General Motors (GM) is eyeing new software initiatives for its vehicles over the next three years, including AI advancements and eyes-off driving.
The automotive maker will introduce eyes-off driving in its Cadillac Escalade IQ electric SUV in 2028.
The new technology will allow drivers to be hands-free and take their eyes off the road in certain circumstances.
At an event in New York, GM CEO Mary Barra said the eyes-off feature would be limited to highways when it is first launched.
However, she also said the company is working towards making the vehicles fully autonomous in the future.
"Let's fast forward a few years. Imagine you step into your vehicle, you push a button, and it drives you to the office,” Barra said at the GM Forward event.
“You catch up on work, send emails, or watch an episode of your favourite show,"
Beginning next year, GM will also unveil a new conversational AI feature with Google Gemini that will make it possible to talk to your vehicle naturally as if it were another fellow passenger.
In the future, the car company plans to introduce its own AI, custom-built for its vehicles.
GM also announced that it is working on a new centralised computing platform, which is planned to roll out with the Excalade IQ in 2028, increased use of collaborative robots that can work alongside humans and expanding availability of products from its GM Energy Business.
These announcements are meant to usher in a “new era of mobility” for the company, a feat it has struggled to reach in the past.
In 2021, the company said it planned to double revenue by 2030 and grow annual software and services revenue to between US$20 billion and US$25 billion.
While the company has previously walked back on this, CFO Paul Jacobson noted GM’s revenue was up 9.1% last year to US$187.44 billion.
GM has also previously scrapped an “Ultra Cruise” system that was meant to be able to drive in 95% of circumstances, which was initially meant to come out in 2023 and folded its Cruise robotaxis business.
