GM’s AI pitch to consumers: Let us take something off your plate

Working parents don’t have enough time for hobbies, a social life, or exercise, because, well, they’re busy juggling project deadlines, dinner prep, kids’ extracurriculars, and approximately 1 million other balls.

Tech companies have noted this and marketed AI tools accordingly, promising to give harried parents the most precious commodity: more time.

This was one of the themes of GM’s second annual tech showcase in New York in October, where execs sketched a vision for the future of transportation in which people use their cars as spaces to catch up on work, talk to their kids, and relax while the vehicle handles the drive and a host of other tasks, aided by a personalized AI assistant.

“Our customers are counting on us,” CEO Mary Barra said. “Right now, somewhere across the country, a father is starting his day. He’s in one of our vehicles, and he depends on us to drop his daughter at kindergarten, to run errands, to get to work. We’re with him every step of the way. And we’ll be there when that car actually drives itself through that morning routine.”

GM’s pitch went beyond the example of busy parents with the promise to bring AI-enabled conveniences to the masses. These technologies will roll out on luxury models like the Cadillac Escalade IQ and Lyriq, but will soon expand across GM’s best-selling trucks and SUVs.

“The busy working parent is especially relatable because families are an important part of the customers GM serves, and our vehicles are often central to the daily routines that keep families moving,” Michael Wahlstrom, executive director of vehicle product management at GM, told Morning Brew via email. “But the opportunity extends beyond parents.”

Can I get an assist?

GM’s new personal AI assistant will underpin a revamp of OnStar, the company’s 30-year-old subscription-based connected-car service. OnStar AI will launch on the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq EV, then roll out on the 2027 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, with more models to follow.

GM also revealed plans to expand eyes-off highway driving capabilities to its “highest-volume, best-selling vehicle lineups, including full-size SUVs and light-duty pickups,” without commenting on the timeline. The tech will launch on the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ EV.

The idea is to quickly bring to market vehicles that can handle some day-to-day responsibilities that many people are eager to get off their plates.

“Our vision is that eventually every vehicle should drive itself or its occupants anywhere,” Sterling Anderson, GM’s chief product officer, said. “Eventually, your car will be able to operate in what we internally call ‘Mission Mode’—handling tedious tasks on your behalf, like picking up groceries and dropping off laundry, without you even in it.”

The introduction of OnStar AI is “one of the first ways customers will experience” broader changes to OnStar, according to Wahlstrom. The connected-car service is on track to hit 13 million subscribers by year’s end, up about 1 million subscribers YoY. GM will consolidate the existing OnStar Guardian app and brand apps for Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC into a single OnStar mobile app starting next year.

For now, the OnStar AI assistant will be available for free as part of OnStar’s standard connectivity package.

In a research note, Yorkville Ives analyst Dan Ives noted that OnStar’s deferred revenue rose nearly 50% to $6.3 billion in June. OnStar, according to Paul Waatti, director of industry analysis at automotive marketing research firm AutoPacific, “might actually be GM’s sleeper advantage in AI” and “the layer connecting it all to the customer.”

“They have an installed base of 12 million subscribers, deep access to the vehicle, and human advisors already sitting behind the technology,” Waatti told us. “That gives something to GM that an AI startup, for example, can’t easily replicate and would love to have. But the more useful OnStar becomes, the more intimate the data becomes, and GM is asking customers to trust it with far more of their lives at exactly a time when GM has some substantial work to rebuild trust in consumers in how that data is handled.”

The Federal Trade Commission this year finalized an order forbidding GM and OnStar from sharing certain consumer data with consumer reporting agencies for five years, giving customers more control over how their connected-vehicle data is collected and used.

GM said it does not use data from users’ OnStar AI assistant interactions for advertising, and the automaker has recently emphasized data privacy and customer control over data. Customers can choose what information the AI assistant has access to and can tweak those permissions at any time.

Anna Santos, GM’s director of product management for voice and AI/ML, told us that product planners see OnStar AI as relevant for all of GM’s customers.

“It’s very general-purpose as a product,” she said.

Marketing around the revamped service “will focus on how OnStar is becoming a more intelligent, proactive part of the ownership experience,” according to Wahlstrom. The company declined to comment on specific paid advertising or media plans, but the rollout will include “education and practical demonstrations of what it can do, supported across customer communications and owned channels,” with marketing tailored to each GM brand.

Not your grandpa’s GM

GM’s pitch also targeted investors with the message that GM deserves to be valued like a tech company.

“Large companies like General Motors have a reputation for…having a lot of inertia, for being slow,” Anderson said. “In the age of AI, the data, the scale that we have, stops being a drag and becomes an advantage.”

See also: GM’s planned switch from the NYSE to the more tech-inclined Nasdaq.

“They’re trying to show that this is a very different GM than the legacy GM that most of us still have in our mind. They’re trying to show they’re continually becoming a software-based technology company rather than just a traditional legacy automaker,” Waatti said. “They’re trying to say that…they’re more nimble than they ever have been.”

The message to consumers, according to Stephanie Brinley, associate director of auto intelligence at Mobility Global, was that the company is making advancements.

“They’ve made a lot of progress, and they continue to evolve,” she said. “And sometimes it’s good to talk about that evolution and keep the message moving forward.”

As for the focus on busy working parents in GM’s messaging, Waatti and Brinley agreed it makes sense because it’s relatable and practical. It also aligns with the customer base for the products the tech will be rolling out on.

“That’s where they make a lot of money, and that’s where the core of younger families are making their purchases right now. So I think that they’re trying to align with their easiest customer to convince and then letting it trickle down from there,” Waatti said. “They might view that as their easiest target, because it makes sense for their life right now.”