GM says its trucks will eventually drive themselves on the highway while you look away. On October 21, 2026, at its GM Forward event in New York, the company said GM eyes-off driving will spread from the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ to its full-size SUVs and light-duty pickups. It gave no date for the trucks.
That missing date is the whole story if you’re shopping. GM ties the feature to a new central computer that hasn’t launched yet, so don’t buy a truck this year expecting a software update to unlock it later. Buy for the Super Cruise you get today.
Quick answer: GM plans to offer eyes-off autonomous highway driving on its full-size SUVs and light-duty pickups after the system debuts on the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ. It runs on a new in-house central computer with about 40 times today’s processing power. GM hasn’t announced a timeline or price for trucks.
GM eyes-off driving: what was announced on October 21?
In GM’s October 21 release, the company said it is expanding autonomous highway driving to its “highest-volume, best-selling vehicle lineups.” Reuters described those as GM’s highest-selling, most profitable vehicles: big pickups and SUVs. Last year GM named only the electric Escalade IQ, a low-volume luxury SUV, as the 2028 launch vehicle.
Reuters reported the same day that GM didn’t give a timeframe for the pickups. GM said pre-production vehicles are testing on closed courses, according to Motor Illustrated’s October 21 report. Chief product officer Sterling Anderson told Reuters the goal is a system that “actually gives you your time back.”
How is eyes-off different from today’s Super Cruise?
Super Cruise is hands-free, eyes-on. The truck steers and holds speed on compatible highways, and the system checks that you’re watching the road. Eyes-off moves that responsibility to the car on the highway, so you can read or watch a video until it hands control back.
The handoff is the hard part. Reuters noted on October 21 that some executives see thorny safety and liability questions there. It also noted that Mercedes-Benz, one of the few brands with an eyes-off system, typically limits it to small areas at low speeds, such as stop-and-go traffic. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) still requires you to stay attentive.
The computer is the real upgrade
GM’s new architecture moves autonomy, active safety, chassis and propulsion software onto one liquid-cooled Central Compute Unit that GM designed in-house. GM puts it at roughly 40 times more computing capability, with Ethernet zonal hubs carrying 36 times more data than before.
For trucks, the point is that the same software runs in gas and electric models, so a fix validated on one can reach others by over-the-air update.
Should you wait for an eyes-off Silverado or buy now?
Buy now if you need a truck. The next-generation 2027 Silverado 1500 is due on sale at the end of 2026, according to GM Canada’s launch release, and GM Canada says no rival in its class offers a hands-free system that works while towing. That’s a concrete feature you can use on a long trailer run this winter.
Here’s the trap. GM says the new architecture debuts in 2028 and then spreads to its trucks. It has not said that any truck built before that will gain eyes-off capability, and a computer swap isn’t an over-the-air job. If a salesperson tells you a 2027 truck is “ready for” eyes-off driving, ask for it in writing.
What will eyes-off driving cost truck owners?
GM hasn’t priced it. Reuters cited a UBS estimate that GM’s digital revenue will rise from $3.2 billion this year to $9.6 billion by 2036, and a PwC figure putting software margins at 30% to 40%, against roughly 10% on vehicles. Expect a subscription, much like Super Cruise today, which requires a paid plan after its trial.
GM’s Ed Nightingale told Reuters the company can’t start charging for features that were already part of the core experience. New features will carry the fees.
What arrives for GM owners first?
A “Hey OnStar” AI assistant reaches the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq first by over-the-air update. If you’re weighing that SUV, our Cadillac Lyriq vs Tesla Model Y comparison is a good start, and so is our test of the Model Y budget trim.
Truck shoppers cross-checking Ford should also see how the 2027 Ford Super Duty dropped its base engines.
What GM still hasn’t said
There’s no model year for trucks and no price. GM says its Super Cruise drivers have logged more than 1.2 billion hands-free miles across nearly 750,000 vehicles. That figure comes from GM and hasn’t been checked by a regulator.
GM eyes-off driving FAQ
When will GM trucks get eyes-off driving?
GM hasn’t said. On October 21, 2026, it announced that autonomous highway driving will expand to its full-size SUVs and light-duty pickups after debuting on the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ. Reuters reported that GM gave no timeframe for the trucks, so any date you hear from a dealer is a guess, not a GM commitment.
What is the difference between Super Cruise and eyes-off driving?
Super Cruise is hands-free but eyes-on: the system checks that you’re watching the road while it steers on compatible highways. GM’s planned eyes-off system lets you look away on the highway, reading or watching video, until the vehicle asks you to take back control. It needs GM’s new central computer.
Will my current GM truck be upgraded to eyes-off driving?
GM hasn’t promised that. The company ties eyes-off driving to a new Central Compute Unit and electrical architecture debuting in 2028, with roughly 40 times today’s computing capability. Over-the-air updates can add software, but they can’t install new hardware, so assume a truck built before that architecture won’t get the feature.
Until GM puts a model year on it, GM eyes-off driving is a 2028-and-later feature on paper, and the best hands-free truck you can actually buy is the one with Super Cruise and a trailer behind it.