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Remember when cars were just . . . cars? You turned a key, explosions happened under the hood, and wheels turned. It was simple. It was glorious. Well, kiss those days goodbye. The automotive industry is currently obsessed with turning cars into what they call “software-defined vehicles.” Thats corporate-speak for “a very expensive computer that you sit inside of.” We arent just talking about a slightly slicker touchscreen for your Spotify playlist. This involves massive onboard processors and cloud connectivity that will fundamentally change how your car operates. Is it terrifying? A little bit, especially if you work in cybersecurity and obsess about the possibility of things going awry. Is it cool? Yeah, actually. Heres a look at the AI features that youll soon find standard. Smarter, more proactive voice assistants Let’s be real: Current in-car voice recognition is trash. You shout a command, wait five seconds, and then the car dials your ex-girlfriend instead of turning down the heat. Thanks to the explosion of generative AI, automaker dashboards are getting a brain transplant. According to IBM, Mercedes-Benz has already integrated ChatGPT into more than 900,000 vehicles as part of a beta program to offer advanced, personalized voice interactions. Were moving past rigid, robotic commands. Soon, you wont have to speak like a computer to get the computer to understand you. Rather than having to stick to the very specific “Set driver zone temperature to 70 degrees,” youll just groan, “Ugh, I’m freezing.” The AI will figure out who said it and where theyre sitting, and adjust the heat and heated seats. Cars that (actually) know how to drive We already have lane-keeping assist, which mostly serves to ping-pong you between the lines while yelling at you to put your hands back on the wheel. The next generation of driver assistance is ditching the hard-coded rulebooks written by stressed-out engineers. Instead, theyre using “end-to-end neural networks.” According to EV magazine, systems like Tesla’s Full Self-Driving architecture rely on an end-to-end neural network that takes a raw camera feed and directly translates it into steering and braking, mimicking natural human driving rather than following a rigid flowchart. These technologies are also getting “Predator” vision. New AI vision systems will use thermal sensing to spot pedestrians in pitch-black conditions or predict where a cyclist is going, even if they’re momentarily hidden behind a parked truck. A more helpful check-engine light Is there anything more useless and anxiety-inducing than the vague orange glow of a “check engine” light? It could mean your gas cap is loose. It could mean your transmission is about to eject itself onto the highway. You never know. Artificial intelligence is about to fix that. According to predictive maintenance platforms like iMaintain, AI systems don’t just flag a check-engine light; they use data from hundreds of sensors to forecast failures before they strike. Instead of breaking down on the side of the road, your car will ping your phone a month early: “Hey, my left-rear brake pad is looking iffy. I went ahead and ordered the part from your local dealer. Want to schedule an appointment for next Tuesday?” It will know it’s getting sick before it shows symptoms. Progress towards a cure for range anxiety If you drive an electric vehicle, you know the “range anxiety” sweat. The dashboard says you have 200 miles, but does it really know how steep that upcoming mountain pass is or how heavy your right foot is today? New AI algorithms will. According to EV data firms like Intangles, machine-learning solutions that factor in weather, traffic, and your personal driving style can now deliver range prediction accuracies of up to 96%. Furthermore, because the car knows your route, it knows when youre heading to a fast charger. According to battery management experts at Midtronics, predictive algorithms can automatically pre-condition the thermal state of the battery pack so its at the exact optimal temperature to accept a massive charge the second you plug in. Your car is watching you (for your own good) This is the feature that feels the most sci-fi. The interior of the car is becoming highly reactive to you. Using inward-facing camerasagain, slightly creepy from a privacy standpoint, but stay with me AI will monitor your eye movements, posture, and facial expressions. According to automotive AI company Affectiva, next-generation driver state monitoring analyzes both the face and voice to detect physical distraction, mental distraction, and drowsiness. If it notices you nodding off on a long highway drive, it won’t just beep. Affectiva notes that the system can automatically lower the cabin temperature, increase the radio volume, or tighten your seat belt to jolt you awake. It’s basically an onboard assistant that makes sure you don’t crash because you were too stubborn to stop for coffee.
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E-Commerce
A few presenters at this years Oscars made jokes at Donald Trumps expense, without ever mentioning him by name. The real rebuke to the president, howeverand to some other aspects of our current momentcame from genuine displays of humility in the winners speeches. Although an actors livelihood literally depends on faking emotions, most of last nights winners appeared truly humbled by their victory, and grateful to those who helped them achieve it. Taken together over the 3.5-hour broadcast, they created a perfect contrast to a government and tech sector whose gauche displays of dominance feel as unwelcome as they are unearned. Trumps grotesquely narcissistic self-regard may have been more jarring back when he first became president. He seemed to embody every quality that parents tend to dissuade their children from adoptingconstantly boasting about his own qualities and accomplishments, real or imagined. In 2026, the consequences and limits of his notorious, self-aggrandizing vanity are now on shameful display for the entire world. After recklessly rushing into war with Iran, and declaring victory at every shaky turn, he is trying desperately to strongarm allies into joining his conquest, rather than even attempting to entreat or inspire them. Paul Thomas Anderson backstage during the live 98th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 15, 2026. [Photo: Etienne Laurent / The Academy] Beyond this administration, the AI industry is similarly dripping with arrogance. The executives pushing the techs inherent utility in every aspect of modern life seem to have never considered, for instance, polling that shows widespread deep reservations about it. Instead, they plow forward, with an air of gruesome inevitability, dragging the hesitant masses along whether they like it or not. Given that nihilistic egotism is now as common as the data-center-polluted air we breathe, it was refreshing this week to see a class of Oscar winners with such clearly articulated appreciation of community, legacy, and the fact that pride should ideally be deserved and respectful. Autumn Durald Arkapaw accepts the Oscar for Cinematography during the 98th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026. [Photo: Etienne Laurent / The Academy] In it together You make a guy work hard for one of these, One Battle After Another director Paul Thomas Anderson said upon winning an award for Best Director, his second Oscar of the night. (He would ultimately accept a third, for Best Picture.) That line referred to Andersons prior dearth of Oscars, despite having been an acclaimed director and recurring nominee for the past 30 years. Apart from making one mild joke about the long, strange path to victory, though, Andersons speeches emphasized his gratitude, with his strained voice and constant fidgeting suggesting he wasnt just paying lip service. In contrast with a certain someone who forever grumbles about not getting a Nobel Peace Prize, he betrayed zero bitterness about being passed over in the past. Elsewhere, he stressed the community aspect of filmmaking. Anderson recognized all of his collaborators, ceding the spotlight to his producer, Sarah Murphy, to make a speech after winning Best Picture together. He was especially a class act, though, when it came to his competitors, whom he counted as worthy peers. During his acceptance speech for that final award, Anderson used a moment in movie history to laud the directors hed just beaten out for it, waving away his own films supposed superiority. I just want to say that in 1975, the Oscar nominees for best picture were Dog Day Afternoon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jaws, Nashville, and Barry Lyndon, the filmmaker said. There is no best among them. There is just what the mood might be that day. ZHUN, EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, and NHD pose backstage with the Oscar for Original Song during the live ABC Telecast of the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026. [Photo: Etienne Laurent / The Academy] What we owe history Another first-time winner, Michael B. Jordan, was similarly magnanimous when accepting a Best Actor award for his performance in Sinners, the nights other front runner. He thanked his parents, his collagues, the executives who green lit the movie, the audiences who loved it, and the voters who voted for it. But he also placed himself humbly as the inheritor of a legacy. Michael B. Jordan backstage during the live 98th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 15, 2026. [Photo: Etienne Laurent / The Academy] I stand here because of the people that came before me, Jordan said, before listing six prominent Black actors who had previously won Oscars. To be up amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guysthank you to everybody in this room for supporting me in my career. While Jordan appeared touched at becoming part of that cinematic lineage, Autumn Durald Arkapaw reflected the honor of starting a new one. Earlier in the night, the Sinners cinematographer became the first woman ever to win in that categoryand made the victory about something bigger than herself. During her acceptance speech, Arkapaw asked every woman in the audience to stand up, because I feel like I don’t get here without you guys. Needless to say, they largely complied. Compare this groundbreaking winners appreciation of her place in history with that of, say, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who recently boasted of having zero introspection because, Ive found that people who dwell on the past get stuck in the past. All the wrong people have impostor syndrome In an era when the people who might benefit most from a crisis of confidence never seem to have one, its nice to see public figures celebrate themselves appropriately. Perhaps the prime example at this years Oscars was K-pop star EJAE, one of the artists behind Best Original Song winner, Golden. Despite the tracks enormous success prior to the Oscarsif youre the parent of a young child, you probably hum this tune in your sleepthe songwriter looked shocked into utter disbelief as she slowly glided to the stage. Once she arrived there, however, as the enormity of her achievement seemed to sink in, she began to exult in her triumph. But modestly so. Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, she said through tears, but now everyone’s singing our song and all the Korean lyrics. I’m so proud! As if humility werent sufficiently on display at the Oscars, it seems worth noting that one of the least humble nominees did not win. Timothée Chalamet, who has been upfront throughout this awards season about his desire to be recognized as one of the greats, walked away without an Oscar for his performance in Marty Supremedespite having been considered a mortal lock for the award earlier in the Oscar race. Who said theres no such thing as a Hollywood ending? One of the main functions of movies is to offer escapism, a chance for viewers to nope out of their own lives for a while and visit another world. Last nights Oscars broadcast did the same thing, in its own way. The winners offered viewers a brief but glorious escape from a moment in time when arrogance is rewarded and humility is for suckers.
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E-Commerce
A new research note just named Waymo the Kool-Aid man of the ride-haling economy. And it might leave Uber, Lyft, and Tesla playing catchup. The study, published on March 16 by Wall Street research firm MoffettNathanson, is a 21-page exploration into how Alphabet’s self-driving car company is poised to disrupt the existing ride-sharing landscape as it continues to aggressively scale. Waymos incursion into the U.S. rideshare narrative reminds us of the Kool-Aid commercials from our childhood, the analysis begins. The Kool-Aid man kicks down walls, causes havoc, screams oh yeah, and runs off into the next scene. In the case of Waymo, it continues, theyre kicking down the walls of an entrenched industry, wreaking terror on the multiples, and then running off to the next city announcement. The analysts demonstrate that Waymo has amassed a major head start against other players in the autonomous vehicle (AV) space, and is beginning to pose a competitive threat to Uber and Lyft, which currently corner the market on ride-haling in the United States. Meanwhile, the researchers argue, Waymos expansion in multiple major cities is leaving Teslas self-driving efforts in the dust, casting doubt on whether Elon Musk’s EV company will ever be able to compete in an industry its been desperate to enter. Whats next for Waymo? Waymo had a big year in 2025, and MoffettNathansons researchers believe that the companys upward trajectory is only getting started. In early 2025, Waymo was fully operational in five U.S. cities. By early 2026, the company had expanded its reach to active operations in 10 U.S. cities and was testing its services in at least 19 other locations. According to MoffettNathansons analysis, the company expanded its total share of the ride-hailing economy from 0.2% to 0.8% over the course of 2025, reaching a total of 450,000 weekly rides by the end of the year. While those numbers are still relatively small, they forecast an upcoming shift in the industry as driverless tech expands. MoffettNathanson predicts that Waymos total rides will grow by over 100% in 2026 to 34 million, in line with the companys stated goal to end 2025 with a rate of 1 million trips per week. If those estimates prove accurate, Waymo could snag 1.2% of the rideshare market by the end of 2026 and 4% by the end of 2028an outlook that MoffettNathansons analysts say they do not consider to be overly optimistic. What this means for Uber and Lyft Waymos projected expansion leaves competitors like Uber and Lyft in a bit of a tricky position. Waymo and Uber have partnered together to bring Waymos robo-taxi services to Austin, Atlanta, and Phoenix. MoffettNathanson notes that the partnership has been promising, but the researchers said “we would be surprised” if it were to keep expanding, given Waymo’s head start in self-driving and its success in San Francisco. Essentially, Waymo is in a unique position as one of the only current players in the AV industry that’s scaling broadly (aside, perhaps, from Amazon’s Zoox, which is growing on a much smaller scale), leaving Uber with limited chips to bargain with. Further, MoffettNathansons analysis notes that Waymo announced its plans to independently test in new locations. Where Tesla stands in the AV race Meanwhile, MoffettNathanson’s analysis essentially writes Tesla out of the AV ride-share competition. Tesla first launched its own robotaxi services in Austin in June 2025 and in the San Francisco Bay Area in July. For years, CEO Elon Musk has been touting the companys autonomous driving goals as an inevitable futureand those goals became even more important to the company amidst a catastrophically difficult year for Tesla in 2025 and Waymos expanding success in the market. However, as Fast Company has reported, Teslas robo-taxi aspirations currently seem more like a pipe dream than a reality. Whereas Waymo operates driverless vehicles in multiple major cities, almost all of Teslas first robo-taxis launched with human drivers at the wheel, presumably as an added safety measure. We acknowledge the potential of the companys [full self-driving] technology, but until Tesla is consistently operating at scale without a human in the car and without accident rates above humans, we believe robotaxis market share impact will be limited, MoffettNathansons analysis reads.
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E-Commerce
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