Hyundai’s new Pleos Connect infotainment system impressed during a test drive, combining a large touchscreen, physical controls, wireless smartphone integration, and a promising AI assistant.

Hyundai is preparing to roll out a completely new infotainment experience, and an early test drive suggests Pleos Connect could be one of the company’s most intuitive systems yet.

The system was tested in a South Korean-market Hyundai Grandeur and combines a large central display with physical controls and a smartphone-inspired interface.

A Smartphone-Like Interface

Pleos Connect uses Google’s Android Automotive OS architecture, while Hyundai developed the user experience internally.

The main display can show up to three tiles.

Hyundai Pleos Connect uses a large dashboard display with a customizable, smartphone-like interface.

The left section containing essential driving information remains fixed, while the other two tiles can be rearranged using a three-finger gesture.

Speed, gear selection, fuel or battery level, and warning information are displayed prominently, while a contextual utility widget provides additional controls.

Climate controls remain accessible along the bottom of the screen, while swiping upward opens the complete climate-control interface.

Physical Controls Are Still Here

Despite the large touchscreen, Hyundai hasn’t completely abandoned traditional controls.

A separate physical control panel provides access to functions including temperature, volume, tuning, hazard lights, fan speed, and drive modes.

Pleos Connect retains physical switches and knobs for frequently used vehicle functions.

Some controls use touch-sensitive surfaces, however, meaning drivers who prefer traditional buttons may still have some reservations.

The interface also includes light and dark modes that automatically adapt to ambient lighting.

Gleo AI Could Be the Star

One of the most interesting features is Gleo, Hyundai’s AI-powered voice assistant.

The system is designed to understand more complex, conversational requests and execute multiple actions in a single command.

For example, a driver could ask Gleo to activate a heated seat while simultaneously adding a destination to navigation.

Hyundai’s Gleo AI assistant can combine multiple vehicle commands into a single conversational request.

Gleo also displays its responses as text, allowing users to review previous interactions.

There is one major limitation for now: during the test drive, Gleo did not yet support English.

Hyundai says English-language support is coming soon.

An Open Ecosystem

Pleos Connect will also support over-the-air updates and Hyundai’s new App Market.

Developers will be able to create software for the system using vehicle APIs and a development sandbox, although Hyundai will review applications for safety and data-security reasons.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will also remain available.

The first U.S.-market Hyundai models expected to receive Pleos Connect are the 2027 Elantra and Tucson, with both expected to debut in the U.S. before the end of the year.

A version of the system is also expected to eventually reach Genesis and potentially Kia vehicles.

Based on the initial experience, Hyundai Pleos Connect appears ready for production, with its biggest remaining question being how quickly features such as Gleo can expand into additional languages and capabilities.

Hyundai and Kia have patented a system that combines voice commands with hand gestures, allowing drivers to point at a vehicle feature and control it with simple words.

Hyundai and Kia are exploring a new way to interact with vehicles: point at something and simply tell the car what to do.

A newly published U.S. patent application describes technology that combines voice commands with gesture recognition, allowing drivers and passengers to use less specific verbal instructions when the intended target is identified by pointing.

Point at Something and Give a Command

The patent, titled “Method and Apparatus for Performing Voice Command Based on Gesture Recognition,” describes a system that uses cameras and other sensors to monitor hand movements inside the cabin.

The vehicle could combine what a person says with what they are pointing toward.

Hyundai’s patented system combines voice recognition with cameras and sensors that track hand gestures inside the cabin.

For example, instead of saying “open the passenger-side window,” a driver could potentially point toward the window and simply say “open.”

The system would determine the target using the gesture and then execute the corresponding command.

The Car Could Determine Who Is Speaking

The technology is designed to work even when several people are inside the vehicle.

The patent describes determining which seat a voice command originated from and then analyzing the gestures of that specific occupant.

The system could identify which occupant is speaking and associate the command with that person’s hand gesture.

Additional microphones and sensors could be installed for rear passengers, while push-to-talk buttons could also be provided at different seating positions.

That could help the vehicle distinguish between overlapping movements and conversations inside a busy cabin.

Physical Controls Could Also Be Identified

The system would not necessarily be limited to controlling windows and other physical functions.

A passenger could potentially point toward a button, such as Auto Hold, and ask the vehicle what that control does.

The patented system could potentially identify physical controls based on where an occupant points.

The concept is essentially designed to make vehicle interaction more natural by combining spatial awareness, voice recognition, and gesture detection.

However, the patent does not mean Hyundai or Kia will actually introduce the technology in a production vehicle.

The U.S. filing is simply an application seeking patent protection, and a similar application was reportedly submitted in South Korea in 2025.

For Hyundai voice gesture control, the idea is intriguing: instead of memorizing increasingly complicated voice commands, drivers could simply point at something and tell the car what they want.

Federal safety regulators are reviewing how Tesla self-certified the steering-wheel-free Cybercab under existing U.S. vehicle safety standards.

Tesla’s Cybercab is facing immediate scrutiny from U.S. safety regulators.

Just hours after Tesla began charging passengers for Cybercab rides in Austin on September 3, 2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an audit covering approximately 1,000 vehicles.

What NHTSA Wants to Know

The audit is not primarily about how well the Cybercab drives itself.

Instead, regulators are examining how Tesla determined the vehicle complied with federal safety requirements despite its unusual design.

The Tesla Cybercab has no steering wheel, pedals, or conventional mirrors.

The two-seat robotaxi was designed without a steering wheel, pedals, or mirrors, while many existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards were written around conventional vehicles.

NHTSA says it will examine how Tesla’s certification relied on determinations that certain safety standards were not applicable to the Cybercab.

Tesla Relied on Self-Certification

Under the current U.S. system, automakers generally self-certify compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards before selling vehicles.

NHTSA can later audit those certifications or investigate potential defects.

Tesla used the U.S. self-certification system to begin deploying the Cybercab without waiting for advance federal approval.

The agency has emphasized that existing standards remain applicable to automated vehicles until new regulations are created specifically for driverless vehicles.

Tesla chose this route instead of seeking a formal exemption.

Zoox Took a Different Path

Amazon’s Zoox provides a useful comparison.

Its own steering-wheel-free vehicle initially went through self-certification before the company withdrew that claim following an NHTSA investigation.

Zoox eventually received a temporary exemption for its unconventional driverless vehicle.

Zoox later secured a temporary exemption allowing limited deployment of up to 2,500 exempt vehicles annually through July 31, 2028.

Tesla, meanwhile, wants to rapidly expand Cybercab operations to additional vehicles and cities.

The outcome of the Tesla Cybercab audit could therefore become important for how quickly that expansion happens and how regulators treat purpose-built autonomous vehicles under the current U.S. safety framework.