Former ‘Top Gear’ Host James May Tests Tesla's Grok-Powered AI Voice Assistant ‘Ara’: ‘It's Slightly Odd...’

Former "Top Gear" and "The Grand Tour" host James May has tested Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Grok-powered voice assistant in a Model 3, criticizing the AI’s attempts to sound human as "insincere and phony."

James May Tests Out Tesla’s AI

In a video shared on the “James May’s Planet Gin” YouTube channel on Sunday, the journalist can be seen having a conversation with the AI voice assistant, which had assumed the “Ara” personality.

The company offers multiple personas, which include Ara, an upbeat female voice, as well as Eve, which is a soothing female voice. The options also include Leo, which is described as a British male voice, while Rex is a calm male voice. Sal, another one of the personas, is described as a smooth male voice.

May tested out several features in his conversation with the voice assistant, including playing a children’s trivia game, sarcastically seeking extreme medical advice, asking the voice assistant to switch to a British accent and more.

Speaking to the AI assistant, May said that it appeared that the program had been created by “socially awkward” people and their idea of what a charming person would sound like.

“It’s slightly odd; you don’t seem that human,” he said. He said that while the engineers and programmers at X were clever, they may be “socially inept,” which was why the voice assistant came off as “insincere and phony.”

‘James Bond’ As Tesla Driver?

The comments come as Tesla’s AI Chief Ashok Elluswamy hailed the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system after a video of a Tesla avoiding a collision on the freeway emerged. “You can have James Bond as your personal driver,” Elluswamy said via a post on the social media platform X.

Elon Musk Touts Tesla’s Domestic Manufacturing

Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk backed the automaker’s domestic manufacturing capabilities, sharing that the company’s vehicles were produced in the U.S. with 84% American content. Recently, domestic manufacturing has been put back into focus after the President Donald Trump administration reaffirmed tariffs on the auto industry.

Price Action: TSLA was up 0.25% to $343.12 during pre-market trading on Monday.

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