GM Is Adding Its Own Version Of Tesla's Sentry Mode To Cars

GM's new OnStar Connected Cameras sound like a page out of Tesla's tech-focused playbook.

Photo by: General Motors

By: Rob Stumpf

Oct 21, at 2:57pm ET

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GM cars will soon get a camera-based surveillance system similar to Tesla's Sentry Mode.
The system detects events and will upload clips directly to GM's new OnStar app when it launches in 2027.m
Select vehicles will receive the feature via an OTA update.

Modern cars have eyes everywhere: cameras looking forward, backwards, sideways, at blind spots, in the cabin. You name an angle, the car probably sees it. Most of the time, they're meant to serve as a way to avoid clipping a car just out of your mirror's view or nailing a curb in a tight parking spot.

But if they're always watching, why not put them to work? GM announced a new feature that does just that at its GM Forward tech showcase in New York.

The automaker showed off OnStar Connected Cameras, a feature that uses the car's existing cameras to automatically capture important events and make them available to drivers on the upcoming OnStar app. The idea is similar to Tesla's Sentry Mode or Rivian's Gear Guard, though GM's implementation is a little bit different. While Sentry Mode might start recording when someone gets close to your Tesla, OnStar Connected Cameras need a more severe trigger.

Photo by: General Motors

If an incident occurs, the system can save footage from the car's exterior cameras—the same ones that help power Super Cruise and 360-degree parking cameras—to automatically capture important events and save the clips to the OnStar app. Nick Festa, GM's executive director of product management for OnStar, told InsideEVs that the recording will look forward and back about 30 seconds, meaning each clip will have about a minute's worth of context around it.

GM specifically frames the idea around the chaotic moments following an accident where everyone suddenly has a completely different recollection of what happened and a bit of clarity could be the difference that determines who's at-fault for that fender bender.

Festa also confirmed to InsideEVs that the system works when parked. If the vehicle's theft alarm is triggered, Connected Cameras can create a 30-second long event recording.

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Some of GM's cars offer a dashcam view today. For example, the Cadillac Escalade offers the Surround Vision Recorder that can record the SUV's external cameras to a USB drive. OnStar Connected Cameras will offer the full local recordings, plus the uploaded clips that are saved to the OnStar app. The company stressed that its implementation is also privacy-focused, with the clips being end-to-end encrypted. Only the authorized OnStar account holder can choose who, if anyone, they want to share clips with.

Festa said "select" vehicles on the road today will be able to use the feature, including full-size SUVs and Cadillacs. The function will roll out in the new OnStar app, which launches in 2027 and replaces individual Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC apps.