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    Can AI make the poor world richer?

    Elly Ntonde was revising for his chemistry exams in Budondo, Uganda. The village has unpaved roads, no running water and flickering electricity. Yet when the 18-year-old was struggling with how metals react to acid, the world’s most advanced tutor was only a few taps away. He walked to a shop, bought 100mb of data and loaded it onto his phone. In seconds, ChatGPT had explained the answers. More

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    As many retailers shrink their footprints, Dick’s Sporting Goods goes big

    As many retailers look for ways to shrink store counts and square footage, Dick’s Sporting Goods is going bigger.
    The retailer is building more sprawling “House of Sport” stores, which typically come in at 120,000 to 150,000 square feet, more than double the 50,000 for its traditional locations. The sporting goods company believes it’s working.

    “We needed to build the concept that will kill Dick’s Sporting Goods,” Edward Stack, executive chairman and son of founder Dick Stack, told CNBC in an exclusive interview at Dick’s House of Sport store in Pittsburgh. “We need to build the concept that if somebody else built this store across the street from us, we’re out of business, and that’s exactly what we did.”
    As shoppers prioritize experiences and choice, the locations allow Dick’s to meet them where they are. Most House of Sport stores have two-story climbing walls; sports cages for testing bats; field hockey and lacrosse sticks with statistical feedback; outdoor fields that double as ice rinks in the winter; and golf simulators.
    Beyond the experiences, House of Sport has three times as much square footage devoted to footwear than a legacy store, plus 400 types of cleats in the House of Cleats section and other brands and merchandise exclusive to the concept.
    “[House of Sport] has been wildly successful” Stack said. A typical House of Sport store on an does around $35 million in annual sales across channels with an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rate of roughly 20%, “so these are extremely, extremely productive.” Dick’s Sporting Goods doesn’t break out EBITDA for the full business, though it did report earnings before taxes in its most recent quarter of 14%.
    Before the first House of Sport location opened, Stack said Wall Street thought the retailer should be closing stores and reducing its footprint.

    “Their concept was, ‘I don’t really know how many stores you have, but you have too many’ or ‘I don’t really know how big your store is, but it’s too big, you need to make it smaller'” Stack said. “When I told them, ‘Hey, our philosophy is that in 10 years, we’ll have probably the same amount of stores, we will have a lot more square footage, that didn’t go over very well, you know, and our stock kind of stalled out for that.'”
    But Stack wasn’t dissuaded.  
    The retailer’s first “House of Sport” store opened in 2021, and the newest location in Jersey City, N.J. just outside of New York City debuted this month. Dick’s plans to have 35 by the end of the year and up to 100 by the end of its fiscal 2027, in addition to its more than 850 stores across Dick’s, Golf Galaxy, Field & Stream, Public Lands, and Warehouse Sale banners.
    There is risk to the concept. Dick’s Sporting Goods CFO Navdeep Gupta has said on earnings calls it takes around $11.5 million of net capital expenditures to open a House of Sport store, a significant cost outlay for a physical retailer at a time when more sales are shifting online.
    Further, most House of Sport locations are in malls, which are facing difficulties with shopper traffic. Recent examples show that even compelling experiential retail doesn’t always translate into financial success and can be difficult to scale. Those include a re-imagined Toys R Us post-bankruptcy, Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys. Nike has had mixed success with its large flagship experiential concepts.

    House of brands

    Customers shop at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Chicago on March 11, 2025.
    Scott Olson | Getty Images

    The extra shelf space at House of Sport stores allows Dick’s to showcase more of its brand partners, both old and new. Nike, among other companies, has been impressed by the concept, Stack said.
    “Nike management team came in and saw [House of Sport], and they looked around and said, ‘this is absolutely the best expression of sport anywhere in the world,'” he said.
    While Nike is working on rebuilding other wholesale partnerships under new CEO Elliott Hill, Stack said “our relationship with Nike is great.” In fact, House of Sport offers Nike-produced Air Jordan and Kobe merchandise not available elsewhere.
    Stack said the interconnection between experience and in-store product testing leads to merchandise sales. “That visit is not in just that visit, but then that they continue to come back,” though he declined to share further metrics.
    A key merchandise strategy for House of Sport is also showcasing newer, smaller, more premium brands like Varley, Johnnie-O, Faherty, Marine Layer and others. There’s also a co-lab space, where brands are changed every 6 weeks or so. Currently, U.K.-based GymShark is using the rotating to test selling in U.S. retail.
    While it’s not necessarily Dick’s goal to sell even the brands that prove successful in House of Sport in the legacy stores as well,  it could open the opportunity — or vice versa.
    He pointed to running brand On, which started in the Dick’s Public Lands store format, when “to be honest with you, they were testing us to just see what it’s like to do business with us,” Stack said. He added that four years later, On is now in roughly 450 Dick’s stores and is one of the “premier brands” at House of Sport.
    It’s not just brands that are interested in House of Sport. The concept also helps mall owners fill massive empty spaces that once housed department stores.
    “Mall developers love having us do this now that they understand what we’re doing, because usually in the Sears wing, or a wing that has a vacant department store for a while, that wing of the mall is not usually leased very well for the developers,” Stack said. Most House of Sport stores are located where Sears, Lord & Taylor or Nordstrom used to be in A- or B-graded malls.

    Betting on Foot Locker

    An employee works at a Foot Locker store on May 15, 2025 in Miami, Florida.
    Joe Raedle | Getty Images

    The megastores aren’t the only risk Dick’s has taken that rankled Wall Street. Investors aren’t yet sold on the retailer’s $2.4 billion-Foot Locker acquisition.
    “A lot of people, when we first made this acquisition, they didn’t like it,” Stack said. “Our stock got hammered, and we knew they weren’t going to like it.”
    The deal was announced in May and closed Sept. 8, taking Dick’s Sporting Goods total store count across all banners to around 3,200 in 20 countries.
    While Stack is leading the Foot Locker integration, Ann Freeman, formerly of Nike, is Foot Locker’s new North America president. And as Dick’s expands its larger stores segment, footwear will be a critical component.
    “Footwear is the engine that pulls the train, and between [House of Sport footwear selection] and Foot Locker … it’s going to end up to be a really good lifetime investment,” Stack said.
    Stack is invested in the future of the company. He remains the largest individual shareholder, owning 13.3% of outstanding shares and 47% of voting power, according to the latest proxy from April 2025.
    But even with investor disappointment over the Foot Locker deal, Dick’s shares have outperformed the athletic brands it sells or competes with. While the average analyst rating is overweight, the average target price is $241, just 6% higher than its current price.
    Lululemon has shed more than half its market cap this year, Under Armour is down 42% year to date, On has lost 22% and Nike is down 9% in 2025.

    Dick’s winning playbook: Youth and team sports

    A large part of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ business centers on youth sports. It’s a $40 billion dollar annual market according to the Aspen Institute, with spending per child for a primary sport averaging $1,016 in 2024, up 46% in 2024 from 2019. 
    Stack often says his business is more insulated from macroeconomic pressures because of its youth athlete consumer, as parents aren’t often shoving a growing child’s feet into last year’s cleats. The replacement cycle has likely contributed to 12 straight quarters of comparable sales growth for the retailer and the highest sales in company history. 
    But product and sport innovation has also driven sales across Dick’s Sporting Goods business. Self-expression in baseball for example, has recently increased demand for colorful baseball mitts, baseball bats and $105 batting gloves that are among House of Sport’s best-selling products.
    Stack said “innovation is more expensive” and “parents are outfitting their kids, they want to give their kids the best opportunity to succeed and to perform well.”
    Stack, who oversaw massive expansion for Dick’s, also credits “the best management team we’ve ever had” and said “we never fall in love with ourself … we’re happy with something that we’ve succeeded at for about 15 minutes, and then we’re talking about, how can we make that better?” 
    Going big has been Stack’s modus operandi since he took over the two-location retailer his father started in 1948 and grew it into the $20 billion market cap company it is today. Risk-taking, from new concepts to acquisitions, is also core to the DNA of the retailer Stack has built. 
    “Everything in a meeting starts with ‘Yes, if…’ and can never start with ‘No, because…’ and that’s been a huge difference in our business,” he said. More

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    Trumponomics is warping the world’s copper markets

    A dinner hosted by the London Metals Exchange every October is where “base” metals meet the West End. In a glitzy ballroom, 1,500 black-tied guests talk beneath chandeliers, take selfies on balustrades and clap at rusty jokes. At the VIP table, miners and ministers craft deals while sipping chardonnay. Bets are placed on how long the post-dinner show will last—a 20-minute rendition of “Mamma Mia!” featuring LME bosses, it turns out. Award winners go home with a bottle of fizz. More

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    Starbucks Workers United set to vote on strike authorization

    Starbucks Workers United is kicking off a strike authorization vote this Friday.
    In addition, the union says it is planning a wave of rallies and pickets across the country with its baristas and allies.
    Workers United, which began organizing at Starbucks in 2021, now represents over 12,000 workers across more than 650 stores. Starbucks has over 18,000 stores in North America, both company-operated and licensed.

    Starbucks Workers United is kicking off a strike authorization vote Friday, as the union representing baristas makes a bid to secure a contract with the coffee giant.
    The union also said it is planning a wave of rallies and pickets across the country with its baristas and allies.

    Voting on authorizing a strike at unionized cafes will be open for several days. If approved, the strike itself would be open-ended, with specifics to be determined. As the voting occurs, seventy rallies and pickets will take place from Friday through Nov. 1 across 60 cities, the union said. If the union votes to go on strike, this would be the third national strike to take place since last December.
    The two sides are not in active negotiations to reach a contract after talks between them fell apart in December of 2024. In February, the two parties entered into mediation, and hundreds of barista delegates voted down the economic package Starbucks proposed in April.
    Workers United says it is pushing to secure a contract that addresses three key issues. The union is demanding “better hours to improve staffing,” higher take-home pay (though it did not specify a wage number) and “resolution for hundreds of outstanding unfair labor practice charges.” Workers United, which began organizing at Starbucks in 2021, now represents over 12,000 workers across more than 650 stores. The number of unionized stores is still small, as Starbucks has over 18,000 locations in North America, both company-operated and licensed.
    “We’re going to do whatever it takes to secure this contract,” Jasmine Leli, a barista at a unionized store in Buffalo, N.Y., who has been involved in regional and national bargaining, told CNBC in an interview. The union, which held a national wave of pickets in 35 cities in September and October, claims it would cost the company less than one average days’ sales to settle the contract.
    Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson said in a statement that “Workers United only represents around 4% of our partners but chose to walk away from the bargaining table. If they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk.”

    Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks already offers the best job in retail, she added. “Hourly partners earn more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits and we’re investing over $500 million to put more partners in stores during busy times.”
    “The facts show people like working at Starbucks. Partner engagement is up, turnover is nearly half the industry average, and we get more than 1 million job applications a year,” Anderson said.

    Starbucks is set to report earnings for the fourth quarter on Wednesday. The stock is down 6% year-to-date, and same-store sales have fallen for six straight quarters.
    The company is in the midst of a turnaround plan under new CEO Brian Niccol, dubbed “Back to Starbucks.” As part of the strategy, the company announced the rollout of its Green Apron Service plans, which rely on warm and engaging interactions between baristas and customers in the hopes of making Starbucks visits a habit.
    The program is backed by changes to ensure proper staffing and better technology to keep service times fast. It was born out of growth in digital orders, which now make up more than 30% of sales, and feedback from baristas, the company has said.
    The Green Apron Service push is the largest investment the company has ever made in hospitality and its store employees, Starbucks has said. On the company’s third-quarter earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Cathy Smith said Starbucks will invest more than $500 million in labor hours across company-owned cafes in the next year, starting with the Green Apron Service rollout. Starbucks also began a pilot program in late September for its assistant store manager position. It now has 62 assistant store managers in newly-created leadership roles across six regions. The company says 90% of these hires are internal promotions.
    Staffing has been an ongoing issue for baristas who have organized. Niccol has faced somewhat less scrutiny from the union than his predecessors have, namely former CEO Howard Schultz, who took a more combative approach.

    In September, the company announced a $1 billion restructuring plan that involves closing some 500 of its North American stores, according to analyst estimates, and laying off 900 workers in non-retail roles. The union says it secured additional benefits for workers through effects bargaining at the 59 unionized stores that are closing as a result of the restructuring, including severance even if they turn down a transfer offer and extended health benefits.
    At the time of the restructuring, Starbucks said in a statement that “given the industry-leading offer provided to impacted partners — including reassignment opportunities, where possible and generous severance — we were able to quickly reach and agreement with Workers United to similarly help represented partners through this transition. This reflects our commitment to partner care.”
    The company added that it reached out to Workers United to work on a framework for how the changes would impact baristas in union cafes. More

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    China’s property slump is far from bottoming. But Beijing is prioritizing tech growth

    Chinese policymakers will likely focus more on tech development than real estate as tensions with the U.S. escalate.
    “The government believes the property market is bottoming,” said Zhu Ning, author of “China’s Guaranteed Bubble.”
    But he believes “it is a gradual process and may take more time before reaching the bottom.”

    A new residential complex under construction in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China on October 20, 2025.
    Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images

    BEIJING — Chinese policymakers are unlikely to shore up the country’s struggling real estate sector, analysts told CNBC, even as the housing slump drags on economic growth.
    The assessment comes as China’s top leaders, called the Central Committee, are due to wrap up a four-day meeting Thursday, which will outline priorities for the next five years.

    In Beijing’s view, the property sector’s drag on growth has eased, while technological development is a more urgent priority in the current geopolitical landscape, said Ning Zhu, author of “China’s Guaranteed Bubble.” To him, that means Beijing is unlikely to enact significantly stronger real estate support.
    After years of concern over property developers’ debt that led to Beijing’s crackdown, Chinese state media said earlier this month that “risks in key areas have been effectively prevented and mitigated,” according to a CNBC translation. The piece was part of a series of articles highlighting achievements over the past five years while highlighting Beijing’s push to promote opportunities in tech.
    That underscores further divergence between Beijing’s view and that of most analysts.
    “The government believes the property market is bottoming,” Zhu said. “I believe it is a gradual process and may take more time before reaching the bottom.”

    Recent data underscores the divide between Beijing’s optimism and market reality. China’s Statistics Bureau on Monday said high-tech manufacturing grew by 9.6% in the first three quarters of the year compared to the same period in 2024, outpacing the 6.2% growth in overall industrial production.

    However, real estate investment fell 13.9% in the first three quarters from a year earlier, extending the sector’s decline through September. The decline pushed fixed-asset investment into negative territory — the only such decline on record, excluding the Covid-19 pandemic.
    That means that just over a year since Beijing called for a “halt” in the property sector’s decline, there are still few signs of a turnaround.
    It’s “hard to say when” real estate will bottom, said Lulu Shi, a director at Fitch Ratings. “The overall population, demographics and the employment situation and housing market inventory, they are all worsening.”
    China’s falling birth rate points to weaker housing demand in the future, while uncertainty about jobs and income growth weighs on homebuyer sentiment in the near term.

    Falling home prices

    The slide in property prices over roughly the last two years is also weighing on homebuyer sentiment, reversing decades of gains that once fueled heavy speculation in the property market.
    The weighted average for new home prices in September fell 2.7% from the prior month on an annualized basis, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis of official data from China’s 70 largest cities published Monday. That was steeper than the 2.1% drop seen in August.
    Prices of “secondary” homes, which have already been sold once, have plunged by a far steeper 5% to 20% over the past year, Goldman said, citing a mix of official and third-party figures.
    Looking ahead, Beijing is unlikely to put much emphasis on property policy, whether in additional support or discouraging real estate speculation, said Bruce Pang, adjunct associate professor at CUHK Business School.
    He noted that China’s multi-year plans, such as those for the next five years, tend to focus on new approaches for growth.

    Weekly analysis and insights from Asia’s largest economy in your inboxSubscribe now

    Easing measures introduced in August, such as looser restrictions on multiple property purchases in major cities, have done little to lift sentiment. The policy changes mostly applied to the city outskirts rather than the most attractive downtown areas.
    Citing that weaker-than-expected policy support, S&P Global Ratings earlier this month forecast property sales to fall 8% this year, worse than earlier estimates. They expect another drop of at least 6% next year as a market bottom remains elusive.
    Moody’s Ratings also predicts China home sales to decline by single digits over the next 12 to 18 months.
    This forecast is based on fading demand from buyers who had anticipated policy easing, said Daniel Zhou, an assistant vice president and analyst at Moody’s Ratings. He said the property market should gradually stabilize over the longer term under existing policy measures.

    Broader economic impact

    The real estate slump continues to weigh heavily on China’s economy, even as the sector’s role has shrunk from more than a quarter of output. As property sales have roughly halved in just a few years, manufacturing and exports have helped offset the decline.
    “China’s economy has remained under the 2-speed mode, with consumption/property as the weak track and exports/manufacturing as the strong track,” Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie, said in a note. “The pattern will continue until policymakers could no longer rely on external demand to drive growth.”
    Chinese exports have remained unexpectedly strong so far this year, with 8.3% growth in September from a year ago, despite a 27% plunge in shipments of goods to the U.S.
    For real estate, “it is very hard to see a trend of growth,” Shi said. “We believe there will be more policies, but it’s not likely that one policy can change the entire situation.”
    Eventually, once the decline in home prices eases, she expects more buyers to gradually return to the housing market. More

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    Southwest beats earnings estimates, forecasts record revenue for current quarter

    Southwest Airlines reported third-quarter earnings Wednesday.
    The carrier posted a surprise quarterly profit.
    Southwest executives will discuss results on an analyst call on Thursday morning.

    A Southwest Airlines jet approaches Midway Airport on Dec. 15, 2023, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
    John J. Kim | Chicago Tribune | Getty Images

    Southwest Airlines on Wednesday posted a surprise profit for the third quarter and said it expects to generate record sales in the last three months of the year thanks to better travel demand and higher fares.
    The carrier said it expects unit revenue to rise between 1% and 3% for the fourth quarter, with capacity up 6% over the same period last year.

    “This guidance range assumes demand strength remains at current levels through the end of the quarter,” Southwest said.
    Here’s how Southwest performed in the period ended September 30 compared with Wall Street expectations, according to consensus estimates from LSEG:

    Earnings per share: 11 cents adjusted vs. loss of 3 cents expected
    Revenue: $6.95 billion vs. $6.92 billion expected

    In July, Southwest joined other airlines in cutting its 2025 profit forecast. The Dallas carrier said it expected full-year earnings before taxes of $600 million to $800 million, down from an earlier forecast of $1.7 billion. It reaffirmed that earnings outlook on Wednesday.
    The carrier has been working to better compete with rivals and increase sales, abandoning longtime policies like open seating and two free checked bags for each traveler.
    Southwest CFO Tom Doxey told CNBC in an interview that increased sales from selling seat assignments would show up in the first quarter, when the first flights without open seating begin.

    Southwest’s third-quarter profit fell more than 19% year over year to $54 million from $67 million. On a per-share basis, Southwest’s earnings fell to 10 cents from 11 cents a year earlier.
    Adjusting for one-time items, Southwest reported $58 million in earnings for the third-quarter, or 11 cents a share. 
    Revenue rose 1% to $6.95 billion from the year-earlier period. 

    Read more CNBC airline news More

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    Why investors still don’t believe in Argentina

    A bail-out from America can stop a financial crisis in its tracks. In 1995 President Bill Clinton lent Mexico $20bn as its currency collapsed. Two days later, sniffing a bargain, investors were willing to buy the country’s bonds. On September 22nd Scott Bessent must have hoped for a similar reaction. The Argentine peso was sliding in the build-up to make-or-break midterms on October 26th. So America’s treasury secretary announced that he would support the currency unconditionally. “All options”, said Mr Bessent, “are on the table”. More

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    GM plans to launch eyes-off driving, Google AI and other new in-vehicle tech by 2028

    General Motors said the conversational Google Gemini artificial intelligence will begin rolling out in its vehicles next year.
    In the next three years, the automaker also plans to launch a new system that lets drivers go hands free and take their eyes off the road but still take control of the vehicle when they want.
    The company announced other tech initiatives as part of its “GM Forward” event in lower Manhattan.

    Mary Barra speaks onstage during WSJ’s Future of Everything 2025 at The Glasshouse on May 28, 2025 in New York City.
    Dia Dipasupil | Getty Images

    NEW YORK — General Motors is targeting a suite of new software initiatives for its vehicles over the next three years, including an in-vehicle artificial intelligence assistant from Google and a driver-assistance system that can largely control the vehicle without human interaction or monitoring.
    GM said the conversational Google Gemini AI will begin launching in its vehicles next year, followed by the new driver-assistance system, which will allow drivers to be hands-free and take their eyes off the road under certain circumstances, in 2028.

    GM CEO Mary Barra and other executives made the announcements Wednesday as part of a “GM Forward” software event that also showcased other initiatives designed to “transform the car from a mode of transportation into an intelligent assistant,” the automaker said.
    The company also announced that it is working on a new centralized computing platform, which is planned to roll out starting with the Escalade IQ in 2028; increased use of collaborative robots, also known as cobots, that can work alongside humans; and expanding availability of products from its GM Energy business.

    GM displays its plans for a new centralized computing platform during the automaker’s “GM Forward” event on Oct. 22, 2025, in New York City.
    Michael Wayland | CNBC

    “Today we’ll share our vision for our vehicles, our industry and how we’re driving the future of transportation forward,” Barra said to kick off the event in lower Manhattan.

    ‘New era of mobility’

    GM said the announcements are meant to usher in a “new era of mobility” for the company, which has struggled to achieve such initiatives in the past. Its previous efforts included announcing plans in 2021 to double revenue by 2030, led by many now-defunct growth businesses, as well as growing annual software and services revenue to between $20 billion and $25 billion.
    In recent years, it also killed an “Ultra Cruise” system meant to be able to drive in 95% of circumstances that was initially due to come out in 2023 and folded its Cruise robotaxi business.

    GM executives on Wednesday declined to discuss revenue potential of the new announcements. CFO Paul Jacobson has previously walked back the doubling revenue goal, but has noted the company’s growing revenue, up 9.1% last year to $187.44 billion.

    GM graphic of the automaker’s upcoming centralized computing design that’s set to debut in the Cadillac Escalade IQ in 2028.

    GM President Mark Reuss on Wednesday said the company’s revenue plans are “pretty much on track … maybe a year or two different” as it plans to continue to grow revenue, especially with the technologies announced Wednesday. He also said these initiatives are “very different” than prior announcements, as they’re tangible products that are entering the market shortly.
    As of the third quarter of this year, GM recognized $2 billion from software services. That’s up from 2021, when the plans were announced and it took the full year to hit that mark. It also cited $5 billion in deferred revenue, up 90% from a year earlier, to end the third quarter.
    The event comes a day after GM reported standout third-quarter earnings and upped its guidance, pushing the stock to have its second-best day on record since the automaker’s 2009 emergence from bankruptcy.
    GM stock on Wednesday was trading relatively flat.

    AI

    GM said the artificial intelligence system from Google, which its infotainment system is developed on, will make “it possible to talk to your car as naturally as you would to a fellow passenger.”
    “Our vision is to create a car that knows you, that looks out for you, and just meets your needs, even before you say,” Sterling Anderson, GM chief product officer, said during the event.
    Anderson called the centralized computing a “foundational piece” of the company’s plans in increasing the capabilities of its vehicles.

    GM Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson during the automaker’s “GM Forward” event on Oct. 22, 2025 in New York City.
    Michael Wayland / CNBC

    The Detroit automaker said it expects to update select vehicles from the 2016 model year to all new models in the U.S. beginning next year with the AI tech.
    GM also said it plans to develop its own “AI, custom-built” technology in the years to come but did not provide an exact time frame.
    “In the future, we will introduce our own AI fine-tuned to your vehicle,” said David Richardson, a former Apple executive who is now GM vice president of software and services engineering. “Think of this as an assistant. It’s going to anticipate your needs, offer timely help and make every journey more personable and more enjoyable.”

    Hands-free, ‘eyes-off’

    GM said it plans for its upgraded advanced driver-assistance system, also known as ADAS, to feature hands-free, “eyes-off” driving technology, beginning on the Cadillac Escalade IQ EV, which currently starts around $127,500, in 2028.
    The automaker then expects to expand the availability of the tech to other models, company executives said.
    “Autonomy will make our roads safer. They’ll give customers back their most valuable asset: time. It’ll be a cornerstone of GM product portfolio going forward,” Anderson said.

    Cadillac Escalade IQ with lidar

    The vehicle will use lidar, or light detection and ranging, systems that allow it to better detect or “see” its surroundings. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has notably been a critic of the technology, and his company’s vehicles rely on camera-based systems and computer vision.
    “Just be clear, we’re developing a self driving product,” Anderson, a former Tesla executive, told CNBC. “It’s an eyes-off, self-driving system. As it relates to use of lidar in it, your product will be better with multiple modes of sensing, period. Full stop.”
    Anderson, calling it an “ocean that’s too big to boil,” said the system is expected to evolve incrementally to its full potential.
    GM declined to say whether the new technology will be called “Super Cruise,” which is its current system that allows drivers to be hands-free on 600,000 miles of pre-mapped roads in North America.
    The current Super Cruise system monitors a driver’s attentiveness through the use of sensors and eye-detection cameras.
    GM was the first automaker to offer such a hands-free system in 2016, but it was slow to roll out the technology until recent years.
    Barra said the rollout of the new system will be significantly faster than the company’s initial expansion of Super Cruise.

    GM Energy

    Starting in 2026, GM said it will make its “Energy Home System” — which includes bidirectional electric vehicle charging and a stationary home battery — available via leasing, compared with outright purchasing the equipment.
    The leasing will begin with GM all-electric vehicles owners and later roll out to other homeowners interested in backup power and solar integration, the company said.
    GM Energy launched in 2022 as one of the automaker’s growth initiatives involving EVs. It was started to rival Tesla’s home energy systems and provide battery packs, EV chargers and software to help customers optimize charging and ride out electric grid disruptions.
    GM has not disclosed the size or revenue of its GM Energy business other than a blog by Wade Sheffer, vice president of GM Energy, that said momentum for its services are growing.
    “It’s really incredible to see all the great things that are right on the horizon, and I know we will deliver for our customers, and that’s what matters most,” Barra said. “This moment builds on our history and sets the course.” More