OnStar AI Assistant Starts With the Lyriq: What Cadillac Owners Get

General Motors is turning OnStar into a voice assistant that can talk about, and operate, the car it lives in, and a Cadillac gets it first. At its GM Forward event in New York on October 21, 2026, the company announced that the OnStar AI Assistant will arrive on the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq as an over-the-air update within the next few months, with other GM models to follow. GM also confirmed that one OnStar phone app will replace the Cadillac app, along with the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and OnStar Guardian apps, starting in 2027.

"We're evolving OnStar to become a true driving partner," GM CEO Mary Barra said on stage, as reported by InsideEVs.

How the assistant works

The driver says "Hey OnStar" and then speaks normally. GM's own examples show the idea. Mention that the cabin feels warm and the climate control cools it down. Ask whether the remaining charge will cover a trip and the assistant checks the range and, if needed, maps charging stops. Ask about an unfamiliar warning symbol and it explains what the car is reporting.

Because it is built into the vehicle rather than added through a phone, it can act on hardware. GM lists the dome lights, the glove box and the charge port among the functions it can operate, and tire pressures, range and charging status among the readings it can report. It also answers how-to questions about features such as one-pedal driving or lane keep assist, with answers matched to the exact model. When a request needs a person, it hands the conversation to a live OnStar Advisor.

This is a separate system from the Google voice assistant that answers to "Hey Google" in Cadillacs with Google built-in. GM describes OnStar AI as its own assistant, grounded in data from the car and in GM's knowledge of its vehicles.

Which Cadillacs get it, and what it costs

So far, only the 2027 Lyriq has a confirmed launch. A GM spokesperson told InsideEVs that the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups come next. GM has not named another Cadillac model or given a schedule for the rest of the lineup.

Earlier cars are an open question. Anna Santos, who leads product management for GM's voice and in-car AI work, told The Drive that the assistant should in principle work on some earlier GM models and that the company wants to add it where it can. The Drive points out that the Lyriq's infotainment system runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor that many other GM EVs share. Still, GM has not confirmed the assistant for any earlier Cadillac.

On price, InsideEVs reports that the assistant will be part of OnStar Basics, the standard connected-services plan that comes with a new GM vehicle at no extra charge.

One OnStar app instead of myCadillac

The new app groups every GM vehicle in a household in one place, whatever the brand, and adds features the current Cadillac app lacks:

• Connected Cameras. If the car senses a trigger, such as someone leaning hard on the horn, its cameras save the moment, send the clip to the app and notify the owner.
• OnStar Family. Family members can share destinations, coordinate pickups and keep an eye on the other cars in the household.
• Proactive safety alerts. OnStar plans to combine signals from the car with weather, road conditions and route data to warn drivers before trouble.
• AI chat. The same assistant answers questions about the vehicle from the phone.

GM has not said when in 2027 the switch happens or how existing Cadillac app accounts and settings will carry over.

Privacy controls

GM says each feature stays off until the owner chooses to use it and can be turned off at any time. Each feature is meant to show what data it draws on, the reason it needs that data, when it is running and how the data is treated, and owners get separate switches for camera, microphone, location and AI permissions. Recordings are encrypted and kept only for a limited time, and GM says it cannot view Connected Camera footage. The Drive notes that the settings screens were not shown at the event.