SoundHound AI is offering its advanced voice AI technology to Kia vehicles in India, with Hindi as a featured regional language.
Launched in the 2025 Kia Carnival and 2025 EV9, SoundHound’s technology offers a voice-enabled experience in one of India’s most widely spoken languages.
For future Kia models in India, 10 regional Indian languages, including Bangla and Punjabi, will be added in a phased manner.
SoundHound’s AI-powered voice assistant comes as part of Kia Connect, the Korean car maker’s connected car platform that integrates smart devices. The voice assistant is capable of handling complex conversational questions, intelligently filtering responses using SoundHound’s proprietary Speech-to-Meaning and Deep Meaning Understanding technologies.
Using SoundHound’s comprehensive library of content domains, Kia drivers and passengers can take advantage of a wide range of in-vehicle voice assistant capabilities, such as navigation, calls and real-time information like sports scores and weather. The assistant also supports in-vehicle controls, so users can ask to play music, lock doors, change the temperature, control the windows, and more.
This collaboration also enables users to control their smart vehicle experience through natural conversation. Michael Zagorsek, COO of SoundHound AI, said “By integrating our advanced voice AI into Kia vehicles in India, we’re not only providing hands-free convenience but also tailoring the experience to local drivers with support for Hindi, ensuring a more personalized and engaging in-car experience.”
