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Hello, everyone, and thanks once again for reading Fast Companys Plugged In. For years, some of the worlds most productive web searches have had something in common: They begin at Google and end at Reddit. In some cases, thats because the person doing the searching has added reddit to their query, deliberately pushing material from the internets biggest, most indispensable hub of conversations to the top of Google results. But even if you havent expressed an explicit preference for Reddit links, Google often emphasizes them. They can feel like islands of quality information floating in a river of links to sites that are spammy or just not very good. Now Reddit sees an opportunity to become, in CEO Steve Huffmans words during its most recent quarterly investor call, a true search destination unto itself. That aspiration is reflected in Reddit Answers, an AI-infused information retrieval feature that debuted last December. Huffman says the company plans to merge the tool with Reddits existing search and redesign its homepage around them. If Reddit can use its new search interface to answer questions quickly and accurately on its own, it might make googling less of a reflexive habit. It would also position the sites human expertise even more clearly as an alternative to ChatGPT and other bots that dispense eerily human-sounding advice but often behave like broken robots. In its current form, Reddit Answers is just a beta that reflects only part of this bigger vision. It lets you seek information by entering search-like queries. Then it uses AI to weave together material from multiple Reddit discussions into one coherent, bullet-pointed response that quotes individual Redditors and links back to their original posts. The sample queries it suggestsfrom best coffee maker to highest salary part time jobs to tips for flying with a baby for the first timeconvey Reddits remarkable breadth of topics. Interface-wise, Reddit Answers feels familiarsomething of a hybrid of Google in its classic form and a generative-AI chatbot. And yet it couldnt exist without the Reddit communitys knowledge and opinion, which provide all its value. Lest others build anything similar without permission, the company has grown increasingly protective of its brain trust: Its signed licensing deals with Google and OpenAI and has been blocking others from trawling its pageseven the eminently laudable Internet Archive. Like the responses from AI bots, Reddit Answers replies can feel more like data dumps than anything succinct and definitive: For best coffee maker, it comes up with 10 models that at least one Reddit user has owned and likeduseful data points, but not a substitute for further research. But in many cases, a somewhat scattershot summary of Reddit chatter may be more reliable than a pure-AI answer that could be incomplete or even hallucinatory. For example, when I asked ChatGPT for advice on bicycle locks, its advice read well but didnt mention the handful of models that are tough enough to resist sustained attack by a thief equipped with an axle grindera reminder that AI merely simulates expertise rather than achieving it. Reddit Answers bike-lock response was just as easy to digest, and far more authoritative. [Screenshot: Reddit] When Reddit Answers doesnt entirely address your question on its first try, the fact its Reddit gives it a critical advantage. Its humanity is all on the surface. You can click through from Reddit Answers citations and continue the conversation with real people! You might even find yourself becoming part of a community, which is not something that happens with Google search or ChatGPT. The current AI wave has led to widespread fascination with the Dead Internet Theorythe possibility that people are being squeezed out of online discourse by inauthentic, machine-generated slop. I worry about that, too. But at the moment, Reddit provides happy evidence that doubling down on humans can be a viable business. The company, which went public in March 2024, beat analyst expectations for its most recent quarter, propelling its stock to record heights. In its most recent quarter, daily visitors averaged 110.4 million, an increase of 21% year-over-year. It managed to sell $465 million in advertising during the quarter while maintaining a surprisingly distraction-free reading experience. I find Reddits apparent health encouragingnot because I care about its stock price, ad business, or traffic per se, but because the helpful humans its assembled are our single biggest bulwark against the Dead Internet Theory becoming undeniable, irreversible reality. If the company were to suddenly vanish, or even just begin a slow decline, it would be catastrophic. And if Huffman gets anywhere with his goal of making it more of a self-sustaining destination rather than a Google appendage, well all benefit. Youve been reading Plugged In, Fast Companys weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to youor if you’re reading it on FastCompany.comyou can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Friday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping e at hmccracken@fastcompany.com with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters. I’m also on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, and you can follow Plugged In on Flipboard. More top tech stories from Fast Company OpenAI gave GPT-5 an emotional lobotomy, and it crippled the modelThe AI’s inability to understand human feelings is its fatal flaw.Read More Biden-era AI safety promises aren’t holding up, and Apple’s the weakest linkOnly half of the voluntary commitments on AI made in 2023 made by 16 large AI companies are being followed, a new analysis suggests.Read More Teenage Engineering’s first free product buys it new customers for under $9Yes, free. You only have to pay for shipping. It’s out of stock now, but more are coming soon.Read More Spotify just turned your phone into a DJ boothSpotify’s new ‘Mix’ mode lets listeners turn on auto-transitions between songs or make their own custom mixes to share with friends.Read More Beauty publishing was always a lie. But AI just broke itAI-generated people are making it to editorial pages in magazines. This will become the new normal.Read More Why Apple is taking this controversial symbol off its packagingApple isn’t backing down from its work to cut emissions, but a new law is forcing the brand to talk about it differently.Read More
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Waymo has the green light to start testing its self-driving cars in New York City. Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday that the city has granted Waymo a permit to start testing a small fleet of autonomous vehicles on the streets of New York. The pilot program will be limited to some of Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn and will put eight approved autonomous vehicles into action for testing. The cars might drive themselves but an AV specialist will still be behind the wheel during the testing period, which will be in place until late September. After the initial testing phase ends, Waymo can apply for an extension with the city to continue exploring how its self-driving cars fare in some of the countrys most congested, challenging driving conditions. Were a tech-friendly administration and were always looking for innovative ways to safely move our city forward, Adams said. New York City is proud to welcome Waymo to test this new technology in Manhattan and Brooklyn, as we know this testing is only the first step in moving our city further into the 21st century. New York City DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez assured New Yorkers that the agency has robust safety guidelines in place for the Waymo trial. These requirements will help ensure that the development of this technology is focused, first and foremost, on the safety of everyone who shares our busy city streets, Rodriguez said. Waymos permit will only allow the company to test its autonomous driving technology, not operate a robotaxi service that can ferry paying riders around. Unlike in San Francisco, Austin and a handful of other major U.S. cities, robotaxis arent yet legal in New York. To really open up New York City as a market, Waymo will need to secure a license from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, which currently prohibits using autonomous vehicles for taxi services. Given the citys complex, corruption-ridden taxi business and its entrenched power players, overcoming New Yorks regulatory hurdles could prove just as challenging as some of the technological problems that Waymo has faced. Waymo leads the pack Waymo currently leads the pack in the robotaxi business, but competitors are keen to catch up. By spring of this year, Waymo reported 250,000 paid robotaxi rides each week across the cities where its driverless cars operate. The company is now up and running in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin and Atlanta. When Waymo entered the Atlanta market earlier this summer through Uber, some riders eager to try the technology canceled their rides with human drivers while they sifted through the system to hunt down the autonomous vehicles. Waymos Atlanta fleet is expected to grow to hundreds of cars within the next few years and the company is steadily pursuing plans to branch into other major cities, with Dallas, Miami and Washington D.C. in the works. So far, the competition has struggled to keep up. Amazon-owned Zoox was mired in a federal investigation and red tape, but the company won a regulatory exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier this month. The precedent could help other autonomous vehicle makers get more cars on the road in the U.S. quickly. Tesla launched its first robotaxi pilot program in Austin in June after a decade of lofty promises about the transformational business of self-driving Teslas. In July, the company launched a ridehailing service in San Francisco, but those rides are supervised by a human in the passenger seat after Tesla failed to secure necessary permits for robotaxi rides.
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E-Commerce
Instead of worrying about making friends or keeping up with their studies, new college students have a different concern on their minds: dorm water. Praying dorm water doesnt ruin my hair, one creator posted on TikTok earlier this month. Our dorm water thinned my hair out so bad bro get a filter, another commenter warned. Guys what if I have communal showers and I cant change the filter then what do I do, one panicked. @clalaoror #uofsc original sound – astr1xn Answering the call, TikTok now hosts 55.3 million videos advising on shower filter installations. One 20-year-old student told Business of Fashion that shes been roped into setting them up for her entire hall. Google Trends is also showing breakout searches like best shampoo for dorm water. Top results include the OUAI Detox Shampoo, Malibu C Hard Water Wellness Shampoo, and Act+Acre Clarifying Hard Water Shampoo. For the uninitiated, dorm water is just regular water from college dorm showerheads. Students, however, are obsessing over hard minerals and potential toxins in their streams, fearing it could turn long, sleek locks into frizzy, tangled messes. How Im protecting my hair from dorm water, one TikTok creator shared, along with her collection of oils, clarifying shampoos, bars, conditioners, and sprays. Over on Reddit, users suggest using bottled water or apple cider vinegar as a final rinse in the shower. @lucylovesyou3 im staying hopeful that i can save my hair #dormwater #haircare #showerroutine #college #hairhealth @Paul Mitchell @Kitsch @Not Your Mother’s @functionofbeauty @Sol de Janeiro Inc original sound – lucyquinn Capitalizing on the hype, Amazon now features a dedicated Shower Heads for College Dorms section, with prices ranging from under $10 to $150 (not including filter replacements). Beauty retailers in college towns are also reportedly stocking up on detox shampoos and hard water treatments. Scalp care has received outsize attention in recent years, with hair routines full of supplements, scalp serums, brushes, massagers, and oils often going viral online and thinning and hair loss products up 34% in 2024 versus the year prior, according to market research firm Circana. Showerhead brands like Jolie, reportedly on track for $50 million in 2025 revenue, and Hello Klean warn of chemicals and contaminants in water, including chlorine and heavy metals, that can negatively impact hair and skin. While the science on dorm water remains limited, students fears arent entirely unfounded. A recent study confirmed that hard water can reduce hair strength, making it more prone to breakage. For a generation committed to everything showers (multistep routines with hair masks, multiple shampoos, deep conditioners) and morning shed routines (layering products, masks, tape, and jaw straps at bedtime), its unsurprising that a standard dorm showerhead and a store-brand shampoo no longer feel like enough.
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E-Commerce
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