The US EV market achieved a major milestone in the electric transition in 2023: Nearly 1 million battery-electric vehicles were sold in a 12-month period for the first time ever, according to BloombergNEF, and sales grew at a robust clip.

But it’s not all up and to the right: Sales didn’t climb quite as much as some automakers had expected, prompting re-evaluations of the timing and scope of investments, EVs piling up on dealer lots, and headline after headline about slumping demand.

Tesla might delay a $1 billion manufacturing investment in Mexico; GM pumped the brakes on some of its planned EV truck production; and Ford paused $12 billion in EV factory investments, including one of its EV battery plants, and slashed production of its electric F-150 Lightning, among other signals that manufacturers are re-evaluating their EV plans.

“There were some real hopeful assumptions that the market was just gonna go in a real nice straight line and there would be no bumps along the path,” Kevin Roberts, director of industry insights and analytics at CarGurus, told Tech Brew. “What we’re seeing now is that early adopters have adopted, but trying to get to that mainstream consumer is gonna be difficult in a higher-interest-rate environment with the price premium that currently exists out there.”

Keep reading here.—JG

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An announcement of execs’ top risks for 2024 highlighted fast-paced adoption of AI, generatively generally speaking.

Orgs are seeking out practical applications for generative AI, and company risk-managers are adjusting to the enthusiasm, according to one member of the team behind the findings.

“The scale at which ChatGPT rose to 100 million users was unprecedented. And it really caught most of corporate America by surprise. There were very few companies who had been experimenting, who had roadmaps, and who had been deploying the technology,” Christine Livingston, managing director and leader of AI and IoT at Protiviti, told reporters in Manhattan last month.

“For the most part, corporate America was a little bit flat-footed. And we’ve seen 2023 as really being the year of catchup, where companies are trying to figure out: What is this technology, [and] how should I be using it?” Livingston said.

Keep reading on IT Brew.—BH

Rite Aid is banned from using AI facial recognition technology in its stores for five years after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruled last month that the company failed to take “reasonable” precautions to prevent harm to customers.

The technology, which was used in hundreds of stores between 2012 and 2020, frequently misidentified Rite Aid customers as shoplifters, causing the shoppers—mainly women and people of color—to be falsely accused of theft, the FTC said.

“Rite Aid’s reckless use of facial surveillance systems left its customers facing humiliation and other harms, and its order violations put consumers’ sensitive information at risk,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

Facial recognition technology has been shown to “perform less effectively for people with darker skin and women,” FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said in a statement.

Despite the fact that 80% of Rite Aid stores are in predominantly white areas, roughly 60% of the stores using the facial recognition technology were located in predominantly non-white areas, according to the FTC’s complaint.

Keep reading on Healthcare Brew.—MA