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Ford announced a new privacy commitment promising not to sell customer driving data to third-party data brokers. The automaker said it will use aggregation and anonymization techniques, offer clear explanations of data use, and let customers control how much data they share, while still using some data for safety improvements.
General Motors has agreed to pay $220 million to 35 states and Washington, D.C. to resolve claims it sold driver behavior and location data collected through its Smart Driver program, offered via dealerships from 2016 to 2024, without proper consent. State attorneys general say the data was in some cases used by insurers to raise premiums, with one driver reportedly facing a 22% rate increase. GM ended the program in 2024 and must now get explicit consumer consent before collecting or sharing such data.
General Motors has agreed to pay $220 million to settle a lawsuit brought by attorneys general from 35 states and Washington, D.C. over its sale of Smart Driver driving-behavior data to data brokers, who resold it to insurers. Many drivers said their insurance premiums rose and that they never knowingly consented to sharing the data. This follows a separate FTC settlement finalized in January that barred GM and OnStar from sharing geolocation or driver-behavior data for five years, after which GM discontinued the Smart Driver feature entirely.
General Motors has settled a lawsuit from 35 state attorneys general and Washington, D.C. over its OnStar Smart Driver program, agreeing to pay $220 million. Investigators found GM tracked driving behavior like speeding and hard braking from millions of customers between 2016 and 2024 and sold that data to brokers for insurance purposes, often without clear consent, and sometimes continued selling data on drivers it had mistakenly told were unenrolled. As part of the settlement, GM must limit data collection, undergo privacy audits, and add dealership training.
General Motors has agreed to pay $220 million to settle claims from attorneys general in 36 states that it sold drivers' location and driving-behavior data to brokers without proper consent. The settlement requires GM to obtain explicit consent before collecting or sharing such data and to undergo third-party audits of its privacy compliance. The case centers on GM's now-discontinued Smart Driver program, which tracked driving habits and fed data to brokers like LexisNexis and Verisk, who then sold it to insurers.
General Motors has agreed to pay $220 million to settle claims from a coalition of 36 state attorneys general that it illegally sold driving and location data to brokers. The data, gathered through GM's now-discontinued Smart Driver program, allegedly reached insurers who used it to raise some customers' premiums, and states say drivers weren't properly informed they were enrolled. GM must now limit data collection and get explicit consent from drivers going forward.
General Motors announced plans to invest more than $2 billion in its Lansing, Michigan region, including $1.25 billion to retool its Delta Township Assembly plant for future hybrid-electric vehicle production. GM is working with the U.S. Department of Energy to redirect a previously awarded $500 million Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grant—originally meant for a different Lansing EV conversion project—toward the hybrid push. The plant currently builds gas-powered versions of the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia, and produced a record 291,000 vehicles in 2025.
Speaking after GM's New York event unveiling its AI-driven 'intelligence-defined vehicle' strategy, chief product officer Sterling Anderson said he does not believe humanoid robots are the right tool for building cars. The broader roadmap centers on centralized computing, new battery chemistries, and virtualized engineering aimed at cutting vehicle development time roughly in half.
General Motors says it used simulation technology to virtually test hundreds of thousands of battery configurations, completing the equivalent of 34,000 years of testing in under a month. The company now plans to apply the same simulation approach across other stages of vehicle development, having already spent roughly a decade researching lithium manganese-rich batteries that have yet to reach production vehicles.
General Motors is upgrading its 30-year-old OnStar service to incorporate AI, aiming to extend its usefulness beyond the vehicle itself and into daily life. The original system let drivers press a button to reach a human agent for navigation, directions, or emergency response after a crash.
General Motors unveiled plans at its GM Forward event in New York to introduce an AI-powered in-car assistant called OnStar AI, debuting in the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq. The system, paired with a companion app, will let drivers use voice commands for tasks like adjusting climate controls, with Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson saying future versions could help coordinate family logistics such as school pickups.
General Motors unveiled an OnStar AI Assistant at its GM Forward event, set to debut in the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq EV before rolling out to more vehicles. GM also plans a new OnStar mobile app in 2027 that will replace the existing OnStar Guardian app and separate Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC apps, syncing with in-car software.