General Motors lays off hundreds from its technology team as the company says it is looking for engineers who can ...

General Motors (GM) has laid off more than 600 salaried employees from its IT division as the automaker accelerates a broader shift toward AI-focused hiring, underscoring how large companies are beginning to rebuild teams around artificial intelligence rather than simply adding AI tools to existing workflows. The layoffs, first reported by Bloomberg and later confirmed by TechCrunch, affect more than 10% of GM’s IT workforce. But the cuts are not purely about reducing costs or shrinking headcount. Instead, the company appears to be carrying out what industry insiders increasingly describe as a “skills swap” — replacing workers tied to traditional software and IT functions with specialists focused on AI systems and infrastructure.In a statement to TechCrunch, GM said it that it was transforming its Information Technology organisation to better position the company for the future. "GM is transforming its Information Technology organization to better position the company for the future,” the company said.According to a person familiar with the matter, GM is actively hiring for roles tied to AI-native development, data engineering and analytics, cloud-based infrastructure, model and agent development, prompt engineering, and AI-driven workflows.In practical terms, GM is looking for engineers who can build AI systems from the ground up — designing models, workflows and automation pipelines — rather than employees who simply know how to use generative AI tools to improve productivity.The company’s hiring priorities are keeping in the trend where businesses are increasingly searching for employees who can develop and deploy AI systems internally instead of relying only on third-party software. AI adoption is no longer just about adding chatbots or copilots. Increasingly, companies are redesigning teams and hiring priorities around people capable of building AI systems at scale.The layoffs are part of a broader restructuring effort that has been unfolding at GM for more than a year. In August 2024, the company cut around 1,000 software jobs as it redirected resources toward quality improvements and AI initiatives.The transformation appears closely linked to the arrival of Sterling Anderson, Aurora co-founder and autonomous vehicle veteran, who joined GM in 2025 as chief product officer. Since then, GM’s software and AI leadership has undergone major churn, including the departure of several senior executives overseeing software services and AI operations.At the same time, the automaker has brought in new AI-focused talent. Former Apple engineer Behrad Toghi joined as AI lead, while former Cruise executive Rashed Haq was appointed vice president of autonomous vehicles.