Fiat and Kia are using ChatGPT to sell cars in the metaverse
![Fiat logo is displayed on a smartphone screen](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GhkK9iN5Bfsy7hYgGeRvuG-415-80.jpg)
Car manufacturers Fiat and Kia "hope to revolutionize the car-buying experience" by allowing customers to shop for vehicles through ChatGPT-integrated digital showrooms in the metaverse, Axios reports.
The Fiat Metaverse Store is a collaboration between Microsoft and software firm Touchcast, which was unveiled at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show last month. Microsoft recently signed a $10 billion deal with OpenAi, the creators of ChatGPT, and has been working on integrating the technology into its products.
As the immersive store is integrated into Microsoft Teams, Axios says, customers won't need a VR headset, avatar, or specialized hardware to shop in the Fiat digital showroom. If they need assistance, they can interact with either a human or artificial "Fiat Genius" that answers questions about the cars with the help of ChatGPT. "Customers can check out a vehicle's attributes, ask the Fiat Genius questions and potentially even complete their purchase from home," Axios writes. Complex questions are transferred to human assistants, "who can pop into the metaverse showroom from anywhere on Earth."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The digital experience mimics how "a human salesperson would meet you in a dealership and you would ask them a question," Touchcast CEO Edo Segal told Axios. Eventually, Segal added, the technology will be available inside cars so that customers can ask questions after purchasing a vehicle. "It raises the fidelity of communications," he said. "It's even better than being in a dealership."
Kia Germany has also launched metaverse dealership that runs on Engage, a metaverse platform for business. The store is available on mobile devices or computers, but "the best experience is on a VR headset," Axios says. Using digital avatars, customers "can walk through a virtual showroom and interact with the vehicles, check out the service bays and get their questions answered by clicking on links that take them to Kia's website."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.
-
Quiz of The Week: 20 - 26 July
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Week Unwrapped: The dark world of illicit gambling
Podcast Plus, the pension pot shortfall and Obama's silence on Harris
By The Week Staff Published
-
Leonora Carrington: Rebel Visionary – an exhibition of 'unearthly delights'
The 'captivating' show features over 70 pieces spanning everything from paintings to tapestries
By The Week UK Published
-
Threads turns one: where does the Twitter rival stand?
In the Spotlight Although Threads is reporting 175 million active monthly users, it has failed to eclipse X as a meaningful cultural force
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
Is the AI bubble deflating?
Today's Big Question Growing skepticism and high costs prompt reconsideration
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Amazon ending 'Just Walk Out' grocery checkout
Speed Read In its place, the company will let customers scan while they shop with Amazon Dash Cart
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How social media is limiting political content
The Explainer Critics say Meta's 'extraordinary move' to have less politics in users' feeds could be 'actively muzzling civic action'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Justice Department bites Apple with iPhone suit
Speed Read The lawsuit alleges that the tech company monopolized the smartphone industry
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
House votes to force TikTok to sell or face US ban
speed read The House passed a bill to ban TikTok on national security grounds unless it sells to a non-Chinese company
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Apple kills its secret electric car project
Speed Read Many of the people from Project Titan are being reassigned to work on generative AI
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nightshade: the 'data poisoning' tool boosting fightback against AI
Under the Radar Like 'putting hot sauce in your lunch so it doesn't get stolen from the workplace fridge', says creator
By The Week UK Published