Stay up-to-date with the latest in tech! We’ve got you covered with this week’s top headlines, featuring news from Rivian, Mattel, and more. Read on to discover what’s new!
Uber Launches “One Less Car” Trial
Feeling bogged down by traffic? Uber has a solution for you. The ridehailing company announced the “One Less Car” trial, inviting 175 participants in the US and Canada to ditch their cars for five weeks in exchange for cash and travel credits. The aim is to highlight the high costs of personal car ownership and its impact on our health and cities. Participants will receive $1,000 in Uber Cash and vouchers for various transportation modes, and a free one-month Uber One membership. This trial will take place from July 22nd to August 25th in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Toronto.
Rivian’s Busy Year: New Vehicles and a Major Partnership
Distracted by Rivian’s $5 billion deal with Volkswagen to develop software and electric vehicles, many overlooked the company’s upcoming investor day event on June 27th. Rivian surprised shareholders with shroud-covered mystery vehicles, evoking comparisons to Tesla’s tactics. 2024 has already been eventful for Rivian, with the introduction of the affordable R2, the unexpected R3 and R3X, and the launch of second-generation R1T and R1S vehicles. Now, Rivian teases five new vehicles, hinting at a bold strategy to stay relevant amid rising costs and cooling EV demand.
YouTube Seeks to Clone More Musicians with AI
After introducing a generative AI feature last year that creates music in the style of artists like Charli XCX and John Legend, YouTube is now negotiating with major record labels to clone more musicians. The Google-owned platform is offering lump sums to Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Records for licensing their songs to legally train its AI music tools. While not expanding its Dream Track feature, YouTube aims to license music from dozens of artists to develop new AI tools launching later this year. This move comes amid ongoing legal battles and industry concerns over unauthorized AI use of music content.
Google Translate Adds 110 New Languages
Google announced on Thursday that it is adding support for 110 new languages to Google Translate. This change significantly expands the service from its previous 133 languages. This major update, facilitated by Google’s PaLM 2 AI language model, excelled at learning related languages, such as those close to Hindi and various French Creoles. Among the newly supported languages is Cantonese, a highly requested addition due to its complex overlap with Mandarin in writing. Approximately a quarter of the new languages come from Africa, and most are spoken by at least one million people.
Mattel Enhances Game Accessibility for Colorblind Players
Mattel announced that 80% of its gaming portfolio will be accessible to those with color vision deficiency by the end of the year. Uno cards will feature symbols to distinguish colors, while Blokus tiles will have unique 3D patterns. Games like Tumblin’ Monkeys and KerPlunk will also include 3D details for color differentiation. This initiative extends to mobile app versions of their card games, adding colorblind identification symbols.