GM's AI/ML slashes development time from 15 hours to one minute
Sterling Anderson, former chief product officer of Aurora and now CPO at General Motors, describes how AI and machine learning are transforming the automaker's engineering and design processes. He characterizes this shift as the third epoch of engineering, moving beyond empirical iterative design. Anderson joined GM over a year ago after cofounding Aurora in 2016 and working at Tesla. He contrasts the old approach of slow guess-and-check with AI/ML's ability to simulate and optimize designs in minutes.
Key facts
- Sterling Anderson is chief product officer at General Motors.
- He previously cofounded Aurora in 2016 and worked at Tesla.
- Anderson joined GM just over a year ago.
- He describes three epochs of engineering: biomimicry, empirical iteration, and AI/ML-driven design.
- AI/ML reduces simulation time from 15 hours to one minute.
- The article is from Ars Technica, dated June 2026.
- GM is the largest automaker in the US.
Entities
Institutions
- Aurora
- General Motors
- Tesla
- Ars Technica