DETROIT – General Motors Corp. says the former chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc. will become the chairman of the reorganized automaker later this summer.

Edward Whitacre Jr., 67, will replace Kent Kresa, but Kresa will remain GM's interim chairman until the automaker emerges from bankruptcy protection as a new entity majority owned by the U.S. government.

GM is in operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it seeks to reorganize and shed unwanted assets.