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Meet the Battery Startup Taking on China's Giants

WIRED

Solid-state batteries are safer and more capable--but harder to mass-produce. They also represent an opportunity for non-Chinese companies to get back in the game. The field of lithium batteries is currently dominated by Chinese companies like BYD and CATL. Not only do they sell the majority of batteries that go into electric vehicles and energy storage projects worldwide, they're also opening up new factories in your backyard . When companies outside China try to compete, like Europe's Northvolt, they quickly realize how hard it is .


People Used to Control Machines. They Don't Anymore

WIRED

People Used to Control Machines. In a world regulated by devices, humanity has become disconnected from the physical world--from stick-shift cars to postcards. If gratification is so easy, why don't you feel more gratified already? It's still easy to experience individual feats of gratification when you find them (or they find you). But the ordinary circumstances that once produced so much gratification have gradually receded. Unseen choices in design, business, and social life have made it harder for you to engage directly with the sensory world.


Can China repeat its EV success with robotaxis?

BBC News

Can China repeat its EV success with robotaxis? In Beijing's Yizhuang district, driverless vehicles have become a common sight. Robotaxis weave through traffic alongside ordinary cars, while autonomous delivery vans glide along the inside lane as they carry packages to collection points. The district has become one of China's testing grounds for autonomous driving, with companies including Baidu, WeRide and Pony.ai operating commercial robotaxi services within designated areas. Booking a ride requires little more than opening an app.


Tesla expands robotaxi service to small section of Miami

Engadget

The company's robotaxi roadmap mentions future expansions to Orlando and Tampa. Miami residents are getting another option for autonomous taxi services, at least for those who live in a specific portion of the Floridian city. As posted on X, Tesla has expanded its Robotaxi service to a small section of West Miami. Like we saw with the robotaxi rollout for Dallas and Houston earlier this year, Tesla is limiting its initial Miami availability to outside of the busy downtown. However, customers were already seen riding in unsupervised Tesla robotaxis in videos circulating on X .


Tesla sales surpass expectations for second quarter as Musk backlash seems to cool

The Guardian

Tesla vehicles and super chargers are shown at a Tesla dealership in Buena Park, California, on 28 January 2026. Tesla vehicles and super chargers are shown at a Tesla dealership in Buena Park, California, on 28 January 2026. Strong figures suggest Tesla's auto business is regaining momentum after two straight annual sales declines Tesla blew past Wall Street estimates for second-quarter deliveries on Thursday, posting a record for the period as recovering demand in Europe outweighed persistent weakness in North America. The strong figures suggest Tesla's mainstay auto business is regaining momentum after two straight annual sales declines, providing the spending cushion needed to power its ambitions in autonomous driving and artificial intelligence - the main drivers of the company's roughly $1.6tn valuation. Tesla expects to spend more than $25bn on capital expenditure in 2026, nearly triple the $8.5bn last year, to expand AI infrastructure, battery production, Cybercab manufacturing and Optimus robots.


The Home Depot 4th of July Lawn Mower Sale: 67 Mowers Discounted, Including 700 Off Robot Models

Popular Science

Battery, gas, and robotic mowers are on sale, from a $179 corded push mower to RTK robots that cut the lawn for you. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. All kinds of mowers are on sale. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .


An Explosion Knocked Out Anduril's Rocket Motor Test Site in Mississippi

WIRED

The incident could disrupt a key part of the defense company's rocket motor business, which designs and tests prototype motors for military customers. A rocket motor exploded during a test at an Anduril facility in Mississippi last Friday, marking another setback in the startup's hopes of becoming a major supplier of missile propulsion systems for the defense industry. Anduril publicly confirmed the incident after an inquiry from WIRED. No one was injured in the blast, which damaged Anduril's testing stand, the company's chief operating officer Matt Grimm said in a social media post on Tuesday hours after WIRED contacted the company about the incident. Three people familiar with Anduril's operations, who were granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation, tell WIRED that they can't recall another time when a similar test resulted in an explosion in the past few years, and they were unaware of what may have caused last week's mishap.


LLMs are stuck in a groupthink groove. This startup is trying to get them out.

MIT Technology Review

Let's start with a game. Open up your chatbot of choice--Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini--and type "Give me a random number between 1 and 10." You're going to get 7. Almost always. Now type "Another" and you'll get 3 or 4. Type "Another" again and you'll get 8 or 9. That won't work every time--but if it did for you, you may wonder if I have superpowers.


Return of the 'greybeards': AI backfired – so Ford had to rehire humans

The Guardian

Return of the'greybeards': AI backfired - so Ford had to rehire humans Are ZZ Top back on the road? Who is it about then? That kinda was how the story was going; the company has 5,000 fewer workers than it did in 2020. Recently, though, there's been an unexpected twist. Ooh, I love those, go on.


Ford rehires human engineers after AI fails to match quality checks

BBC News

Ford says it has hired back some human engineers after AI failed to match their skills and experience. In a bid to reap the benefits of the tech, which developers claim can cut costs and boost productivity, the US carmaker adopted it across some parts of its operations including for quality checks. But, according to Bloomberg, external, its executives said the firm has rehired more than 300 veteran quality inspectors in recent years to make up for the pitfalls of automated systems. Artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it's only as good as the information you use to train it, Charles Poon, vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, told reporters. Over prior years, we didn't pay as much attention as we should have to the experience of our most knowledgeable engineers that have been with us through many product cycles, he said.