Latest news with #2023
Auto Blog
2 hours ago
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
EV Shops Ditch Grease for Tablets: How Auto Repair Shops Are Transforming
Step into a modern auto shop and you'll find technicians poring over live battery data on tablets, calibrating LiDAR sensors with laser precision, and 3D-printing custom brackets on the fly. Gone are the days of grease-stained overalls and guesswork. The U.S. automotive repair and maintenance market was valued at approximately $183.5 billion in 2023, with continued growth projected through 2032. The ADAS calibration service market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.4% from 2025 to 2032, reaching $3.15 billion by 2032. Today's garages have transformed into high-tech labs. Drivers now expect advanced safety checks and electric-vehicle expertise, and the best shops deliver with cloud dashboards, rapid prototyping, and digital diagnostics that keep cars—and their owners—moving confidently into the future. Previous Pause Next Unmute 0:00 / 0:09 2025 Nissan Z undercuts Toyota Supra by a surprising amount Watch More Diagnostics Bay Meets Data Lab Technicians plug in OEM-grade scan tools that stream ECU data to central servers. They monitor battery state-of-charge curves, voltage sag under load, or coolant-temperature trends from previous road tests. Cloud-based platforms flag anomalies before a breakdown lands a tow truck on the highway. Shops treat these logs like experimental data: they diagnose intermittent misfires by spotting patterns across dozens of vehicles. EV Service Workshop Electric-vehicle maintenance no longer revolves around oil changes. Technicians inspect battery modules with thermal imaging, verify cell balance, and test regenerative-braking systems with specialized rigs. They update battery-management software and confirm proper cooling-pump operation under simulated loads. Shops invest in insulated gloves and lockout-tagout protocols to handle high-voltage circuits safely. ADAS Calibration Room Nearly 98 million U.S. vehicles now feature ADAS. Every windshield replacement or suspension tweak can misalign cameras and radar. Shops deploy precise calibration rigs: optical targets, radar reflectors, and alignment platforms that position vehicles within millimeters. They run static and dynamic calibrations per OEM specs. Insert 'ADAS calibration setup image' here. These procedures prevent lane-departure false alerts or misread obstacles. Technicians update calibration software regularly, ensuring each sensor array 'sees' true road geometry. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. Fabrication and Rapid Prototyping Sometimes parts arrive late or not at all. Modern shops embrace desktop 3D printing for non-structural components: custom brackets, sensor mounts, or trim clips. They machine small adapters on CNC mills for aftermarket upgrades or retrofit kits. This approach speeds repairs and reduces downtime. Technicians treat CAD files like lab blueprints, tweaking dimensions to fit each model. Networked Workflow and Security Connected-shop management systems track work orders, parts inventory, and technician hours. IoT-enabled tool platforms report torque counts on critical fasteners, ensuring bolts meet spec. Shops segment their networks to protect vehicle data and customer information. They install secure Wi-Fi for OEM update downloads and remote diagnostics while guarding against cyber threats. Real-World Recommendations for Enthusiasts When choosing a service center, ask whether their 'science lab' offer: OEM-level scan tools with cloud integration for comprehensive diagnostics. EV-safe bays equipped with insulated tools and battery-test equipment. Certified ADAS calibration rigs meeting OEM tolerances. In-house rapid-prototyping for urgent or rare-part solutions. Secure network practices for over-the-air updates and data privacy. Yes, today's service garage often resembles a lab more than a grease-stained bay. Yet amid diagnostic dashboards and calibration rigs, the goal remains simple: get drivers back on the road safely and confidently. Do you trust a shop that treats your car like a data set or one that still relies on guesswork? In the end, the measure of a modern garage lies in miles driven without worry—because every precise calibration and timely repair fuels the thrill of the next drive. About the Author Brian Iselin View Profile
Globe and Mail
4 hours ago
- Automotive
- Globe and Mail
Is Lucid Group a Millionaire-Maker Stock?
Smaller stocks are ideal for investors willing to take additional risks for the potential for multi-bagger returns. With a stock price of just $2.22 (corresponding to a market cap of $6.77 billion), Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) fits into this category. But the electric vehicle maker didn't get this cheap by accident. Let's dig deeper to see if it can overcome its operational challenges and generate massive wealth over the long term. What went wrong for Lucid? Looking at Lucid's stock price chart, it is clear that something went terribly wrong for the company. Shares have fallen by a whopping 96% from their all-time high of $58 (reached in early 2021), which means many early investors have been almost completely wiped out. The problem had a lot to do with macroeconomic factors outside management's control. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » For starters, post-pandemic inflation caused the Federal Reserve to aggressively hike interest rates, making it harder for consumers to access credit to afford Lucid's high-priced sedans (the flagship Lucid Air starts at $71,400). Furthermore, EV demand began to slow as early adopters were reached and more competition entered the market. Even the industry leader Tesla has faced pressure, with its automotive revenue dropping by 6% in 2024 -- before Elon Musk's overt political involvement made the situation even worse in 2025. However, unlike Tesla, Lucid lacks the economies of scale to maintain profitability or keep losses under control, leading to spiraling cash burn. While first-quarter revenue grew by a respectable 36% year over year to $235 million, the company still burned through an eye-watering $692 million in just that quarter. Lucid stays afloat through outside sources of capital, such as shareholder dilution (creating and selling more stock). But this has likely contributed to its underperformance. Could Tesla's weakness be Lucid's strength? Tesla's situation worsened in 2025, with first-quarter automotive sales dropping 20% year over year amid consumer boycotts and political backlash related to its CEO. This weakness could create an opportunity for Lucid to capture market share because it competes directly with Tesla's flagship Model S in the full-size luxury sedan segment. This opportunity could be compounded by the possible passing of Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill" legislation, which aims to remove the $7,500 tax credit for EV purchases. According to CNN, the bill's current wording might exempt small players like Lucid, giving them a tremendous edge over their larger rivals -- although this legislation is still working its way through Congress, and nothing is finalized yet. Trump's 25% tariff on foreign cars may also advantage Lucid by hurting imported luxury EVs from brands like Audi and Mercedes. Is Lucid stock a buy? Lucid definitely enjoys a lot of encouraging tailwinds from Tesla's political quagmire and Trump's trade and economic policies. That said, whether or not it turns into a millionaire-maker stock will probably depend on the rollout of its new SUV platform, Gravity, launched in late 2024. Gravity is a make-or-break product for Lucid because SUVs tend to be more popular than sedans in the US. The vehicle likely contributed to Lucid's high top-line growth rate in the first quarter. And analysts seem optimistic that this trend can continue with a consensus estimate of Lucid hitting $1.4 billion in total revenue in 2025, which would represent a growth rate of 73.3%. With a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 6.7, Lucid's stock looks reasonably priced, considering its growth potential (Tesla has a P/S of 11). And while some investors may want to wait for more information, I think it might finally be time to pull the trigger and bet on a bull run. Should you invest $1,000 in Lucid Group right now? Before you buy stock in Lucid Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Lucid Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $664,089!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $881,731!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is994% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to172%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025
The Verge
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
The music industry is building the tech to hunt down AI songs
The music industry's nightmare came true in 2023, and it sounded a lot like Drake. 'Heart on My Sleeve,' a convincingly fake duet between Drake and The Weeknd, racked up millions of streams before anyone could explain who made it or where it came from. The track didn't just go viral — it broke the illusion that anyone was in control. In the scramble to respond, a new category of infrastructure is quietly taking shape that's built not to stop generative music outright, but to make it traceable. Detection systems are being embedded across the entire music pipeline: in the tools used to train models, the platforms where songs are uploaded, the databases that license rights, and the algorithms that shape discovery. The goal isn't just to catch synthetic content after the fact. It's to identify it early, tag it with metadata, and govern how it moves through the system. 'If you don't build this stuff into the infrastructure, you're just going to be chasing your tail,' says Matt Adell, cofounder of Musical AI. 'You can't keep reacting to every new track or model — that doesn't scale. You need infrastructure that works from training through distribution.' The goal isn't takedowns, but licensing and control Startups are now popping up to build detection into licensing workflows. Platforms like YouTube and Deezer have developed internal systems to flag synthetic audio as it's uploaded and shape how it surfaces in search and recommendations. Other music companies — including Audible Magic, Pex, Rightsify, and SoundCloud — are expanding detection, moderation, and attribution features across everything from training datasets to distribution. The result is a fragmented but fast-growing ecosystem of companies treating the detection of AI-generated content not as an enforcement tool, but as table-stakes infrastructure for tracking synthetic media. Rather than detecting AI music after it spreads, some companies are building tools to tag it from the moment it's made. Vermillio and Musical AI are developing systems to scan finished tracks for synthetic elements and automatically tag them in the metadata. Vermillio's TraceID framework goes deeper by breaking songs into stems — like vocal tone, melodic phrasing, and lyrical patterns — and flagging the specific AI-generated segments, allowing rights holders to detect mimicry at the stem level, even if a new track only borrows parts of an original. The company says its focus isn't takedowns, but proactive licensing and authenticated release. TraceID is positioned as a replacement for systems like YouTube's Content ID, which often miss subtle or partial imitations. Vermillio estimates that authenticated licensing powered by tools like TraceID could grow from $75 million in 2023 to $10 billion in 2025. In practice, that means a rights holder or platform can run a finished track through TraceID to see if it contains protected elements — and if it does, have the system flag it for licensing before release. 'We're trying to quantify creative influence, not just catch copies.' Some companies are going even further upstream to the training data itself. By analyzing what goes into a model, their aim is to estimate how much a generated track borrows from specific artists or songs. That kind of attribution could enable more precise licensing, with royalties based on creative influence instead of post-release disputes. The idea echoes old debates about musical influence — like the 'Blurred Lines' lawsuit — but applies them to algorithmic generation. The difference now is that licensing can happen before release, not through litigation after the fact. Musical AI is working on a detection system, too. The company describes its system as layered across ingestion, generation, and distribution. Rather than filtering outputs, it tracks provenance from end to end. 'Attribution shouldn't start when the song is done — it should start when the model starts learning,' says Sean Power, the company's cofounder. 'We're trying to quantify creative influence, not just catch copies.' Deezer has developed internal tools to flag fully AI-generated tracks at upload and reduce their visibility in both algorithmic and editorial recommendations, especially when the content appears spammy. Chief Innovation Officer Aurélien Hérault says that, as of April, those tools were detecting roughly 20 percent of new uploads each day as fully AI-generated — more than double what they saw in January. Tracks identified by the system remain accessible on the platform but are not promoted. Hérault says Deezer plans to begin labeling these tracks for users directly 'in a few weeks or a few months.' 'We're not against AI at all,' Hérault says. 'But a lot of this content is being used in bad faith — not for creation, but to exploit the platform. That's why we're paying so much attention.' Spawning AI's DNTP (Do Not Train Protocol) is pushing detection even earlier — at the dataset level. The opt-out protocol lets artists and rights holders label their work as off-limits for model training. While visual artists already have access to similar tools, the audio world is still playing catch-up. So far, there's little consensus on how to standardize consent, transparency, or licensing at scale. Regulation may eventually force the issue, but for now, the approach remains fragmented. Support from major AI training companies has also been inconsistent, and critics say the protocol won't gain traction unless it's governed independently and widely adopted. 'The opt-out protocol needs to be nonprofit, overseen by a few different actors, to be trusted,' Dryhurst says. 'Nobody should trust the future of consent to an opaque centralized company that could go out of business — or much worse.'
Android Authority
7 hours ago
- Android Authority
How does a phone with a crazy external lens compare to the S23 Ultra's zoom camera?
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority The vivo X200 Ultra is a great camera phone in its own right (if you're willing to import it), in no small part due to its impressive 200MP 3.7x periscope camera. However, the company switches things up by offering an optional external lens for even better zoom. The X200 Ultra's 2.35x telephoto converter lens effectively turns the phone's 200MP periscope camera into an ~8.6x shooter. I thought it would be a good idea to compare this lens to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which was the last of Samsung's flagships with a dedicated 10x camera (10MP). I wasn't expecting the S23 Ultra to hold up very well, but here's how it went. vivo X200 Ultra's external lens vs Galaxy S23 Ultra Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 10x Vivo X200 Ultra lens 200mm Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 30x Vivo X200 Ultra lens 800mm Is it any surprise that I think the vivo X200 Ultra and its external lens handily beat the two-year-old Galaxy S23 Ultra's 10x camera in the comparisons above? Absolutely not, I'm comparing a 2023 flagship to a brand-new flagship phone with a bulky lens. Samsung's 10x and 30x images are washed out and lack detail compared to the vivo pictures. You can see this disparity most clearly in the second set of images, as I can make out the '1919' on the mini-lighthouse in the vivo picture. I also quite like the sea in the second vivo picture, which looks like a painting in the Samsung image. Samsung's 10x picture also contains plenty of noise in the dark parts of the scene. vivo's images are a little overly contrasted for my tastes, though, so it's not a complete win here. You can take a closer look at the difference in definition via the comparison below. I can actually see the cable car inside the station with the vivo as opposed to a blob with the Galaxy. In saying so, the X200 Ultra's heavy-handed image processing at long range is apparent. The phone's AI-driven processing seems to struggle with complex scenery, resulting in these over-sharpened, almost striated textures on the mountain. I would like to see the company take a step back with this aggressive image processing in more situations. What about people, though? Well, the good news is that the X200 Ultra's lens offers a shallow depth-of-field effect without needing to switch to the portrait mode. This gives the scene a good level of depth owing to the blurred background, while the S23 Ultra's rendition appears flatter by comparison. This is also apparent when zooming in to 30x and 800mm. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 10x vivo X200 Ultra lens 200mm Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 30x vivo X200 Ultra lens 800mm The X200 Ultra pictures also show significantly more detail, allowing me to crop in a little further and still end up with a decent image. By contrast, the S23 Ultra's images simply lack the same level of clarity and are significantly noisier. It's not a clean sweep for the vivo handset and lens. Neither phone truly captured accurate skin tones here, but the Galaxy S23 Ultra got closer to the actual scene at 10x. I also noticed mesh-like artifacts in the 800mm vivo image around the left ear. It's a very minor issue and not something you'll see unless you're really pixel-peeping, but it's worth pointing out anyway. When I compared the lens-free X200 Pro to the Galaxy S23 Ultra earlier this year, I thought that the vivo was really able to stretch its advantage over the Samsung in low light. So what happens when you add an external lens into the mix? Galaxy S23 Ultra 10x vivo X200 Ultra lens 200mm Galaxy S23 Ultra 10x vivo X200 Ultra lens 200mm The first set of images highlights one of vivo's traditional strengths, namely its ability to tame light sources in low light. Meanwhile, the signage in the S23 Ultra's image is blown out. Vivo's snap also gives us a much clearer look at the building's artwork. Neither phone manages to stay noise-free in this challenging scene, but you don't have to zoom in to see it on the Samsung image. The second set of pictures reveals a greater disparity, as noise dominates the Samsung picture while vivo's aggressive noise reduction pays off in this situation. I can also make out various bits of text in the X200 Ultra's image, which is a testament to the detail on offer here. You can view full-resolution images from each phone via our Google Drive folder. What do you think of this camera shootout? 0 votes The X200 Ultra's lens is the winner by far NaN % The lens was better, but didn't make a big difference NaN % I preferred the shots from the S23 Ultra NaN % Were there any doubts about the winner? Hadlee Simons / Android Authority It's really no surprise that the vivo X200 Ultra and its bulky telephoto converter lens came out on top in this comparison. In fact, I'd be more concerned if this were a closer fight. The combination of that 200MP 3.7x camera and the external lens results in significantly better image quality, particularly at long range and in low light. It wasn't a flawless victory for vivo, though, owing to the occasional image processing issue. If anything, this shootout makes me sad that we haven't seen a camera phone since the Galaxy S23 Ultra with a proper 10x zoom shooter. I don't think a modern 10x camera would actually beat the X200 Ultra and its giant lens, but updated hardware and more sensible image processing would certainly help it get much closer. So my fingers are crossed for more 10x cameras in 2026.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
2 Growth Stocks That Could 10x Your Money
SoundHound AI's proprietary voice technology is tapping into a rapidly growing market. Duolingo is well-positioned to capitalize on the booming online learning market. 10 stocks we like better than SoundHound AI › If you're looking for stocks with huge return potential, you can increase your chances of success by focusing on companies that operate in a rapidly expanding industry. Great investments are usually made by jumping early on fast-growing companies that have enormous expansion potential for their particular sector. Here are two promising candidates that could potentially grow their share prices 10-fold in the coming years. Share prices of SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) have been volatile, At the time of this writing, the stock is up 342% since the end of 2023. This follows growing demand for the company's conversational voice technology powered by artificial intelligence (AI). SoundHound's revenue more than doubled year over year in the first quarter. This comes after last year's acquisition of Amelia, which expanded SoundHound's technology to customer services across multiple industries, including retail and healthcare. AI is having a major impact on how people order at restaurants and interact with in-car services -- two of SoundHound's biggest markets. As AI's capabilities grow exponentially, demand is surging for SoundHound's voice AI. Over 1,000 new restaurant locations went live with SoundHound in Q1 -- a 10-fold increase over a year ago. The main negative for the company is that it is not earning a profit. In Q1, it reported a non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) loss of $22 million, which is quite large on just $29 million of quarterly revenue. SoundHound generates revenue from product royalties, service subscriptions, and ads on its music identification app. These can be profitable revenue streams, so I wouldn't be too concerned about SoundHound's profitability at this early stage of growth. Keep in mind that SoundHound is not using off-the-shelf AI. Its AI is proprietary, based on 20 years of investment using data from real user interactions. SoundHound also has a strong balance sheet, with $246 million of cash and no debt. The company's growth shows huge market potential for its technology. The AI voice generator market is growing exponentially, expected to increase from $3 billion in 2024 to over $20 billion by 2030, according to MarketsandMarkets. SoundHound's market cap is currently $3.76 billion, with its share price around $9.40. Its market cap has to increase to $37.6 billion to deliver a 10-fold return to investors. This is possible within the next 10 years, considering SoundHound's rapid growth and the long-term trends supporting more AI integration across the economy. Online language learning is another fast-growing market that is benefiting from the use of AI. Duolingo (NASDAQ: DUOL) started in 2012 and is currently the top-grossing mobile learning app in Alphabet's Google Play and the Apple App Store. The company's rapid growth has sent the stock up 241% since its initial public offering in 2021. Duolingo makes it easy and fun to learn new languages, and it's attracting a lot of people. It had 130 million monthly active users in Q1, representing a 33% year-over-year increase. A high percentage of these users are engaging with the app every day, with the company reporting 46.6 million daily actives last quarter, for an increase of 49% year over year. The company uses the standard mobile app business model. Users can download the app for free and then pay for premium content. Duolingo had over 10 million paying users last quarter. This generated $230 million of revenue last quarter, up 38% year over year, while also reporting a healthy profit of $35 million. The online language learning market is expected to grow at an annualized rate of 21% through 2030 to reach $44 billion, according to Mordor Intelligence. AI will be a catalyst for growth, given the added personalization and other enhancements AI brings to the table. Duolingo says its Max subscription service, which brings AI-powered features to the learning experience, is one of its biggest opportunities. However, Duolingo also offers courses in math and music, indicating its long-term opportunity extends well beyond language learning. Content expansion, including the recent launch of chess, is a key part of the company's growth strategy. Duolingo's market cap is currently $21.8 billion at the current $480 share price. For the company to be worth $210 billion and deliver a 10-fold return to investors in 10 years, Duolingo needs to maintain annualized revenue growth of 25% and trade at the same 28x price-to-sales multiple. This implies growth that is marginally higher than the online language learning market. Duolingo's 40%-plus current revenue growth already puts it ahead of the curve. Moreover, its content expansion strategy positions it to grow faster than the market, making it a compelling growth stock to hold for multibagger returns. Before you buy stock in SoundHound AI, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and SoundHound AI wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $891,722!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Duolingo. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 2 Growth Stocks That Could 10x Your Money was originally published by The Motley Fool
