GM vehicles could soon be equipped with ChatGPT tech

General Motors Co. (GM) is investigating uses for ChatGPT as part of its larger partnership with Microsoft Corp.

ChatGPT may be used to get information on how to use vehicle features often contained in an owner's manual, the program features like a garage door code, or integrate schedules from a calendar, according to GM Vice President Scott Miller.

"ChatGPT is going to be in everything," GM Vice President Scott Miller told Reuters in an interview last week.

The American automaker was developing a virtual personal assistant that employs ChatGPT's AI models, as per the Semafor website, which broke the news first.

The voice-activated chatbot will use Microsoft's Azure cloud service, which has exclusive rights to the OpenAI tech that powers ChatGPT, image creator DALL·E, and Microsoft's Bing chatbot, as per Semafor.

Microsoft earlier spent billions of dollars in OpenAI, the company that owns ChatGPT, with the intention of incorporating the chatbot's technology into its products.

The company that was overshadowed for a long by Google has been stepping up its attempts to integrate more technology into automobiles, including infotainment systems, autonomous driving, operating systems that regulate battery performance, and numerous other features.

Microsoft and GM teamed up in 2021 to hasten the commercialization of driverless cars.

Meanwhile, the global automaker, with headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, started offering "voluntary" buyouts to white-collar workers on Thursday.

GM offers buyouts

General Motors will provide voluntary buyouts to a "majority" of its white-collar employees in the United States, according to a letter CEO Mary Barra addressed to staff members on Thursday.

In a filing made public on Thursday, GM said it expected to pay a pretax charge of up to $1.5 billion linked to the buyouts, said a CNBC report. 

It follows last week's announcement by the Detroit carmaker that it would eliminate approximately 500 salaried employees internationally.

To reduce structural costs by $2 billion over the next two years, the business will offer voluntary buyouts to a "majority" of its 58,000 white-collar workers in the U.S.

All U.S.-paid employees with five or more years of service as of June 30 will be eligible for the "Voluntary Separation Program," or VSP. 

The automaker will provide buyouts to executives with at least two years of employment outside the U.S.