As will.i.am unveils his new AI-powered micro car Trinity, the musician-turned-founder is betting that drivers will want to work from the cars they travel in.
A three-wheeled electric vehicle with an AI co-pilot is not the kind of product you casually launch. But when will.i.am revealed his AI-assisted micro car at Nvidia’s annual AI conference, it felt like a moment the musician had been waiting years for.
For much of his career, will.i.am has split his time between music and technology. He founded his tech startup i.am+ in 2013 as a way to experiment with AI and hardware, while his i.am Angel Foundation has focused on expanding access to STEM education.
The musician, best known for his role in the Black Eyed Peas, is also set to teach a course on AI at Arizona State University.
Now, Trinity brings those intertwining threads of interest together. The vehicle is a single-seat, three-wheeled electric micro car with an enclosed cabin, designed for short-distance travel.
Its unusual form places it somewhere between a motorcycle and a compact car, but the intrigue so far is more tailored to the AI assistant that runs through it.
A $30,000 AI-powered car that does more than drive
At the center is what the will.i.am describes as an AI agent designed to help you work on the go. Rather than attempting full autonomy, Trinity’s AI is designed to support the driver, handling everyday work tasks.
“The agent is not just helping me navigate getting to and from work, it is actually helping me do my work,” will.i.am said during an interview at the conference. “My emailing, calendaring, digesting the notes from [the] night before.”
Powered by computing systems from NVIDIA, the assistant is intended to carry out multi-step actions in the background, reducing the number of decisions a driver has to manage in real time.
DEKA Research & Development, known for its work in robotics and self-balancing systems, is also involved in the vehicle’s underlying engineering, while West Coast Customs is responsible for design and build.
What it takes to get will.i.am’s new Trinity car on the road
Production is reportedly planned in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, where the 51-year-old musician-turned-founder grew up. He has described the site as more than a manufacturing facility, framing it as a combined production hub and training ground for robotics and engineering.
The approach aligns with his broader focus on STEM access, though it adds another layer of ambition to a project already operating in a complex category.
Trinity is expected to enter production with a limited run, initially priced at around $30,000, with deliveries targeted for 2027. That timeline is ambitious for a vehicle programme, where development cycles are typically long and capital-intensive.
Looking ahead, will.i.am is entering an increasingly competitive landscape for electric mobility, while also introducing questions tied to AI systems operating in a vehicle environment. Issues around regulation, classification of three-wheeled vehicles, and data privacy will, of course, shape how the project develops.
Regardless, Trinity represents yet another shift in how will.i.am is positioning himself. What began as a series of adjacent interests in creative technology is taking the form of a more ambitious effort to build a product and a company around it.
