GM Wants Its AI To Drag Race For You

It seems General Motors wants to give owners of its vehicles every possible advantage at the drag strip. Rather than leaving it up to owners to perfectly time a drag strip's Christmas tree, a new GM patent describes a system that can automatically launch a car off the line as soon as the lights turn green. If the system works as described, Chevy owners may never again have to explain to their Ford rivals that a slow launch was the reason they lost a race.

GM filed a patent for its launch control assistant in January 2025 and was granted the patent earlier this month. The system uses front-facing cameras to detect the iconic Christmas tree lights at a drag strip. When the cameras notice these iconic red, orange, and green lights, it'll tell the driver to activate launch control.

Like in pretty much any car, the driver will do this by stomping on the brake pedal and then flooring the accelerator. The car's onboard systems then take over. Rather than requiring the driver to keep both pedals floored and then lift off the brake the moment the light turns green, GM's system does all the work for them and builds torque in the engine while keeping the brakes slammed in position.

Trick onboard software will quickly determine the sequence of the yellow lights and release brake pressure the moment the green light appears. In addition, the patent has the ability to automatically detect different drag light designs that illuminate the lights at unique intervals, ensuring the driver gets the best possible launch regardless of the drag strip and the location. It's unclear when the driver will have to get back on the throttle or if the car can keep the accelerator pinned all the way down the quarter-mile.

Car manufacturers routinely patent intriguing systems and technologies. Some of them hit the market, while others are too far-fetched and never see the light of day. GM's latest patent sounds quite achievable, and we're sure it'd be well-received by many performance car enthusiasts. On the flip side, drag racing traditionalists may not feel particularly keen about handing over the control of their car to its onboard systems.

It also wouldn't be very fair to race a car with a system like this against one where the driver is in full control. It takes a lot of experience to minimize reaction times at the drag strip and pull away at the exact right moment. One of the key tricks to get the perfect launch isn't to wait for the green light to appear before getting off the line. Instead, experienced drag racers anticipate the amber lights and often launch when the final amber light appears. By the time their eyes notice the amber light and their feet lift off the brakes and hit the throttle, the green light has flashed up. One could argue modern launch control systems are already a form of cheating, and GM's even more advanced system takes this to a new level.

USPTO