GM Overhauls OnStar With In-House AI Assistant
Original: GM is giving OnStar an AI makeover
Why This Matters
Legacy automakers treating software as core product—not add-on—signals an industry shift.
GM unveiled an AI-powered OnStar overhaul at its GM Forward event in New York on Oct. 21, 2026, debuting the OnStar AI Assistant first in the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq EV, with a new mobile app to follow in 2027.
General Motors is rebooting OnStar—its 30-year-old connected car service—with an in-house agentic AI assistant at the center. The OnStar AI Assistant will debut in the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq EV before rolling out across GM's broader lineup. A new OnStar mobile app, launching in 2027, will replace both the existing OnStar Guardian app (launched 2020) and separate brand apps for Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC.
This marks a meaningful shift from GM's previous AI approach, which leaned heavily on Google—first using Google Cloud's Dialogflow in 2022 for voice commands, then announcing Google Gemini integration for 2026 vehicles. The new assistant is built in-house and aimed at a more personalized, proactive experience.
Vehicle cameras will connect to the software for live views, crash recordings, and event-triggered capture—such as automatically recording after an aggressive horn honk. Drivers can use voice to control climate, ask vehicle-specific questions, and manage other in-car functions.
"OnStar is now transitioning to be a connected intelligence platform, not just the call center it's historically been known as," GM chief product officer Sterling Anderson told TechCrunch. The overhaul is part of GM's stated goal to build a $25 billion subscription business by 2030, and comes as legacy automakers race to match the software-centric approach of Tesla and Chinese rivals.