GM lays out its tech future at 'GM Forward': Eyes-off driving, AI assistant, and a new computing platform by 2028

At GM Forward in New York on October 22, 2025, GM set 2028 for eyes-off driving and for a new centralized vehicle computer, named Google for a conversational assistant, and said that computer will replace the Global B electrical architecture on both electric and gas vehicles. The announcement is the U.S. account of that day. Google Gemini is the 2026 piece. A more personalized GM assistant is a later ambition. Supervised driving, including Super Cruise, is not eyes-off operation.

GM has spent years on electric and autonomous programs with little of it showing up as something a buyer could point to. The October 22 note is the dated public list: eyes-off driving in 2028, the centralized computer in 2028 on electric and gas vehicles, and Gemini as the 2026 assistant. A later assistant personalized to the vehicle is a further line in the same announcement.

One computer instead of a box of them

The architecture item is the one that changes the car, not the stage lighting. GM described a centralized platform that pulls work now spread across many electronic control units into fewer, more powerful computers. Nvidia is the partner. The first vehicle named is the Cadillac Escalade IQ, the electric full-size SUV, and then the rest of the lineup.

A current vehicle can carry something like 80 to 150 separate control units, each with its own processor, memory and software, talking over CAN and other networks. That stack was built up over decades and is hard to update. The new layout is the same idea Tesla has used since the Model S: fewer domain controllers, over-the-air updates, and hardware that can be upgraded more readily. The October note describes what GM intends to build.

Eyes-off in 2028, and what that phrase means

Super Cruise is the hands-free highway system GM already sells. Eyes-off, on the 2028 target, is the SAE Level 3 case: in defined conditions the car handles the driving and the driver is not watching the road, but the driver has to be there to take over when the car asks. GM’s 2028 date is a target. It still needs validation, operating limits, and whatever approval the rules require. Tesla’s FSD (Supervised) still needs the driver watching. It is not the same promise.

The assistant is Google, in 2026

The conversational assistant uses Google technology and sits in the infotainment and navigation stack. GM’s plan was Gemini in 2026. A later assistant that knows the individual vehicle is a separate project. The uses GM named are ordinary ones: climate, a route, a question about the car. Several GM models already run Android Automotive. This is that system getting a conversational layer.

For a fleet, a voice request for a route or a diagnostic reading could shorten a stop.

The escalade IQ is the first name, not the first computer in every truck already sold

The Escalade IQ is the launch vehicle for the new computer. Older manufacturer estimates of 724 km (450 miles) of range and 161 km (100 miles) added in a charge were already in circulation before this event. They describe earlier Escalade IQ claims, and they say nothing about how the 2028 computer will drive.

The computer is planned for 2028. An Escalade IQ delivered before then keeps the computer it was built with. The announcement includes no retrofit. What the day put on paper is the dates.

The MotorLinks take

Ask which computer is in an Escalade IQ you can order today. The centralized platform and eyes-off driving are both 2028 targets, so ask what the driver still has to do when the car requests a handover, and which operating limits come with that claim. Super Cruise is the hands-free highway system you can buy now, and Gemini is the conversational assistant planned for 2026. For range and charging, use the rating on the configuration in the quote.

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