General Motors Eyes AI for Vehicle Inspections

General Motors is looking into using artificial intelligence — AI — as part of its vehicle-inspection process.

GM has made an investment in Israeli startup UVeye, a company that makes vehicle diagnostic systems.

The diagnostic systems use AI and sensors to identify broken parts or issues that require maintenance. GM Ventures, which is the automaker’s venture fund, made the investment.

This isn’t the first AI-focused startup GM ventures has invested in. The amount hasn’t been disclosed.

GM will sell UVeye’s tech to its dealers, so that they can use it to improve their vehicle-inspection systems. In fact, the tech is already being used on a trial basis at a few stores.

In addition, GM and UVeye will work together to use the tech for other projects that revolve around vehicle inspections — fleet operations and used-car auctions, for example.

Pictures show a system that uses a large piece of machinery — the sourced link from The Verge compares it to airport body scanners — that scans the car and produces a report showing what’s wrong. Supposedly, it can drill down to small details like tire pressure, and it takes just a few minutes to produce the report.

AI, high-definition cameras, and machine learning work together to inspect the car and find damage, defects, or missing parts.

The system will eventually be made available to 4,000 dealerships across the country, according to GM. UVeye already has a deal with an unnamed “major automotive retail management system” used by 15,000 American dealerships.

UVeye also closed $60 million in series C funding from a group of investors including CarMax last year.

[Image: UVeye]