Sam is back from CES and he says that while more companies are featuring technology for cars, it is by no means a huge car show. That’s the domain of the Detroit Auto Show. But Sam says that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t some cool car tech there. Alexa for Auto is becominng a thing. Sam says that cars are becoming far more computerized. Chips have been in cars since the 70s, but most cars now have about 75-100 separate computers built into them. We’re starting to see a trend towards fewer, more powerful computers that will run your car for you.

That leads to the issue of security in your car. The more connected your car is, the more a risk for your car to get hacked. Sam says that in many ways, Tesla has the advantage because it didn’t have to contend with legacy controllers and computers that have been in a design for years. They just built a main, centralized computer that manages the entire system, and gives you the option of resetting different systems without affecting the others. Do they have an operating system? Not really. They’re more dedicated chips that just run an command. But Linux is coming into cars now.