My car came with more USB ports than I thought I would need, and it's understandable to ignore any that don't charge your phone. But you can do a lot more with your ports than just charge a battery. Once you have a cable that works and isn’t useless, you can use those same ports to do a lot more to your car.

General Motors is expanding its presence in the Seattle region with a new downtown office slated to open in early 2027.

The automotive giant signed a lease for a 43,000-square-foot space at West8 in the Denny Triangle neighborhood, with plans to bring together employees across digital products, autonomous vehicles, IT, HR, and marketing, the company announced Wednesday.

GM currently employs about 200 remote workers in the region. A spokesperson said the new office will bring those existing team members together while providing room to recruit additional talent. The layout will feature a mix of traditional workstations, flexible lounge seating, and collaborative huddle spaces.

When the office opens, it will follow GM’s hybrid work policy, requiring employees living within a 50-mile radius to work on-site three days a week.

GM said tapping into Seattle’s deep technology talent pool will help grow its concentration of technical staff and attract engineers specializing in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The company credits its Seattle-area software teams with building the technical foundation behind its on- and off-vehicle platforms.

Located at 2001 8th Ave., the West8 building sits two blocks from Amazon’s headquarters campus and the Spheres. Amenities available to GM staff will include a fitness center, bike storage with showers, an onsite café, outdoor spaces, and covered parking equipped with EV charging stations.

The Seattle footprint adds to GM’s network of major tech hubs outside Michigan, including locations in Austin and the Bay Area.