Lots has happened this past week in the tech world! With Waymo planning to expand to Miami in 2025, Xreal releasing new augmented reality glasses as competition heats up, and more, there’s much to catch up on. So, let’s get started!
Waymo Planning to Expand in 2025
The Alphabet-owned company announced Thursday its plans to hit the streets of Miami. Waymo revealed that it will begin operating in Florida city with human safety drivers in 2025, followed by the launch of its robotaxi service for riders through the Waymo One app in 2026.
This move highlights Waymo’s increasing confidence in deploying its self-driving vehicles in challenging weather conditions across major U.S. metropolitan areas.
Waymo initially began testing in Miami in 2019, using the experience to enhance its vehicles’ tech ability to navigate through wet and rainy conditions.
Xreal Releases New AR Glasses
Xreal unveiled its latest generation of augmented reality (AR) glasses on Wednesday, aiming to stay ahead of competitors like Meta and Snap. Backed by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Xreal is looking to tap into the growing demand for AR wearables.
The new Xreal One Series introduces the X1 chip, the company’s first self-designed processor, which significantly enhances the glasses’ performance and functionality.
With the Xreal One Series, users can connect directly to devices like phones, laptops, or gaming consoles and view their content on a large virtual screen. Unlike the previous generation, which required a companion tech device called the Beam for connections, the new X1 chip eliminates the need for additional hardware.
Jeff Bezos Speaks on President-Elect Donald Trump
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos expressed optimism about President-elect Donald Trump’s administration during The New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Wednesday, anticipating a more business-friendly regulatory environment.
“I’m actually very optimistic this time around,” Bezos remarked on stage. “He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. If I can help with that, I’m going to help him.”
Bezos’ positive outlook comes despite Trump’s history of criticizing the billionaire and his companies, Amazon and The Washington Post. During his first term, Trump accused Bezos of tax avoidance, publishing “fake news,” and contributing to the U.S. Postal Service’s financial challenges through Amazon’s package delivery practices.
Spotify Wrapped 2024 Released to Users
Spotify Wrapped 2024 has officially launched, offering hundreds of millions of users a personalized recap of their most-played songs and artists throughout the year.
The highly anticipated annual feature began rolling out on Wednesday, allowing users to compare their music habits with fans worldwide.
This year, Spotify introduced new AI-powered tech enhancements to elevate the Wrapped experience. Among the additions are personalized AI-generated podcasts that delve into users’ listening histories, powered by Google’s NotebookLM as part of an expanded partnership between the two companies.
Apple Adopts Amazon’s Custom AI Chips
Apple is leveraging Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) custom artificial intelligence chips for tasks like search and is exploring whether AWS’s latest AI chip can be used to pretrain its machine learning models, including those for Apple Intelligence.
At the annual AWS re:Invent conference on Tuesday, Benoit Dupin, Apple’s senior director of machine learning and AI, discussed the company’s reliance on AWS. It marked a rare instance of Apple publicly acknowledging its partnership with a supplier.
