What To Know About GM’s ‘Eyes-Off’ Self-Driving Feature

Topline

General Motors introduced a partially autonomous “eyes-off” driving system for its vehicles during a company event in New York on Wednesday, announcing it alongside a Google artificial intelligence feature that will bring conversational AI to its vehicles’ cabins in 2026.

GM announced the features during an event Wednesday. (Photo by NICHOLAS RATZENBOECK/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

GM’s “eyes-off” driving system will come to the car manufacturer’s Super Cruise hands-free software, which is already widely available and features adaptive cruise control and lane centering but still requires drivers’ attention.

“Eyes-off” Super Cruise will debut with the release of the Cadillac Escalade IQ EV in 2028, with GM CEO Mary Barra noting the feature will roll out “much faster than [regular] Super Cruise.”

Conversational AI powered by Google’s Gemini chatbot will come to GM vehicles in 2026, allowing drivers to ask questions about routing and get assistance with their cars’ features, though GM will eventually ditch Gemini for its own custom-built AI feature in the future.

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How Will Gm’s ‘eyes-Off’ Driving Work?

The upcoming hands-off and “eyes-off” driving system will be limited to highway driving upon release and be available on 600,000 miles worth of roads across North America. Human intervention will only be needed for things like off-ramps and the system will be able to handle emergencies and sudden incidents, according to TechCrunch. The feature will eventually come to urban environments. “Eyes-off” driving is a Level 3 autonomous feature, which the Society of Automotive Engineers defines as automated driving that works under certain conditions. Fully autonomous driving falls under SAE’s Level 5.

How Much Will “eyes-Off” Driving Cost?

It is not clear, as GM has not said if the upcoming feature will follow in the footsteps of Super Cruise, which is available on a subscription basis, costing drivers $25 per month or $250 per year. However, it is known that drivers who want to be among the first to use “eyes-off” driving will have to lease, loan or buy the Cadillac Escalade IQ EV in 2028, which could be a big cost. The 2025 version of the seven-seater luxury SUV starts at $127,700.

Crucial Quote

“Just [to] be clear, we’re developing a self-driving product,” Sterling Anderson, GM chief product officer, told CNBC. “It’s an eyes-off, self-driving system. As it relates to use of lidar in it, your product will be better with multiple modes of sensing, period. Full stop.”

Tangent

GM shares were largely unfazed Wednesday following the company’s announcements, trading down a fraction of a percent around 2 p.m. EDT. The plateau follows a strong week of trading for the car manufacturer’s stock, which is up more than 15% in the last five days of trading.

Key Background

GM was among the first U.S. automakers to develop hands-free driving systems and sought to improve the Super Cruise system in 2021 with Ultra Cruise, which tried to bring hands-free driving from highways to city streets and other roads. Ultra Cruise was canceled in 2024 in favor of improving Super Cruise. GM is competing with automakers like Tesla and Mercedes, the latter of which is the only car manufacturer to offer Level 3 automated driving with its Drive Pilot system. However, even that hands-off driving feature is limited to major freeways in California and Nevada.