GM to debut OnStar AI Assistant in the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq
General Motors will introduce its in-house OnStar AI Assistant in the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq EV in the coming months, positioning the launch as a major redesign of the connected-car service it created 30 years ago. More GM vehicles will follow, the company said at its GM Forward event in New York.
GM also plans to release a new OnStar mobile app in 2027. It will replace the OnStar Guardian app, launched in 2020, as well as the separate brand apps for Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC. The app is intended to complement and synchronise with software in the vehicle.
From emergency service to connected intelligence
OnStar has historically been associated with safety, emergency response and roadside assistance. Sterling Anderson, GM's chief product officer, said the company is moving it toward a connected intelligence platform intended to interpret information, understand owners' needs and provide predictive, proactive support.
The assistant is designed as an interactive, customised experience for drivers and passengers. Users will be able to control some vehicle functions by voice, including climate settings, and ask questions about specific features of their vehicle.
GM has pursued conversational and generative AI in vehicles before. In 2022, it began using Google Cloud's Dialogflow to recognise specific spoken requests, and in 2023 it expanded the service to handle common routing and navigation questions. GM also said last year that Google Gemini would roll out in vehicles in 2026. The newly announced OnStar AI Assistant is described as an in-house effort.
Camera controls and data safeguards
Connected cameras are central to the revised service. GM says cameras can provide live views as well as crash and safety recordings. Owners will be able to configure them to activate automatically when the vehicle detects an impending event, such as an aggressive horn honk, then capture and upload a recording to the OnStar app.
The announcement arrives after criticism and fines related to GM's sharing of data with third parties. GM says customers will be able to decide what data is shared. It also says recordings will have time limits, will be encrypted and cannot be accessed by OnStar.
Software becomes part of the vehicle strategy
GM is presenting the changes in the context of an auto industry race to make technology more central to the vehicle rather than an added feature. The company says this has required changes to its software-development approach, adoption of AI tools and a new electrical and centralised-compute vehicle architecture.
The initiative also fits GM's stated plan to build a $25 billion subscription business by 2030. For businesses managing GM vehicles, the practical implication is to review consent settings, recording retention and employee access rules as connected-camera and voice-assistant capabilities reach the fleet.