Borrowings - Short-term and long-term borrowings (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions		Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Short-term borrowings
Total short-term borrowings	[1]	$ 942	$ 2,037
Long-term borrowings
Capital leases		103	87
Other long-term borrowings		4	22
Total long-term borrowings		6,285	6,312
Total debt		$ 7,227	$ 8,349
Other long-term borrowings
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Weighted average rate		3.80%	1.90%
Senior Notes | 3.2% Senior Notes due August 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate		3.20%
Weighted average rate		2.50%	2.50%
Long-term borrowings
Long-term borrowings		$ 523	$ 526
Senior Notes | 2.773% Senior Notes due December 2022
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate		2.773%
Weighted average rate		2.90%	2.90%
Long-term borrowings
Long-term borrowings		$ 1,245	$ 1,244
Senior Notes | 3.337% Senior Notes due December 2027
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate		3.337%
Weighted average rate		3.40%	3.40%
Long-term borrowings
Long-term borrowings		$ 1,343	$ 1,342
Senior Notes | 6.875% Notes due January 2029
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate		6.875%
Weighted average rate		3.90%	3.90%
Long-term borrowings
Long-term borrowings		$ 294	$ 308
Senior Notes | 5.125% Notes due September 2040
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate		5.125%
Weighted average rate		4.20%	4.10%
Long-term borrowings
Long-term borrowings		$ 1,306	$ 1,311
Senior Notes | 4.080% Senior Notes due December 2047
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate		4.08%
Weighted average rate		4.10%	4.10%
Long-term borrowings
Long-term borrowings		$ 1,336	$ 1,337
Debentures | 8.55% Debentures due June 2024
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate		8.55%
Weighted average rate		4.10%	3.90%
Long-term borrowings
Long-term borrowings		$ 131	$ 135
Capital leases
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Weighted average rate		5.40%	7.00%
Short-term bank borrowings
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Weighted average rate			12.60%
Short-term borrowings
Short-term borrowings		$ 0	$ 171
Current portion of long-term borrowings
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Weighted average rate			2.10%
Short-term borrowings
Current portion of long-term borrowings		0	$ 639
Short-term borrowings from GE
Short-term borrowings
Short-term borrowings		$ 896	$ 1,124
Other short-term borrowings
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Weighted average rate		9.90%	7.60%
Short-term borrowings
Short-term borrowings		$ 46	$ 103

[1] Total assets include $896 million and $1,124 million of assets held on behalf of GE, of which $747 million and $997 million is cash and cash equivalents and $149 million and $127 million is investment securities at December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, and a corresponding amount of liability is reported in short-term borrowings. See "Note 18. Related Party Transactions" for further details.