General Motors laid off more than 600 salaried IT employees in May 2026 — roughly 10% of its IT department — as part of a deliberate effort to replace workers whose skills no longer align with the company’s direction with candidates who have AI-focused backgrounds.
GM confirmed the layoffs to TechCrunch, which were first reported by Bloomberg News. In an emailed statement, the automaker said it is “transforming its Information Technology organization to better position the company for the future,” without providing further specifics.
The cuts are not all permanent headcount reductions. According to a person familiar with the layoffs, GM is actively hiring for IT roles — but for different skill sets. The company is prioritizing AI-native development, data engineering and analytics, cloud-based engineering, agent and model development, prompt engineering, and new AI workflows. In practical terms, GM is looking for people who can build AI systems from the ground up, not simply use AI as a productivity tool.
The restructuring is part of a broader pattern of white-collar workforce changes at GM over the past 18 months. In August 2024, the company cut approximately 1,000 software workers. The software organization has also seen significant leadership turnover since Sterling Anderson — co-founder of autonomous trucking startup Aurora — was hired as chief product officer in May 2025. Last November, three senior software executives departed as Anderson moved to consolidate GM’s technology businesses into a single organization.
GM has since brought in new AI-focused leadership. Behrad Toghi, previously at Apple, joined in October as AI lead. Rashed Haq, who spent five years at Cruise as head of AI and robotics, was hired as vice president of autonomous vehicles.
The restructuring may signal what large-scale enterprise AI adoption looks like in practice — not layering AI tools onto existing teams, but rebuilding the workforce around AI-native capabilities from the ground up.
Source: TechCrunch