GM Targets Two-Year Vehicle Development With AI and Software Push

General Motors wants to cut vehicle development time to roughly two years from concept to production, halving the traditional four-to-five-year cycle, through an AI and software push it detailed Wednesday at an event in downtown Manhattan called "GM Forward."

CEO Mary Barra framed the plan as the foundation of the company's future product line. "All of these developments are building us the car of the future," Barra said Wednesday.

Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson, who led the event and oversees the technology transformation, said the company has already changed how it works. "Over the last 12 months, we've evolved how we design, engineer and build our vehicles," Anderson said. GM did not give a timeline for reaching the two-year development target.

Why is GM moving faster now?

The pressure comes from two directions. Chinese automakers are expanding outside the U.S. with rapid product cycles. Consulting firm AlixPartners estimates China currently brings vehicles to market twice as fast as traditional automakers, with 40% to 50% less investment and a 30% cost advantage.

GM also trails Tesla in over-the-air updates and automated driving capabilities. Anderson, a former Tesla executive, declined to compare GM's technology directly with Tesla's. But he said GM's systems will see more things through multiple types of sensors than a strictly camera-based system, which Tesla uses.

He told CNBC the speed itself has value beyond faster launches. "There's inherent virtue to speed," Anderson said. "Not just in being able to get a car out faster, it's being able to develop a system that's far more performant that you could have otherwise."

What does the next vehicle generation offer?

GM said its next generation of EVs and internal combustion vehicles will share a common upgrade: 40 times the computing power and up to 50% faster cellular connectivity than prior systems. That computing power supports over-the-air updates, onboard diagnostics, AI and automated driving features.

The new vehicle brain launches in 2028 on the $130,000 Cadillac Escalade IQ EV before rolling out to other models, including the next generation of EVs. GM said those forthcoming EVs will be 25% more aerodynamic and 15% lighter, with more compact electric motors and battery packs.

GM President Mark Reuss said the company remains committed to EVs despite weak consumer adoption and billions of dollars in pulled-back investments. "We continue to develop our future EVs and work to reduce battery costs," Reuss said. "And when the U.S. market is ready for EVs in large numbers, we will be there for them."

How does AI change development?

GM is building what it calls a "new operating approach for vehicle development" that uses enterprise AI and virtualization. "This concurrent engineering model allows us to innovate faster, improve continuously, and scale new technologies across our lineup with incredible agility," the company said in a release.

The battery program shows the method at work. GM virtually tested more than 300,000 battery designs using its recently announced lithium manganese rich chemistry, or LMR, before building a single physical prototype. Anderson said LMR will be the exclusive battery technology for GM's fourth-generation EVs, including full-size electric vehicles such as the Chevrolet Silverado and Escalade IQ starting in 2028.

Anderson argued GM's history gives it an edge in AI. "In the age of AI, data is currency," he said. "For decades, GM's engineering, manufacturing and product teams have generated unparalleled body of data that we're now using to build industry-leading AI tools." He cited GM's more than 100 years in the industry and 30 years of OnStar.

What reaches customers?

A proprietary in-vehicle AI assistant under the OnStar brand will launch in the coming months on the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq EV through an over-the-air update, before expanding to other models. GM currently uses Google's Gemini for its in-vehicle assistant and has said the GM-developed AI will integrate more deeply with the vehicle. The subscription-based assistant aims to let customers work in the car, particularly once self-driving capabilities free them from monitoring the road.

GM reconfirmed eyes-off highway driving, or "personal autonomy," for 2028, starting with the Escalade IQ before higher-volume models follow. The company announced that target a year ago; Barra first predicted personal autonomous vehicles this decade five years ago.

"Our vision is that eventually every vehicle should drive itself or its occupants anywhere, and we're investing across the self-driving stack to make that real," Anderson said.

The two-year development target has no announced deadline, and GM's EV pullbacks show how plans can shift with demand — making execution, not ambition, the measure of GM Forward.