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After years of promises that driverless cars were just over the horizon, one of the industry's biggest players is headed for the freeway. Now, for the first time, Alphabet’s Waymo is allowing robotaxis to take its employees on high-speed roads in Phoenix, Arizona without a human driver. The move comes just as the industry is facing a harsh reality after high-profile crashes: GM’s Cruise had its permits to operate driverless robotaxis pulled by the California DMV, and Waymo issued its first-ever recall after two of its cars collided with a pickup truck being towed. WSJ reporter Meghan Bobrowsky discusses what this could mean for the future of self-driving cars and where the industry is heading.

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Further reading:

Self-Driving Cars Enter the Next Frontier: Freeways

Self-Driving Car Company Waymo Issues First-Ever Recall After Two Phoenix Crashes 

GM’s Cruise Says U.S. Is Investigating Driverless Car’s Collision With Pedestrian 

​​America’s Most Tech-Forward City Has Doubts About Self-Driving Cars 

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Imagine driving down a road that recharges your electric car as it moves. Companies around the world are experimenting with new technology that can wirelessly charge EVs while they drive, thanks to copper coils buried beneath the asphalt. It could mean less time spent plugging in at slow chargers, no need for heavy, expensive lithium-ion batteries and wave goodbye to range anxiety. WSJ’s Danny Lewis reports on what it would take for this tech to hit the road, and how it could change the way we refuel our vehicles.

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Further reading:

These Companies Want to Charge Your Electric Vehicle as You Drive 

No More Charging Stops? We Take a Road Trip in an Ultralong-Range EV 

The Big Year for EVs Gets Off to a Bumpy Start 

Electric Cars and Driving Range: Here’s What to Know About EV Range 

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In recent months, an Alaska Airlines jet lost a door plug mid-flight, and a Japan Airlines plane collided with another aircraft at an airport in Tokyo. Accidents like these are uncommon, but they could help engineers design safer airplanes. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University associate professor Anthony Brickhouse tells WSJ’s Danny Lewis how advanced materials and computer systems could bring flight into a safer future, while making sure human pilots are still part of the equation.

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Further reading:

How Safe Is Flying Today? Answering Your Questions 

Boeing 737 MAX Missing Critical Bolts in Alaska Airlines Blowout, NTSB Says 

Boeing Finds New Problem With 737 MAX Fuselages 

Inside a Flaming Jet, 367 Passengers Had Minutes to Flee. Here’s How They Did It. 

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Is it an earworm or an icon? The Super Mario Bros. theme is the soundtrack to many childhoods and has remained resonant today. Recently inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry, the song was not easy to write. Video game composer Koji Kondo faced musical and technical challenges in creating the song. Columnist Ben Cohen talks to New England Conservatory musicologist Andrew Schartmann about how Kondo created this lasting and genre-changing piece of music.

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Further reading:

The Mind Behind the Music You Can't Get Out of Your Head 

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AI has brought new challenges for corporate executives in managing their workforces and supply chains. Flex CEO Revathi Advaithi tells WSJ reporter Emily Glazer how she is adjusting to uncertainty and gives her outlook on the future of the workplace and manufacturing. This conversation was recorded at WSJ’s CEO Council Summit on December 12, 2023. 

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Further reading:

Leading in Uncertain Times 

Sam Altman Seeks Trillions of Dollars to Reshape Business of Chips and AI 

Logistics-Tech Startups Face Uncertain Future as Freight Slump Continues 

The Do’s and Don’ts of Using Generative AI in the Workplace 

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Badge swipes and passwords are cornerstones of security in the modern workplace. But in a world where security is increasingly tied to biometrics and personal devices, your face or fingerprint may soon become the key to workplace security. While biometrics could provide better protection for sensitive information than an easily forgettable password, what are the privacy risks of biometric tech going mainstream? WSJ’s Danny Lewis explores the future of biometric security at work, and whether it could even go beyond face scans and fingerprints.

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Further reading:

Your Face Is Your Ticket: A Creepy Convenience 

Apple Makes Security Changes to Protect Users From iPhone Thefts 

Rite Aid Banned From Using AI Facial Recognition in FTC Settlement 

What Is the Future of Identity Verification? 

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Will the human resources department be replaced by robots? Not quite, but the use of generative artificial intelligence in HR is on the rise. WSJ reporter Chip Cutter tells us how companies are incorporating AI tools internally and what might change in the future. Plus, we hear from Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code and Moms First, who recently introduced paidleave.ai, a free AI-powered chatbot designed to help workers navigate paid family leave benefits. Saujani tells WSJ’s Charlotte Gartenberg about what she sees as the potential risks and benefits of AI in the workplace.

What do you think about the show? Let us know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or email us: [email protected] 

Further reading: 

New York City Passed an AI Hiring Law. So Far, Few Companies Are Following It. 

How AI Will Change the Workplace 

HR Departments Turn to AI-Enabled Recruiting in Race for Talent 

The Do's and Don'ts of Using Generative AI in the Workplace

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Nvidia's Jensen Huang is Silicon Valley's longest tenured CEO, and his company recently joined the trillion dollar club. But if he knew at the start what he knows now, would he do it all again? WSJ Science of Success columnist Ben Cohen explains Huang’s approach to success and what that might mean for tomorrow's entrepreneurs.

What do you think about the show? Let us know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or e mail us: [email protected] 

Further reading: 

He Built a Trillion-Dollar Company. He Wouldn’t Do It Again. 

Tech’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ Stocks Are Back on Top 

Markets Analysis: Nvidia Stock Jumps to Record High 

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Fake images are already turning heads online, and Hany Farid, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, says we’re only going to see more of it. Farid specializes in image analysis and digital forensics. He tells WSJ’s Alex Ossola why it’s so easy to use generative AI to create convincing fake images, and why it could cause problems in the future. Plus, he discusses the potential tech solutions that will help us decipher whether an image or video we’re seeing online is too good to be true. 

What do you think about the show? Let us know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or email us: [email protected] 

Further reading: 

Real or AI? The Tech Giants Racing to Stop the Spread of Fake Images 

Reality Is Broken. We Have AI Photos to Blame. 

A New Way to​ Tell Deepfakes From Real Photos: Can It Work? 

AI-Created Images Are So Good Even AI Has Trouble Spotting Some 

Sharing Fake Nude Images Could Become a Federal Crime Under Proposed Law 

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AI voice assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa have become part of our everyday lives. But for people with atypical voices, including those with conditions like Parkinson’s disease and muscular dystrophy, these tools can be frustrating to use. Now a number of big tech companies including Amazon and Google, as well as research organizations are coming up with ways to make them more useful. What will it take to create voice assistants that work for everyone right out of the box? 

What do you think about the show? Let us know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or email us: [email protected] 

Further reading:

Tech Firms Train Voice Assistants to Understand Atypical Speech 

Amazon Makes Alexa Chattier and More Capable Using Generative AI  

Alexa, Siri, Cortana: Why All Your Bots Are Female   

Deep Speech: Scaling up end-to-end speech recognition (2014, arXiv)  

Librispeech: An ASR corpus based on public domain audio books (2015, IEEE International Conference)  

Speech Accessibility Project from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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