Listening to music in your car is an easy way to pass long stretches of drive time or sit through bumper-to-bumper traffic.
“The songs from your childhood trigger a memory, or you know, like I said, it might be something that you you sang with your children or your parents sang with you or, or it was, you know, a first date or whatever it might be,” said John Couling, Dolby senior vice president of entertainment. “And, so it's this incredibly connected experience and to be immersed in that in your car is is just emotionally powerful.”
And now Dolby wants to elevate that experience by providing immersive sound of Dolby Atmos in your vehicle.
“We were really excited about was when musicians started to think about Dolby Atmos, and they started to play with the technology and really expand how it could be used for music,” Couling said. “We realized that the car is the place where you listen to music the most.”
Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology that expands past listening to things on the left and right side of your ears. It lets composers place audio so it sounds like its sitting different spaces. It’s used mostly in movies and television, but the company has expanded into different music applications, including nightclubs and concert venues.
“What it does is it allows the creator to create these objects of sound, naturally over 100 of them and place them anywhere around the listener, which is actually just like real life,” he explained. “So we're mimicking that in in Dolby Atmos and giving this amazing creative palette and immersive experience.”
As we move towards autonomous driving, we’re going to need more things to entertain us on the road. But even before self-driving cars are widely adopted, people can still enjoy an enhanced listening experience, Couling said. While cars like the Mercedes Maybach, as well as select Volvo, Polestar and Nio models are being equipped with speaker systems made for Dolby Atmos, streaming platforms like Apple Music are offering subscribers the option to listen to tracks with this mix. The goal is to let anyone -- and any car -- have this.
“This wasn't about he technical savvy lead or or a set of people who had the most money, we wanted the technology and an experience that everybody could access,” Couling said.
Still, if you want that live performance aspect, brands like The Singing Machine Company are creating karaoke machines … for your car. The company, which has been making karaoke machines for 40 years, is partnering with manufacturers to install its karaoke systems into infotainment systems.
“People are singing at home, at bars, singing the shower and people singing their cars, right?” said Chris Pacheco, The Singing Machine Company director of product. “We decided to take on the car endeavor before we took on the shower endeavor.”
The words appear on your car screen, while a wireless mic allows passengers to participate. A digital songbook provides thousands of options. Don’t worry the mic comes equipped with bells and whistles like autotune and pitch correcting.
“If you're running a little higher or coming in a little low it can get you to where you need to be to hit that note,” Pacheco said. “It's got great echo and reverb effects, choir and harmonizing. So you sound like you've got the like a full quartet singing along with you.”
So feel free to belt your favorite tune.
“It makes it so much more fun to sing knowing that you're singing them and sounding the best you possibly can do,” he said.
Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
The Islamic State group and other militant organizations are experimenting with artificial intelligence as a tool to boost recruitment and refine their operations. National security experts say that just as businesses, governments and individuals have embraced AI, extremist groups also will look to harness the power of AI. That means aiming to improve their cyberattacks, breaking into sensitive networks and creating deepfakes that spread confusion and fear. Leaders in Washington have responded with calls to investigate how militant groups are using AI and seek ways to encourage tech companies to share more about how their products are being potentially misused.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to block states from regulating artificial intelligence. He argues that heavy regulations could stifle the industry, especially given competition from China. Trump says the U.S. needs a unified approach to AI regulation to avoid complications from state-by-state rules. The order directs the administration to draw up a list of problematic regulations for the Attorney General to challenge. States with laws could lose access to broadband funding, according to the text of the order. Some states have already passed AI laws focusing on transparency and limiting data collection.
Waymo's self-driving taxis have been in the spotlight for both negative and positive reasons. This week, the automated ride-hailing taxis went viral after a San Francisco woman gave birth inside a Waymo taxi while on her way to the hospital. A Waymo spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed the unusual delivery. It said the company's rider support team detected unusual activity inside the vehicle and alerted 911. The taxi arrived safely at the hospital before emergency services. Waymo's popularity is growing despite heightened scrutiny following an illegal U-turn and the death of a San Francisco cat. The company, owned by Alphabet, says it is proud to serve riders of all ages.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
