GM bets compute and AI will help it compete with Chinese automakers

US automaker General Motors (GM) on Wednesday revealed a fourth-generation electric vehicle platform at its annual GM Forward event in New York. The emphasis was not on traditional chassis traits but on new battery chemistries, reworked electric motors and a new central computing platform linking every system in the car. The move matters because GM is trying to stay competitive with Tesla, Rivian and Chinese manufacturers, who now largely set the pace in vehicle software.

The new architecture

The Central Compute Unit (CCU) will be 40 times more powerful than GM's current systems. It will take over propulsion and chassis control as well as perception and active safety. By eliminating smaller chips at the edges of the vehicle, GM expects to cut wiring by 30%, saving weight and simplifying assembly. GM says the CCU will also work in combustion-engine models, but it will debut in the Cadillac Escalade IQ.

The overhaul is due to debut in 2028. The same year, the company plans to launch an autonomous highway driving feature that lets drivers keep their hands and eyes off the road without needing to be ready to take over. Sterling Anderson, GM's executive vice president, global product, and chief product officer, said vehicles should become spaces that understand context and reduce friction in everyday life.

Development speed and competition

GM wants to halve its traditional four-to-five-year development timeline using enterprise AI tools. Chinese manufacturers have already shortened their cycles to two to three years. As an example, GM said engineers reviewed 300,000 virtual designs of a lithium-manganese-rich battery pack before building the first physical prototype, and the concept became an approved program within one month.

The company has invested heavily in software: its capitalized software amortization expense in 2025 was $866 million. GM dropped Apple CarPlay in nearly all its EVs in favor of a Google-based infotainment system. Volkswagen Group, after trouble with its Cariad unit, struck a $5.8 billion joint venture with Rivian.

Chinese automakers' cost advantage rests on large production capacity, government subsidies and cheaper labor. Elon Musk said in a 2024 earnings call that without trade barriers they would "pretty much demolish most other companies in the world."