Ford Pro AI assistant launches free for commercial fleets to track seatbelts and fuel costs

Ford's new AI assistant will help fleet owners know if seatbelts are being used | TechCrunch

Ford rolled out an AI assistant this week that can monitor and analyze millions of data points to help its Ford Pro commercial customers boost their bottom line. The bet, and one that most other automakers are making, is that there's money to be made in software. Even if it's free. Ford Pro AI debuted at Work Truck Week in Indianapolis and is now available, for free, to all of its U.S. -based Pro telematics subscribers. Ford doesn't disclose how many U.S. subscribers it has; it has more than 840,000 global subscribers. Ford Pro, which generated $66.3 billion in revenue in 2025, is a sensible target for the company as it seeks out ways to give its paying customers more value. But it's not its only one. Ford announced earlier this year at CES 2026 that it's developing an AI assistant for owners of its passenger cars and trucks that will debut in the company's smartphone app, before expanding to its vehicles in 2027. Ford emphasized to TechCrunch that this is not a mere chatbot. Instead, the company said its proprietary systems give subscribers detailed information about fuel consumption, seatbelt use, and vehicle health, not just a bunch of diagnostic error codes when something is wrong. It can also provide managers with information on idle times, speeding, and acceleration events across the fleet. Like its consumer AI assistant, Ford Pro AI is built off of Google Cloud and uses a number of AI agents. The secret sauce, per Ford, is its use of internal data from each customer's fleet to reduce the potential of AI hallucinations and errors. Ford Pro, a business division that sales to Super Duty large trucks as well as commercial, government and rental customers, has become a moneymaker for the automaker. The Ford Pro business division reported a net income of $6.8 billion in 2025, according to its earnings report. The company said Ford Pro paid software subscriptions grew by 30% in 2025. Even as Ford rolls out AI tools for its customers, executive leadership warn of impending job cuts because of the technology. Last year, CEO Jim Farley predicted AI would halve the number of white-collar jobs in the United States. In January, Farley warned that the U.S. needed essential workers to build and support the infrastructure needed to reach its AI moonshot goals.

Ford is giving its commercial fleet business an AI makeover

Ford announced a new AI-powered service for its commercial fleet and telematics software customers called Ford Pro AI. The generative AI system analyzes data generated by commercial vehicles -- including vehicle speed, seat belt activity, and engine health -- and converts it into actionable items for fleet managers. The new system manifests as -- what else? -- an AI chatbot within Ford's Telematics software that customers can ask questions about their fleets or delegate tasks. Managers can ask the chatbot for recommendations to lower fuel costs, insight about specific vehicles in their fleets, or even to draft emails to a supervisor summarizing the output from their previous requests. The interface looks similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini -- though Ford declined to name the specific model it was using. Kevin Dunbar, general manager for Ford Pro Intelligence, said Ford Pro AI won't just be your standard large-language model chatbot, but rather a tool that uses "accurate, manufacturer-grade vehicle data" to generate accurate, trustworthy responses. "The result is a multi-agent architecture that's built on clean, well-structured data sourced from each customer's distinct fleet reducing the potential of AI hallucinations," Dunbar said in a briefing with reporters. Like most automakers, Ford is integrating more AI-powered features into its products as it races to keep pace with the rapidly changing times. The company is using AI to speed up its vehicle design process and has integrated a chatbot into its smartphone app to help its passenger vehicle customers solve problems like how much mulch will fit in the bed of an F-150. Ford is now aiming to bring this technology to the over 840,000 paid subscribers of its Ford Pro telematics software to help manage their commercial vehicle fleets. The vehicles don't need to be Ford branded, specifically, as the new AI feature will work with any vehicle with embedded modems capable of transmitting data to the telematics platform. Ford said this reflects the reality that many commercial fleets operate vehicles from several manufacturers rather than relying on a single brand. The new AI tool will be included within the existing Ford Pro telematics subscription, meaning customers won't need to pay extra to use it. The service is currently only available to fleet managers who use the company's telematics software, with no current plans to make it available to commercial drivers through the mobile app or in-car software. Ford Pro AI operates in a read-only mode and will still require a human being in the loop to execute certain tasks. In that way, Ford insists it's not trying to replace human labor, but rather automate certain tasks and improve workflows. Fleet management is "a high-friction, physical, and emotional job," said Britta Farrow, Ford Pro communications manager. "Ford Pro AI can handle a lot of the operational data processing -- the stuff that burns out fleet managers." "It definitely still requires human intervention," Farrow added. "We don't see a future where it would remove it completely." Ford wouldn't disclose which large-language models it was using to power Ford Pro AI, describing it as "model agnostic," similar to its Ford AI assistant for its smartphone app. All they would say is that the feature is built on Google Cloud infrastructure. (Last year, Ford's CFO Sherry House said Ford would be integrating Google's Gemini into its vehicles. The company also has deals with OpenAI, Anthropic, and China's DeepSeek, according to The Wall Street Journal.)

Ford launches new AI to grow multibillion-dollar Pro commercial business

DETROIT -- Ford Motor is launching a new artificial intelligence system for its Pro commercial vehicle business as it tries to grow the unit's profits and software revenue. The Detroit automaker on Tuesday said the new "Ford Pro AI" can monitor and analyze more than 1 billion data points daily from connected commercial vehicles -- from seatbelt use to vehicle health, route optimization and fuel consumption. The goal is to equip its 840,000 paid commercial subscribers with tools to increase efficiency and profits and reduce vehicle downtimes by allowing them to more easily analyze their businesses and operations, according to Ford. The automaker reporting growing its Pro subscribers by 30% last year. "Helping them maximize their vehicles' uptime, increase productivity, and lower costs isn't just good business -- it's essential for all of us," said Kevin Dunbar, general manager for Ford Pro Intelligence, during a media briefing. "Our team is helping build the future of fleet operations." Ford Pro's fleet business includes sales to commercial, government and rental customers as well as its Super Duty large truck business. Ford CEO Jim Farley last month said diversifying Pro's revenue -- specifically in software -- is a crucial growth area for the company. He said Ford's software and physical services, such as its mobile service and maintenance, are "rapidly approaching" a 20% target for Pro's earnings. The new AI offering will be included with Ford's telematics subscribers, which have helped the company grow and diversify its revenue. Ford Pro last year reported $66 billion in revenue and $6.8 billion in earnings, with a 10.3% profit margin. The system is launching as a prompted, read-only format but Ford will continue to look at expanding its capabilities to meet customers' needs, Dunbar said. Pro AI is built off Google Cloud using proprietary data from the automaker, according to Ford.

Ford launches AI assistant for Ford Pro commercial fleets

Ford launched an AI assistant for Ford Pro commercial customers, making it available to all U.S.-based Pro telematics subscribers this week. The rollout targets a business division that generated $66.3 billion in revenue and $6.8 billion in net income during 2025. Ford Pro paid software subscriptions grew by 30% last year, underscoring the unit's financial significance to the automaker. The assistant is included in the subscription for Pro telematics customers. The system debuted at Work Truck Week in Indianapolis. Ford disclosed that it has more than 840,000 global Pro telematics subscribers but did not release a specific number for U.S. subscribers. The assistant monitors and analyzes millions of data points to provide fleet managers with information on fuel consumption, seatbelt use, vehicle health, idle times, speeding, and acceleration events. Ford emphasized to TechCrunch that the system provides detailed metrics rather than just diagnostic error codes. Ford Pro AI is built on Google Cloud and uses multiple AI agents. The company stated that it leverages each customer's internal fleet data to reduce AI hallucinations and errors. Ford announced at CES 2026 that it is developing a separate AI assistant for owners of its passenger cars and trucks. That system will debut in the company's smartphone app before expanding to vehicles in 2027. Ford is among automakers betting that software can generate revenue. The company is expanding AI tools for customers while executive leadership warns of job cuts. CEO Jim Farley predicted last year that AI would halve the number of white-collar jobs in the United States. Farley stated in January that the U.S. needs essential workers to build and support the infrastructure required to reach its AI moonshot goals.

Ford Pro Virtual Assistant Simplifies Commercial Fleet Management | PYMNTS.com

The new Ford Pro AI is available at no additional cost to Ford Pro Telematics subscribers in the United States, the company said in a Tuesday (March 10) announcement. Ford Pro is the automaker's business unit focused on commercial customers. Ford Pro AI provides fleet managers with data on everything from whether a vehicle's seatbelt is being used to the status of each vehicle's health, according to the announcement. For example, the company said, a user may ask, "What vehicles need service this month?" In response, the virtual assistant provides a list of vehicles that need service, helps prioritize which ones to service first and helps book a maintenance or repair appointment, per the announcement. If a user notices a spike in the fleet's fuel costs, Ford Pro AI can identify issues such as idle times, speeding and acceleration events. It can recommend ways to reduce fuel consumption and draft an email to share these recommendations with drivers, according to the announcement. "What used to take an afternoon now takes minutes," Brian Girer, senior product manager at Ford Pro Intelligence, said in the announcement. "And when this intelligence comes directly from embedded modems in your Ford commercial vehicles, you get manufacturer-grade accuracy, not guesswork." Ford Pro was launched in May 2021 as a separate unit within Ford that focuses on commercial vehicles, products and services for business and government customers. "We're creating a one-stop shop to help those customers increase uptime and productivity while reducing complexity and the total cost of ownership," Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley said when announcing the launch of Ford Pro. Ford reported in January that its global customer base of Ford Pro Intelligence paid software subscribers grew by 30% in the fourth quarter and reached 840,000. "Our innovative ecosystem of software and services works hand-in-hand with our vehicles to help customers supercharge productivity," Hans Schep, general manager, Ford Pro, Europe, said when announcing these figures.