- General Motors has announced that it will debut a new Level 3 self-driving system.
- The system will leverage technology developed by GM's former robotaxi division, Cruise.
- The all-electric Cadillac Escalade IQ will be the first car to feature the system when it debuts in 2028.
General Motors has announced that its first vehicle capable of “eyes-off” driving will arrive in 2028, with the system debuting in the all-electric Cadillac Escalade IQ. The system marks a significant evolution from GM’s current Super Cruise technology, moving into Level 3 autonomy, where drivers can disengage from both steering and monitoring under specific conditions.
Unlike Super Cruise and other current Level 2 systems that requires constant driver attention, the new system will allow occupants to read, message, or relax while the vehicle handles highway driving.
GM says its approach relies on a "multi-modal sensor suite" that includes: LiDAR, radar and cameras integrated into the vehicle’s structure. The system combines data from all inputs to create a detailed, real-time map of the vehicle’s surroundings. This enables the vehicle to detect and respond to complex scenarios, including emergency manoeuvres.
Supporting this leap in autonomy is GM’s new centralised computing architecture, also launching in 2028. The company says this platform consolidates dozens of control modules into a single liquid-cooled computing unit, connected via a "high-speed Ethernet backbone" to distributed zone controllers throughout the vehicle.
With 35 times more AI processing power, 1000 times more bandwidth and10 times more over-the-air update capacity, the system is designed to handle propulsion, steering, braking, infotainment, and safety features in real time.
GM is leveraging its experience from Cruise, its former robotaxi subsidiary that the company shut down at the end of last year. While it was active Cruise accumulated more than eight million kilometres of fully driverless operation. The Cruise technology stack - including AI models and simulation frameworks - is being integrated into the new system to enhance decision-making and validation.
At launch, the eyes-off system will be limited to highway driving across GM’s mapped network of 965,000km in North America and the company says human intervention will still be required for off-ramps and complex urban environments.
GM also announced that, starting next year, all of its vehicles will feature conversational AI with Google Gemini, which the company says will "make it possible to talk to your car as naturally as you would to a fellow passenger."
In the future, GM says it will introduce its own AI, custom-built for its vehicles, which will be connected by the company's OnStar connected service that acts as a bridge between the vehicle and GM's cloud infrastructure in the US, and is currently being integrated into Super Cruise for the upcoming eyes-off system.
