GM puts agentic AI at the center of OnStar's 30-year reboot

GM will debut an in-house AI assistant inside the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV, the first step in a 30-year reboot of its OnStar connected-car service that puts agentic software at the center of the dashboard. The OnStar AI Assistant was unveiled Wednesday at the GM Forward event in New York, where the automaker rolled out a wider set of technology announcements.

What does the new OnStar actually do?

The system runs on GM's own stack and replaces the Google conversational layer the company began using in 2022. Drivers and passengers can speak to the car to adjust climate, ask about specific vehicle features, and pull live views from onboard cameras. GM said the cameras are wired into the platform and can auto-record when the vehicle senses an aggressive horn honk or another impending event, then upload the clip to the OnStar app.

The features target a specific gap: turning OnStar from a safety hotline into a daily-use product. GM chief product officer Sterling Anderson framed the shift in structural terms. "OnStar is now transitioning to be a connected intelligence platform, not just the call center that it's historically been known as, but a mechanism for interpreting, understanding, and providing predictive, proactive support to its owners," Anderson told TechCrunch in an interview ahead of the event.

How does it fit GM's broader software bet?

The assistant anchors a $25 billion subscription revenue target GM has set for 2030. A redesigned OnStar mobile app will arrive in 2027, replacing both the OnStar Guardian app that launched in 2020 and the standalone brand apps. The new app will sync with the in-car software, giving GM a single consumer entry point instead of four. The legacy apps it retires:

• OnStar Guardian, launched 2020, with crash detection, emergency assistance and location sharing
• Buick brand app
• Cadillac brand app
• Chevrolet brand app
• GMC brand app

GM has leaned on Google since 2022, when it wired Google Cloud's Dialogflow into OnStar to recognize specific spoken requests. It expanded that tool in 2023 to handle routing and navigation. The automaker said last year that Google Gemini would reach vehicles in 2026, but the new assistant is built in-house and aimed at running a custom, interactive experience for drivers and passengers.

What about privacy and data?

The launch follows fines and public criticism of GM for sharing driver data with third parties. The company laid out three controls it says will govern Connected Camera recordings:

• Customers decide what data is shared
• Recordings carry time limits
• Footage is encrypted, and GM and OnStar cannot access it

The posture is designed to address a regulatory record that has already cost the automaker.

What's the competitive backdrop?

The reboot lands as U.S. and European automakers race Chinese rivals on in-car technology that has moved from add-on feature to central purchase driver. GM said the shift forced it to rework its software development process, adopt AI tools internally, and design a new electrical and centralized compute vehicle architecture.

OnStar was first introduced in 1996, and the company has updated the safety and roadside service repeatedly over three decades. The most recent change of note: a 2021 expansion of the Guardian app to anyone with a compatible phone, regardless of whether they owned a GM vehicle, an early signal of the brand's push beyond its own customer base.

What comes next for the rollout?

GM hasn't disclosed which nameplates will get the assistant after the Lyriq, only that more vehicles will follow "in the coming months" and beyond. The company will need consumer uptake, regulatory clarity on data use, and a working in-house AI stack to convert the agentic pitch into recurring revenue before its 2030 deadline.