Model Y L nets seat-aware 'Hey, Tesla' command to wake DeepSeek AI assistant

Tesla has replaced simple in-vehicle voice commands with full-fledged AI assistants that can carry out not only tasks like opening a window or turning on the A/C, but whole conversations as well.

In China, its AI assistant isn't based on Grok as it can't use it there for regulatory reasons, but Tesla rather partnered recently with local chatbots powered by homebrew generative AI models like DeepSeek.

With the advent of what can be called the first true 3-row SUV by Tesla - a larger Model Y L that may remain exclusive to China - Tesla is now showing how its AI assistant can help in unorthodox ways.

Those sitting in the third row, for example, are far away from any of the touchscreens in the car and can't rev up the A\C, play the next song, or check the weather forecast. For them, Tesla has now introduced a new phrase that wakes up the virtual AI assistant and lets anyone in the car carry out an informative conversation, or issue voice commands for the car's various functions.

'Hey, Tesla' wake word

Just as any other virtual butler service out there like those from Google or Alexa, the wake word "Hey, Tesla" has been introduced to the Model Y L in China for activating Tesla's localized AI assistant.

The kicker, however, is that the "Hey, Tesla" call comes with spatial awareness for each individual seat, as can be seen at the 6:00 minute mark in the Model Y L video review below. Kids sitting in the third row can activate the chatbot, for instance, but can't make it execute commands, if that's what's checkmarked in its settings. This way, Tesla Model Y L drivers won't have to deal with sudden destination changes, accidental song skipping, or any other shenanigans that a child's mind can come up with.

The chatbot can also know which seat has activated it and continue a conversation, or reply to a different passenger in the meantime. The spatial awareness settings are now baked into a new Voice Recognition menu option that can instruct the Model Y L to keep listening and answering even without hearing the new wake word, much like with an Amazon Echo smart speaker.

The "Hey, Tesla" command will probably come to the Grok assistant that US vehicles use at some point, too, but for now Tesla has deduced that the larger Model Y L with three rows of full-size seats will benefit the most from the new wake word.