Mercedes-Benz Announces Google Partnership; More MB.OS Details Revealed

The tech giant will help improve in-car maps; MB.OS will function as a foundation for all Merc models’ software.

Mercedes-Benz had a big day of news today. In addition to our first look at the 2024 E-Class cabin, the German company also shared information on its next-generation operating system. Mercedes also announced an extended partnership with Google, which will benefit owners with new features starting today.

The Google tie-up offers the more immediate upgrades. The American tech giant will provide Google Maps data for Mercedes’ native navigation, leveraging information on places of interest, real-time traffic information, and automated rerouting. Google Maps will also enhance driver assists, with automatic speed adjustments ahead of intersections and roundabouts. As part of the partnership, Mercedes will introduce native YouTube support within its infotainment systems.

Starting today—for vehicles with the current MBUX setup, and in select markets—Place Details will now be available within Mercedes navigation. This includes details on business hours, ratings, reviews, and photos of over 200 million locations around the world.

“We invite only the very best partners to enhance our operating system and to add to the Mercedes-Benz customer experience,” said Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius. “Google has been a leader in maps and navigation for many years. With our strategic partnership, we are excited to create unique services and to elevate the level of convenience for our customers. It will be deeply integrated within our signature Mercedes-Benz user interface and fully connected to relevant vehicle functions like the state-of-charge.”

In addition to the big G news, Merc revealed more information on its in-house, underlying operating system, dubbed MB.OS. Mercedes calls itself the “architect” of this chip-to-cloud setup; thus, MB.OS will be the foundation of much of the brand’s business moving forward. Mercedes says an in-house approach allows full control over customer relationships and data privacy, as well as “the unique integration of all car functions.”

MB.OS wouldn’t be possible without a few key partners, however. One is Nvidia, which provides its Orin system-on-chip and knowledge of data and AI to improve SEA Level 2 and 3 automated driving systems. Orin is capable of 254 trillion operations per second, functioning as the “driving brain” of the vehicle.

Luminar provides next-gen sensors, including LiDAR. Mercedes’ goal is Level 3 conditionally automated driving at speeds up to 130 km/h (81 mph), and it plans on achieving this through LiDAR as well as other sensors working in unison. There will be redundancies built into the system as well, for increased safety.

While Google is now another strategic partner, Mercedes confirmed that it retains final say in third-party app inclusions, not Google.

There is a financial incentive to all of this MB.OS talk, too. With the system being software-focused instead of hardware-focused, Mercedes is looking to leverage that into increased revenue. It will group features into three distinct categories: MB.CONNECT, MB.CHARGE, and MB.DRIVE. Connect focuses on infotainment and remote functionality; Charge is pretty self-explanatory (and includes priority access to the upcoming Benz charging network); Drive focuses on driver assistance. Yes, car feature subscriptions are seemingly here to stay.

MB.OS version 1.0 will debut in 2025 as part of the next-generation MMA (Mercedes Modular Architecture) platform. A pre-cursor to this—what one MB exec called “MB.OS. version 0.8″—will appear first in the 2024 E-Class.

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