TLDR
- GM laid off around 600 IT workers, more than 10% of its IT department
- The cuts are part of a deliberate shift toward AI-focused roles, not just cost reduction
- GM stock fell 4.45% to $75.29 on May 11
- The company is hiring for AI-native development, data engineering, and model development
- GM has cut white-collar staff across several departments over the past 18 months
GM stock dropped 4.45% to $75.29 on May 11 as the automaker confirmed it had laid off roughly 600 salaried IT employees — more than 10% of its IT workforce.
The cuts were first reported by Bloomberg and later confirmed by GM to TechCrunch.
GM framed the move as a transformation of its IT organization. “GM is transforming its Information Technology organization to better position the company for the future,” the company said in a statement.
This isn’t a straight headcount reduction. A person familiar with the situation told TechCrunch that GM is actively hiring — just for different skill sets.
The roles GM wants filled now are focused on AI-native development, data engineering, cloud-based engineering, model development, agent development, prompt engineering, and new AI workflows.
In short, GM wants people who can build AI systems from scratch — not just use AI as a day-to-day productivity tool.
A Workforce in Transition
This is not GM’s first round of white-collar cuts. In August 2024, the company cut around 1,000 software workers as it narrowed its focus to high-priority projects.
Over the past 18 months, GM has trimmed staff across multiple departments as it redirects resources toward AI and software development.
The pace of change inside GM’s software division picked up after Sterling Anderson joined as chief product officer in May 2025. Anderson co-founded autonomous trucking startup Aurora and has deep roots in the autonomous vehicle world.
He moved quickly to consolidate GM’s fragmented tech businesses into one unit. That push came with exits. Last November, three senior software executives left the company.
Those departures included Baris Cetinok, senior vice president of software and services product management, Dave Richardson, senior vice president of software and services engineering, and Barak Turovsky, who had spent just nine months as GM’s chief AI officer.
New Faces, New Focus
GM has been filling those gaps with AI-specialist hires.
In October, it brought on Behrad Toghi — previously at Apple — as AI lead.
The company also hired Rashed Haq as vice president of autonomous vehicles. Haq spent five years at Cruise, GM’s self-driving subsidiary that was shut down, serving as its head of AI and robotics.
The pattern is consistent: GM is not patching its existing setup. It is rebuilding key parts of its technology team around AI from the ground up.
GM stock closed at $75.29 on May 11, down $3.51 on the day, with after-hours trading showing a further small decline to $75.06.
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