General Motors (GM) announced plans to introduce “eyes-off” driving in 2028 on the Cadillac Escalade IQ, enabling drivers to take their eyes off the road on highways in North America. The system represents a significant evolution of GM’s existing Super Cruise hands-free technology.
Unlike Tesla’s camera-only approach, GM’s system will integrate lidar, radar, and cameras for perception. Sterling Anderson, GM’s executive vice president of global product, emphasized the importance of the multi-sensor approach, stating: “The evolutionary analog doesn’t work here… Why do we have multiple modes? And why have we somehow managed to fuse them? And you don’t think you can fuse LiDAR, radar, and camera?”
The “eyes-off” feature qualifies as a Level 3 conditional automation system under SAE definitions, meaning drivers must remain prepared to take control if requested. GM highlighted safety as a central focus. Baris Cetinok, senior vice president of software and services at GM, said: “Human intervention should not be the escape hatch for sudden incidents.”
The system will be powered by a new centralized computing platform in the Escalade IQ, offering ten times more over-the-air software update capacity, 1,000 times more bandwidth, and up to 35 times more AI performance for autonomous functions.
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GM’s push comes amid a broader shift toward intelligent, software-defined vehicles. Anderson added, “It’s about removing unnecessary sources of friction from your life.” The company also plans to integrate Google’s Gemini AI as a conversational voice assistant in its vehicles beginning in 2026.
Leveraging manufacturing scale and real-world data from more than 700 million hands-free Super Cruise miles, GM aims to accelerate adoption of next-generation autonomous technology.
