GM Bets on “Eyes-off” Driving for Escalade IQ in 2028 — and Loads up on In-Car AI

With input from the Verge, the New York Times, Axios, CNBC, and FOX Business.

General Motors is dialing back some EV ambitions, but it’s not easing off the tech pedal. CEO Mary Barra used a splashy update to pitch GM’s next chapter: more autonomy, more software, and a chattier car.

Here’s the headline act: Cadillac’s electric Escalade IQ will debut a Level 3, hands-free, eyes-off highway system in 2028. Think Super Cruise leveled up — still not fully driverless, but advanced enough that the car handles the highway while you can look away, ready to take over if asked. GM says it’ll work across US highways and lean on a sensor stack that includes LiDAR, radar, and cameras.

The timing matters. GM just booked a $1.6B hit tied to its EV rollout after the $7,500 federal EV tax credit was eliminated under President Trump’s budget bill — an ugly turn that analysts expect will dent US EV sales. The company’s answer: shift investor focus to autonomy, AI, and a software-defined vehicle strategy.

What’s coming, and when:

• 2026–2027 (rolling updates): Google’s Gemini becomes your in-car assistant — contextual routing, messages, even owner’s-manual tips in plain English. GM says it’ll later swap in its own AI companion, tuned to your car and habits.
• 2028: A new centralized computing platform launches with Escalade IQ, promising 10× OTA capacity, 1,000× bandwidth, and up to 35× more AI performance to power autonomy and advanced features.
• 2028: The Escalade IQ gets the first cut of eyes-off highway driving; broader models follow.

GM’s fresh autonomy push comes after shutting down its Cruise robotaxi unit — and rehiring talent to bolster Super Cruise and personal-vehicle autonomy. New CPO Sterling Anderson (ex-Tesla Autopilot lead) is framing Level 3 as a safety-first rollout, pointing to 700+ million Super Cruise miles without a crash attributed to the tech.

It’s not just what happens on the road. Behind the scenes, GM says its Autonomous Robotics Center in Michigan (plus a Mountain View lab) is training factory robots and cobots on real production data to move parts and work alongside humans — aimed at faster plants without replacing people.

And for your house? Starting next year, GM Energy will offer a leased home system that ties your EV, backup battery, and solar into one app — so your car can power the home during outages or feed the grid at peak times.

GM wants to convince Wall Street — and drivers — that even if EV incentives wobble, the real moat is software, compute, and safely stepping drivers out of the loop, one highway mile at a time.