GM Cuts 600+ IT Jobs in Strategic Pivot to AI-Focused Workforce

Summary

General Motors has laid off over 600 salaried IT employees—approximately 10% of its IT department—in a deliberate skills restructuring aimed at rebuilding its technology organization around artificial intelligence capabilities. Rather than a pure headcount reduction, the company is simultaneously hiring for positions requiring specialized AI expertise, particularly in AI-native development, data engineering, machine learning model development, prompt engineering, and agent development. GM framed the layoffs as necessary preparation for the future, though specific strategic goals were not detailed in official statements.

The restructuring is being driven by leadership changes, particularly the May 2025 appointment of Sterling Anderson—co-founder of autonomous trucking startup Aurora—as chief product officer. Anderson has consolidated GM's disparate software teams and brought in AI-focused executives including Behrad Toghi (formerly Apple) as AI lead and Rashed Haq (formerly Cruise, the self-driving company GM acquired and later shuttered) as VP of autonomous vehicles. Recent departures include three senior software executives who left as Anderson pushed for organizational consolidation.

The layoffs represent part of GM's larger strategic realignment over 18 months, including a 1,000-person software workforce reduction in August 2024. Industry analysts view GM's restructuring as a bellwether for enterprise-scale AI adoption in practice: not the gradual addition of AI tools to existing teams, but deliberate workforce transformation that prioritizes native AI architecture, model engineering, and AI-native workflow design over traditional IT skill sets.

• Autonomous vehicle industry veterans are leading the charge, bringing specialized AI and robotics expertise into broader automotive technology leadership