General Motors will integrate AI into its cars, plus new hands-free assist (arstechnica.com)

General Motors announced it will integrate advanced AI into its vehicles, most notably by offering a Level 3 "hands‑off, eyes‑off" conditional automated driving system in the Cadillac Escalade IQ beginning in 2028. The system is designed to handle driving in controlled environments up to 80 mph (129 km/h) using a fusion of lidar, advanced digital mapping and machine learning, with GM positioning it as the most advanced consumer driver‑assist system in the U.S. The company says the feature will initially be limited to the Escalade but aims to expand across its lineup and geographies, with an ambitious goal of working in all 50 states and in varied weather conditions. Technically, GM is shipping a new liquid‑cooled vehicle compute module to support the heavy sensor fusion and onboard ML workloads, and is planning to integrate Google’s Gemini (and later in‑house models) for natural language interaction and broader in‑car AI capabilities. GM says lessons from its Cruise program informed development, and leadership emphasizes a "safety‑first" rollout that could scale faster than Super Cruise. The announcement signals a substantial step toward richer on‑vehicle AI — accelerating in‑car autonomy, voice intelligence, and predictive vehicle behaviors — while raising practical questions about mapping, validation, weather robustness and regulatory readiness.