee shop that’s open right now,” “Find me parking near Grand Mall,” or “Find me the cheapest gas station nearby,” with Waze returning relevant suggestions.

The feature is currently rolling out to the Waze beta community worldwide on Android and iOS.

Personalized Routes Based On Driving Preferences

Waze is also expanding personalised navigation by suggesting routes based on a user’s driving history and local traffic patterns. Drivers who consistently prefer highways over local roads, for example, will see those routes suggested first.

Users can still choose alternative routes or disable personalisation in the app’s settings. The rollout is now underway globally on Android and iOS.

Motorcycle Mode Targets Two-Wheeler Realities

For riders, Waze is introducing a new Motorcycle mode designed to account for road restrictions, shortcuts and hazards specific to two-wheel travel.

Using AI, the feature generates more suitable routes and more accurate arrival estimates while highlighting obstacles such as potholes, speed bumps, raised crosswalks, shoulder endings and narrow bridges.

The mode is rolling out in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and the Philippines on Android and iOS, with additional markets expected to follow.

Conversational Road Reporting Becomes More Useful

Waze already allows drivers to report traffic incidents using natural speech. It is now extending that capability to map updates, enabling users to verbally report road closures, outdated addresses and other issues, which are then forwarded to local map editors.

Instead of navigating through menus, drivers can simply say, “The road is closed here.” The capability is becoming available globally on Android and iOS.

A Quieter Option For Focused Driving

To reduce distractions, Waze is also introducing a “less chatty” mode that shortens and reduces the frequency of voice prompts while continuing to provide essential navigation instructions and hazard alerts.

Users on Android and iOS will receive the feature as the global rollout continues.

Mirendil Signs $100 Million Google Cloud Deal To Advance Self-Improving AI

AI startup Mirendil has signed a multi-year agreement worth more than $100 million with Google Cloud to secure computing infrastructure for its self-improving AI research.

The partnership reflects growing competition among AI companies to lock in access to high-performance computing, while cloud providers race to attract promising startups developing next-generation AI models.

Backing The Next Stage Of AI Research

Mirendil plans to use Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), Nvidia GPUs and managed training infrastructure to develop AI systems capable of improving their own performance over time.

Known as recursive self-improvement, the concept focuses on building AI that can refine its knowledge and capabilities with minimal human intervention. The technology is attracting growing interest across the industry, with several startups and leading AI labs exploring similar approaches.

According to co-founder and Chief Executive Behnam Neyshabur, the long-term goal is to develop AI that can automate scientific research and accelerate discoveries in fields such as medicine, biology and materials science.

Compute Capacity Becomes A Strategic Asset

Training increasingly advanced AI models requires enormous computing resources, making long-term infrastructure agreements a critical competitive advantage.

Mirendil said Google’s combination of TPUs and GPUs allows workloads to be matched with the most suitable hardware, improving efficiency while reducing costs for customers.

For Google Cloud, the agreement strengthens its position in the race to provide infrastructure for frontier AI developers, while giving the company exposure to one of the industry’s emerging approaches to next-generation artificial intelligence.

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