General Motors unveiled plans today to bring eyes-off autonomous driving to the Cadillac Escalade IQ electric SUV by 2028, marking a dramatic strategic shift after shutting down its $10 billion Cruise robotaxi business. The announcement positions GM to compete directly with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology as the American EV market struggles following the expiration of federal tax credits.

The move represents GM’s most ambitious autonomous driving claim yet—allowing drivers to completely disengage from driving tasks on mapped highways. It’s also a bet that personal vehicle autonomy, rather than robotaxis, offers the clearest path to profitability in self-driving technology.

Eyes-Off Technology Details And Safety Systems

GM’s eyes-off system will debut exclusively on the Cadillac Escalade IQ starting with highway driving. Turquoise lighting across the dashboard and exterior mirrors will signal when the system is active, indicating drivers can safely read, text, or catch up on messages while the vehicle handles navigation.

Unlike Tesla’s vision-only approach, GM’s system relies on sensor redundancy. The technology integrates lidar, radar, and cameras to build perception, while real-world driving data trains the decision-making model. High-fidelity simulation validates performance across rare or hazardous scenarios.

GM emphasized its proven track record with Super Cruise, which has logged more than 700 million hands-free miles with zero reported crashes attributed to the system since its 2017 debut across 23 vehicle models. “Our goal is to bring to market the most trusted and scalable eyes-off driving technology on the path to personal autonomy,” GM stated in the press release.

The Turquoise Lighting Across The Dashboard And Mirrors Indicates The Vehicle Is Operating Autonomously. Photo Courtesy Of Gm. — The turquoise lighting across the dashboard and mirrors indicates the vehicle is operating autonomously. Photo courtesy of GM.

From Robotaxi Failure To Personal Vehicle Focus

The announcement comes less than a year after GM abandoned its Cruise robotaxi division in December 2024, citing the competitive robotaxi market and massive capital requirements. Cruise had burned through more than $10 billion in operating losses while generating less than $500 million in revenue since GM acquired a controlling stake in 2016.

Cruise’s operations collapsed after an October 2023 incident in San Francisco where a Cruise robotaxi struck and dragged a pedestrian 20 feet (6 meters). The victim survived with grave injuries, and Cruise settled for an undisclosed amount reportedly between $8 million and $12 million. California regulators suspended Cruise’s license after the company initially failed to disclose complete details of the crash to federal safety officials.

But GM isn’t discarding Cruise entirely. The automaker merged Cruise LLC with GM technical teams earlier this year. Cruise’s technology stack—including multimodal perception systems, AI models trained on five million driverless miles, and simulation frameworks—feeds directly into GM’s next-generation driver-assistance and autonomy programs, according to the company.

Sterling Anderson’s Tesla Autopilot Expertise Comes To GM

Leading the autonomous push is Sterling Anderson, who joined GM as Chief Product Officer in May 2025. Anderson previously directed Tesla’s Autopilot program from 2015 to 2016 before co-founding Aurora Innovation, the autonomous trucking company.

Anderson’s appointment marks the first time since 2001 that GM hired an external executive to lead product development. He oversees the end-to-end product lifecycle for both gasoline and electric vehicles, including hardware, software, services, and user experience.

“Sterling joins GM at a critical time as our industry continues to reinvent itself,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. “He brings decades of leadership in automotive engineering, tech start-ups, and software innovation.”

Anderson joins other Tesla alumni at GM, including Kurt Kelty, who leads battery development, and board member Jon McNeill.

Next-Generation Computing Platform Powers AI Features

Both the eyes-off system and upcoming conversational AI will run on GM’s next-generation centralized computing platform, debuting alongside the autonomous features in 2028. The architecture unites propulsion, steering, braking, infotainment, and safety through a high-speed Ethernet backbone.

The new platform delivers up to 35 times more AI performance and 1,000 times more bandwidth than GM’s previous systems, according to the company.

Starting in 2026, GM vehicles will feature conversational AI with Google Gemini for more natural conversations. Drivers will be able to draft messages, plan routes with context like finding charging stops near favorite coffee shops, or prep for meetings on the go.

GM plans to eventually introduce its own custom-built AI, fine-tuned with vehicle intelligence and personal preferences. Connected by OnStar, this AI would draw from onboard intelligence to surface information about upcoming maintenance needs, explain features like one-pedal driving, or recommend dinner spots based on past preferences and routes.

Challenging Market Conditions For EV Launches

GM’s autonomous technology push arrives as the American EV industry faces significant headwinds. The $7,500 federal EV tax credit expired on October 1, 2025, making electric vehicles more expensive and dampening consumer demand.

GM announced it will take a $1.6 billion hit this quarter stemming from declining value of its EV plants and equipment, plus supplier contract cancellation costs. During the company’s recent earnings call, executives forecasted that EV demand will continue to suffer into early 2026 before leveling off.

Despite the challenges, GM executives insist electric vehicles remain the company’s north star, with a commitment to completely electrify its fleet by 2035. They’re confident that once demand stabilizes, their “quality and the range of vehicles” will drive sales in the EV division.

O Cadillac Escalade IQ, which EVXL previously covered, offers approximately 450 miles (724 kilometers) of range and starts around $130,000. It features a striking 55-inch LED screen and DC fast charging capable of adding 100 miles (161 kilometers) of charge in just 10 minutes.

Direct Competition With Tesla’s Full Self-Driving

GM’s eyes-off announcement puts it in direct competition with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, which has faced federal investigations, lawsuits, recalls, and fatal crashes. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has aggressively pushed to scale autonomous technology, though the system still requires driver supervision.

The connection runs deeper than competition. Anderson led the Tesla team that developed Autopilot before leaving to co-found Aurora, giving him intimate knowledge of both Tesla’s approach and its limitations.

GM’s strategy differs fundamentally from Tesla’s vision-only system by incorporating lidar and radar for redundancy. The approach mirrors the company’s long-standing emphasis on safety-first autonomous development, dating back to Super Cruise’s 2017 launch as the industry’s first hands-free highway driving system.

Together, these advancements mark a turning point: AI that drives for you when you want it to, talks with you when you need it to, and gets smarter every day, the company stated.

EVXL’s Take

GM’s pivot from robotaxis to personal vehicle autonomy makes strategic sense, even if it took a $10 billion lesson to learn it. The Cruise disaster exposed the brutal economics of operating driverless fleets—route optimization software, consumer apps, vehicle maintenance crews, and regulatory compliance across multiple cities. For a legacy automaker fighting Chinese EV competition and political uncertainty around tax incentives, that’s simply too many battles at once.

What’s compelling here is how GM is salvaging Cruise’s technology rather than writing it off entirely. Those five million driverless miles and simulation frameworks represent genuine autonomous driving expertise that would be foolish to discard. Integrating that knowledge into Super Cruise, which already has a proven safety record, offers a clearer path than starting from scratch or trying to compete with Waymo’s massive head start in robotaxi operations.

Sterling Anderson’s hire signals GM is serious about this pivot. He doesn’t just bring Tesla Autopilot credentials—he built Aurora’s autonomous trucking business, giving him experience in both consumer and commercial autonomy. If anyone understands how to bridge the gap between robotaxi ambitions and personal vehicle reality, it’s probably someone who’s navigated both worlds.

The 2028 timeline is notably cautious. That’s four years to refine technology, secure regulatory approvals, and avoid another Cruise-style debacle. GM clearly learned that rushing autonomous systems to market creates existential risks. The question is whether a four-year runway is conservative wisdom or whether Tesla, Waymo, and Chinese automakers will lap them during that development cycle.

The Escalade IQ makes sense as the launch vehicle—luxury buyers expect cutting-edge technology and can absorb the premium pricing that advanced autonomous systems require. It’s also a halo product that can drive showroom traffic even if volume sales remain limited. But the broader test will be whether GM can scale this technology down-market to Chevrolet and GMC vehicles where mass adoption actually happens.

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