America’s biggest carmaker says robots will drive its cars in just over two years.
On Wednesday, GM announced plans to debut ‘eyes-off’ self-driving in 2028 in its high-rolling Cadillac Escalade IQ.
The system will take over the steering, braking, and accelerating while drivers read, text, or relax on the highway.
It’s a big jump from the company’s current highway driving system, called Super Cruise, that requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road at all times.
‘Imagine you step into your vehicle, you push a button and it drives you to the office,’ Mary Barra, GM’s CEO, said at an event in Midtown Manhattan to unveil the tech.
‘You catch up on work, send emails, or watch an episode of your favorite show. The car drops you off, and it notices it’s time for a brake inspection, so it heads to the dealership.
‘Then it goes to get your dry cleaning, takeout for dinner, and it comes back in time so you can drive your kids to their soccer game.’
GM’s new tech also has a very different approach to Tesla, which has been pioneering self-driving technology.
GM says it will expand its highway self-driving capacity in 2028, allowing drivers to read, text, and watch Netflix while the vehicle rolls down the road
The new ‘eyes-off’ system — which combines LiDAR scanners, radars, and cameras rather than Tesla’s preferred vision-only tech — could help it stand out in a market still skeptical about the safety and reliability of autonomous vehicles.
Tesla’s vehicles often struggle in inclement weather or when cameras are covered by dirt or snow. GM says its layers of road-reading systems will keep its cars safer during storms.
GM says its approach blends the company’s proven Super Cruise tech — which has enabled more than 700 million hands-free miles without a crash attributed to the system — with the software expertise of Cruise, the autonomous car subsidiary that rejoined GM earlier this year.
Cruise, a self-driving startup that tried to compete with Google-owned Waymo, shut down its efforts after safety mishaps forced California regulators to stop the project.
The automaker also unveiled a new conversational system built with Google Gemini, launching next year. It will be able to load movies, podcasts, and audiobooks before a driver goes on long road trips.
The event also comes as the US auto industry and GM itself are under pressure.
Manufacturers have slowed EV rollouts and faced production uncertainty amid tariffs and ongoing supply chain bottlenecks.
Car makers have been grappling with billion-dollar costs from the import fees, with GM estimating a $3.5billion cut to its profits because of the tax in this week’s earnings call.
GM’s CEO, Mary Barra,has led America’s best-selling car brand toward more tech innovations, despite massive policy headwinds
GM says it is using LiDAR tech – which is housed in the small bump above the car’s windshield – as part of several systems that will scan the road. The system is unlike Tesla’s, that only relies on vision tech
The tech will launch in GM’s high-rolling Escalade IQ – but the company says a new tech stack is coming to gas vehicles, too
But that massive cost is not stopping the company’s tech developments.
When the new self-driving tech rolls out, the company says the Escalade IQ will alert drivers when it’s safe to take their hands — and eyes — off the wheel with turquoise lighting across the dash and mirrors.
To run both systems, GM’s gas and electric vehicles will get new technology hardware inside the car.
The computing platform, which is also expected to launch in 2028, features fewer parts and could be cheaper to build, GM says.
That could help new vehicle buyers, who have been struggling with an average sticker price of nearly $50,000 in 2025, and a 30 percent increase in vehicle prices since 2019.
And, the systems will be able to download software updates while the vehicle is powered off.
Together, the technology signals GM’s ambition to lead a new era of ‘intelligent vehicles’ — ones that not only drive themselves, but evolve over time.
