What does GM’s ‘eyes-off’ driving actually mean, and why is GM skipping Level 3?

GM says eyes-off highway driving debuts on the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ — and that it is deliberately skipping Level 3 because the handoff back to a distracted driver is the risky part. Plus what today's Super Cruise owners get now, and the questions to ask before paying for any driver-assist subscription.

“Hands-free” driving still asks you to watch the road. GM just explained why its next step skips the awkward middle entirely. Short answer: “eyes-off” means the car handles highway driving so completely that you do not have to watch the road while the system is engaged.

GM chief product officer Sterling Anderson says that system debuts on the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ and then expands to full-size SUVs and pickups — and that GM is deliberately not building a Level 3 system on the way there. Why GM is skipping Level 3: a Level 3 car drives itself until it suddenly cannot, then hands control back to a driver who was told not to pay attention. GM argues that handoff — a distracted person retaking control on demand — is the most dangerous moment in the design.

So GM is building autonomy that does not require your attention at all, on a new central-compute platform it calls an “intelligence-defined vehicle,” with over-the-air updates, growing out of today’s Super Cruise hands-free base. Anderson made the same engineering argument about factories: he says humanoid robots are the wrong shape for building cars, and that purpose-built automation designed for one job beats a general human shape doing many jobs badly.1. Know what today’s Super Cruise gives you now: hands-free driving on mapped highways, with your eyes on the road.

That part does not change yet.2. Know what only arrives in 2028: true eyes-off driving, starting with the Escalade IQ. Nothing announced today upgrades a car you already own.3.

Before paying for any driver-assist subscription, ask which roads it covers, what happens when coverage ends, and what it costs each month after any trial.4. Ask what the system does when it is unsure — a good system slows down and asks for help early, not late.Pro tip: pay for the driving help you can actually use this year, and let 2028’s promises stay promises until the cars are on the road and independently tested.Ad’s take: skipping the dangerous handoff is the first autonomy plan that sounds like engineering instead of marketing.