Feed aggregator

Most enterprise shadow AI programs have completed step one. They ran discovery, found more AI in the building than expected, and built a spreadsheet. Then the program stalled.

This pattern is nearly universal. Discovery is genuinely useful, and it's also where the easy work ends. Knowing that 37 agents are running, roughly the enterprise average per Microsoft's February 2026 Cyber Pulse research, doesn't change the fact that more than half operate with no security oversight or logging.

An inventory tells you what happened. Enforcement decides what happens.

What enforcement means for AI

Enforcement is the ability to change the outcome of an AI action while it's occurring, not report on it afterward. For an agent, that means one of four interventions: block the tool from running, scope down what it can reach, gate a specific action behind approval, or terminate the process mid-execution.

These aren't interchangeable: choosing between them is most of the work. Blocking is blunt and generates the most complaints. Scoping is the most durable and hardest to configure. Gating works until the approval queue becomes a formality people click through. Termination is the last resort; it needs to land before the action completes.

Why network blocking keeps failing

Blocking AI domains at the network edge was the first control most organizations reached for. It's easy to deploy and explain to a board, and it stops a shrinking share of the actual risk. AI stopped being a website.

Local models make no outbound call to inspect. Embedded copilots run inside licensed applications, so their traffic looks like the vendor you approved. IDE and command-line agents, and MCP servers on localhost, never cross a network boundary you control. Personal devices remain the oldest gap, worse now that AI tools are free and everywhere.

The permissions problem underneath

Here's what makes AI enforcement harder than the access control problems before it: an agent acts using a human's identity and entitlements. The log shows the employee read the file, or the credential belongs to a person or service account provisioned for something else. Existing identity controls just ask whether that principal is allowed to perform the operation, and the answer is usually yes.

The question identity infrastructure was never built to answer is whether this action, taken by software on the human's behalf, is one the human would have sanctioned. That's why emerging standards like AIUC-1 treat unauthorized agent actions, access privilege enforcement, and unsafe tool calls as separate controls, not folded into general access management. That separation is the right instinct.

Where enforcement has to sit

Enforcement has to sit at the point where an action executes, the only place the decision is deterministic. Controls at the instruction layer, input filtering and prompt guardrails, evaluate text before it reaches a model. They're worth deploying and they reduce volume, but they're probabilistic, and separating instructions from data inside a language model is still not solved.

So build for the case where the instruction gets through. If the agent's tool call is scoped, gated, or stopped at the moment it fires, the origin of the instruction stops mattering. A malicious prompt, a poisoned document, and an honest mistake all produce the same blocked action. That's the property you want: an outcome that doesn't depend on correctly classifying intent.

It's also why endpoint and runtime placement keeps winning the architecture argument: nearly every AI interaction eventually becomes a process on a device, where a local model, an embedded copilot, and a browser tab all look like what they are: code executing.

How to start without breaking anything

Enforcement projects fail loudly, so sequence them to fail quietly:

1. Pick one category, not the whole inventory: a small group of prohibited tools with an obvious sanctioned replacement.
2. Run in monitor mode for two weeks. You'll find the legitimate workflow nobody told you about. There's always one.
3. Name an owner for every agent before enforcing against it. An unowned agent can't be exempted or fixed, and that turns a block into an incident.
4. Turn on blocking for the smallest viable scope, then measure the complaint rate before expanding.
5. Wire the enforcement log into your evidence pipeline from day one; retrofitting is harder than building it in.

What to tell leadership

Lead with a number they won't like: the count of AI agents running with no owner, no logging, and no control. It's usually large enough to fund the program by itself. Then commit to a second number: enforcement actions taken in the first quarter, broken out into blocks and approvals. A control that never stops anything isn't a control. It's a report with better branding.

Discovery is a list. Enforcement is a decision.

The inventory was worth building. It's just not the deliverable. An AI agent moves faster than any human in your approval chain, and it doesn't wait for the quarterly review. The organizations that come out of this era in good shape will be those that can stop an action before it completes, and prove afterward exactly which rule stopped it. Find them, then be able to stop them.

We've featured the best endpoint protection software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

The world made it to another Friday without an AI apocalypse, so here's the quiz! See you next week … maybe.

The UK mobile industry gathered together in London last night to celebrate the 2026 Mobile Industry Awards.

Marking our 24th year in 2026, the Mobile Industry Awards represent the gold standard of excellence - from the boardroom to the grassroots, the entrants represent the best and brightest the UK mobile industry has to offer.

The great and good were all in attendance for the MIA 2026, but who went home with the prizes? Here's our list of all the night's winners....

Our MIA 2026 winners are...

Future Stars in association with VodafoneThree:

Lydia McGann, The Big Phone Store

Sam Deans, Pure Communications

Imogen Baldie, Likewize

Paris Tilsley

Innovation of the Year Product or Service O2 Satellite

Best Mobile Service & Solution Provider plan.com

Best Wholesale Service & Solution Provider sponsored by BusinessMobiles.com VodafoneThree Wholesale

Best Mobile/Gadget Insurance Service Asurion

Best Repair Service The Big Phone Store

Best Recycling and Refurbishing Service Mazuma Mobile

Distributor of the Year ege

Sales Team of the Year Belkin UK Sales Team

Best Place to Work (under 1,000 employees) BusinessMobiles.com

Best Place to Work (over 1,000 employees) Tesco Mobile

Best Customer Service (Consumer) VodafoneThree

Best Customer Service (Business) Pure Communication Group

Marketing Campaign of the Year Lebara Mobile - The Smarter Choice

CSR Initiative of the Year Samsung Solve for Tomorrow

Sustainability Initiative of the Year Likewize Circular Device Lifecycle Services

Retailer of the Year (High Street and Online) EE

Best MVNO sponsored by eROAMING eSIM Sky Mobile

Best eSIM Provider SureSIM

Best SIM Only Network sponsored by Sky Mobile Lebara Mobile

Accessory Manufacturer of the Year Motorola

Smartphone Manufacturer of the Year sponsored by Lebara Samsung

Best Network for Business BT & EE

Best Network for Consumers sponsored by Likewize VodafoneThree

Team of the Year Virgin Media O2 CTO Team

Person of the Year Max Taylor, CEO, VodafoneThree

The great news is that we will be back next year for the Mobile Industry Awards 2027, our 25th year!

Details on table booking and sponsorship will be open soon, so stay tuned to the MIA website for all the latest information...and see you in 2027!

A heavily redacted email from last year, reported first by NPR, reveals that DHS personnel shared a list of jurisdictions that offer election materials in non-English languages. It's unclear why.

(Image credit: Stephen Maturen)

A bacterial infection is wiping out Florida's citrus trees. Growers hope a rootstock developed with gene-editing technology could keep the disease at bay.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

As states push to regulate chatbots, tech companies are trying to write safety rules in ways that exempt some of their key products.

(Image credit: Jimena Peck for NPR)

To counter a difficult political environment, two Trump-aligned super PACs have reserved more than $150 million in ads — primarily in deep red House and Senate races that have now become competitive.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)

Trump threatens to tear down the Kennedy Center amid court battle, Trump's other priorities also get pushback this week, Poland's PM warns Russia could strike countries that support Ukraine.

A couple, now married, tell the story of how they met online and then crossed paths in an unexpected place.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that these potential strikes "intend to paralyze NATO" in an attempt to demonstrate that Article 5 "exists only in theory."

(Image credit: WOJTEK RADWANSKI)

The Houthis' biggest land grab in years reignited Yemen's 12-year civil war and pushed up global fuel prices, extending their reach to a key maritime chokepoint and threatening Saudi Arabia's oil exports.

(Image credit: Abdulnasser Alseddik)

The latest lawsuit, first reported by NPR, argues the Trump administration's repeated suggestions that federal officers could be at polling sites is a form of illegal voter intimidation.

(Image credit: Michael Ciaglo)

• Diablo 5 senior game director Joe Shely says the team is "trying to make it for everyone who loves Diablo" for specific reasons
• He says the team used "deferred complexity" to help balance the game's systems for endgame players and campaign lovers
• Narrative director Jennifer Hepler says there are like-minded developers on the team who are "passionate advocates" and are creating the content for these fans

Diablo 5 senior game director Joe Shely has said Blizzard is making a sequel for all fans, but it has to find the right balance for players who love the series for specific reasons.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at BlizzCon 2026 after the game's reveal, Shely explained that the team isn't trying to make a Diablo game "for every human on Earth" or "literally everyone" but is "trying to make it for everyone who loves Diablo, and people who love Diablo love it for specific reasons, and those reasons are knowable."

He and the team know some fans play Diablo and are most interested in the storylines and exploration, while other, more hardcore players spend time with the complex systems that come with itemization, designing builds, and racing to the endgame.

"We can talk to players and understand why individual players or groups of players love Diablo and what they love about it, and from what game they associate with Diablo," Shely said, "and so that allows us to tailor our systems and experiences, campaign and progression in a way that can be satisfying to different kinds of talent players."

This is where the developer brought up "deferred complexity," an idea the team used to help balance the game's systems for those who enjoy taking their time, while also delivering on "our commitment to have a complete end game for those players at launch." This means that some complex systems have been moved to the endgame.

"By deferring some of the complexity of the systems and itemization later into the endgame," Shely said, "we can deliver the depth and mastery elements that our players who love the endgame enjoy without overwhelming our players who are enjoying spending a lot of time in the campaign and exploring the world."

Narrative director Jennifer Hepler added that all types of Diablo fans are represented on the development team; she said they are like-minded, "very passionate" about the series, and understand what players enjoy most.

"People who love campaign are working on campaign, and the people who love systems are working on the end game," Hepler said. "And so every group of players has passionate advocates on the team who are not only speaking for them but are actually creating the content for them."

Diablo 5 is in development and is slated to launch in Spring 2029.

Here are hints and the answers for today’s NYT Strands puzzle for Sept. 18, 2026.

An SUV driver was under the influence of drugs when she swerved into the wrong lane, blew a red light and slammed into a Los Angeles city bus, killing two riders, prosecutors said as they charged her with murder.

(Image credit: Jae C. Hong)

Minor spoilers for Neagley ahead.

Neagley naturally had a lot to live up to as a spinoff of popular Prime Video action series Reacher, but now that I've binged all eight episodes, I think it deftly rose to the challenge.

It doesn't hurt that Neagley herself (played by Maria Sten) is the most popular character aside from Alan Ritchson's hero in Reacher history, to the point where many Reddit threads were dedicated to mourning her absence in season 4.

However, the move to give her her own spinoff has been a wise one. Neagley effortlessly carries on the same vibe, emotion and expectation we have from the main series, and the exploration of Neagley's personal backstory — which finally solves a huge mystery — doesn't disappoint.

In my mind, Amazon would be incredibly silly not to greenlight Neagley season 2 in the next few weeks. While it's still too early to tell exactly how many viewers will be tuning in, that number is like to be a high one. Add in how much the streamer is already invested in the Reacher IP, and you've got a surefire success.

The wait to find out if Neagley season 2 will happen is a frustrating one, so I've chosen to get a jump-start. Luckily, creator Nicholas Wootton and the show's lead cast all know what they want from future episodes... and their ideas couldn't sound more exciting.

'This is where we develop our future seasons'

"I hope we get to dig deeper into the relationships and emotionality of the show," Neagley star Maria Sten tells me.

"We have so many great action sequences in this show, and if we get another season, I want to build on that... make it even bigger. Continue to develop these characters, get them into trouble, and get them to face the consequences of their emotional problems."

Sten knows exactly which beats to hit, but she's not the only one we'd need to consider in a second season. In the final moments of the season finale, Renee (Adeline Rudolph) and Keno's (Jasper Jones) romantic relationship is tentatively cemented — so we're only just starting to scratch the surface of what's between them.

"I think for Renee, there's still a lot of unanswered questions," Rudolph says. "I personally have them too, and I'm so excited to find out about them. And to see what the next adventure is."

Jones agrees, "I kind of want to leave things open because I want to be surprised. I want to keep giving something new. Maria has done such a beautiful job of that in reprising this character... now that she has her own show, she has to bring something new to the table. I would like to hold that torch and bring that forward."

For Wootton, what season 2 holds is much more straightforward. "I've always seen Neagley as being a Chicago-centric show with a team," he explains. It differentiates from Reacher in that it has a home base and a consistent group. That means we can explore more about her psychology and movement forward.

"She's never been in love, had a first dance... all of these sorts of things. Then you've got the richness of Chicago's own crime history. It's fascinating. This is where we develop our future seasons."

Yes, I transcribed that correctly: future seasons, plural. This lot are clearly on a mission, and I'm keeping everything crossed that they'll be successful.

• Sixteen Xeons give this ageing HP C7000 enclosure a surprisingly dense processor count
• The 1TB DDR3 memory pool remains the biggest number in the listing
• Each blade adds eight cores and sixteen threads to the overall configuration

A UK seller trading as NomadUK has listed a fully populated HP C7000 blade enclosure for £500 per blade, roughly $700 at current exchange rates.

The bundle includes sixteen BL460c G8 servers, each built around a single Intel Xeon E5-2660 processor with 8 cores, 12 threads, and a 2.20 GHz base clock under the Sandy Bridge-EP architecture.

Multiplied across the chassis, it delivers 128 physical cores and 256 logical threads, backed by 1024GB of DDR3 memory spread across 32 modules of 32GB each, running at speeds up to 1600MHz through registered DIMMs.

The hardware underneath the headline numbers

The listing shows that each blade uses the Intel C600 series chipset paired with an HP Smart Array P220i controller, supporting RAID 0 and RAID 1 across two small-form-factor drive bays per unit.

Network connectivity runs through an integrated FlexibleLOM slot, typically populated with a 10Gb dual-port adapter capable of Flex-10 partitioning when paired with a Virtual Connect module in the enclosure's interconnect bays.

HP rates the C7000 chassis at 10U, built to house up to 16 half-height blades vertically alongside up to 8 interconnect bays and 6 hot-plug power supplies feeding a shared power backplane.

Each blade also ships with Integrated Lights-Out 4 for out-of-band management, giving remote access to power state, health telemetry, and virtual media independent of the host operating system.

Memory population follows a four-channel design per processor, meaning each blade's DIMM slots must be filled in matched pairs to maintain full bandwidth rather than dropping into single-channel mode.

Combined, the 16 blades, the enclosure, the storage controllers, and 1024GB of registered memory carry an estimated resale value above $4,000.

According to the seller, each blade “has been professionally refurbished and checked for functionality.”

NomadUK carries 3,740 feedback entries with a 99.9% positive rating, though eBay does not independently audit refurbishment claims of this kind.

Why the economics still work for buyers

A comparable listing surfaced in Canberra during February, where a Dell PowerEdge R820 with four Xeon E5-4650 processors and 1TB of DDR3L memory sold for close to $1,200.

That server used 32 modules of SK Hynix registered ECC memory at 32GB each, working out to roughly $1 per gigabyte at sale price.

Individual sticks of the identical HMT84GR7AMR4A-H9 part number were listed separately near $60 in the United States, meaning the memory alone nearly covered the asking price.

Another UK listing offers 16 32GB DDR3 PC3-10600R registered ECC modules, the same capacity and type used in this bundle, priced at £1,191.45 for 512GB, or roughly $100 per module at today's exchange rates.

Applied across all 32 modules in the HP enclosure, that puts the RAM alone near $3,200, which is what pushes the bundle's total value past the $4,000 mark once the chassis and controllers are factored in.

Equivalent DDR5 registered memory at server-grade capacity costs more than ten times that per-gigabyte rate today, which explains continued demand for DDR3-era enterprise stock despite its age.

However, buyers considering the HP bundle should account for the E5-2660's 95W TDP per socket.

This means that 16 active blades under load draw close to 1.5kW before accounting for chassis fans, interconnects, and shared power supply overhead.

Also, its firmware support for iLO 4 and the C600 chipset ended years ago, leaving buyers dependent on community-maintained tools for BIOS and controller updates.

The Dyson Camerajet arrived 10 years after online rumours emerged that Dyson had filed a patent application for an electric toothbrush with water jet. True to form, it has surpassed the rumours with a toothbrush that goes one step beyond the norm and is packed with innovation. Having trialled it a week prior to launch, I was among the first journalists to give the Dyson Camerajet a hands-on review.

As the only smart electric toothbrush and water flosser with a built-in camera, the CameraJet uses imaging, machine learning and precision fluid dynamics to identify gaps between teeth and deliver a jet of mouthrinse. The CameraJet has received much attention since its launch, with many praising Dyson for pushing the boundaries with new innovation in oral health, and others questioning its price, reporting faults online, and asking whether we need a camera in a toothbrush at all. But for a brand that revolutionised the vacuum with cyclonic suction, restyled the hair dryer and pioneered bladeless fan technology, the Dyson CameraJet was never going to be an obvious product.

Back in May 2026, I visited Dyson’s factory and global HQ in Singapore to take a first look at the Dyson CameraJet. I went behind the scenes in Dyson’s oral health care labs where six years of research, development and engineering for the CameraJet had been taking place and spoke to Rich Bacon, head of product development at Dyson, to find out what makes the CameraJet so unique. I also asked him about the potential security implications of having a smart camera in the bathroom, and how Dyson hopes to improve our oral health.

Why now?

(Image credit: Dyson)

When I first saw the CameraJet I immediately wanted to know why Dyson is branching into attempting to make one of the best electric toothbrushes and why now?

The Dyson team said it likes to start with a problem people experience every day and ask whether they can solve it better through engineering. “Oral care is an area where many people want to improve their routines, but often struggle with consistency, technique, or understanding how effectively they're brushing,” Bacon explained. “Dyson research shows 9 in 10 people do not floss as regularly as they should, reinforcing the need for a solution that helps target the gaps between teeth as part of an everyday routine.

“The technology is now at a point where we can combine WiFi, AI, intelligent sensing and fluid dynamics with a highly engineered brushing experience, making this the right time to bring the product to market.”

By combining two devices – a toothbrush and water flosser – in one, the CameraJet has the potential to save us time in our daily routines and also help us brush for the recommended time. “In our research we found that a lot of people brush for 45 seconds, but the optimum time is for two minutes, or ideally three,’ says Bacon. ‘When I’m using this device myself for three minutes, it’s much more convenient than having separate devices to clean your teeth.”

What excites Bacon most about the CameraJet is its sophisticated engineering combined with a simple user experience. “There’s a huge amount of technology working behind the scenes here from the camera and machine learning, to its Gap Optical Targeting and precision fluid dynamics,” he says. But the user doesn't need to think about any of that. As engineers, that's always our goal: solving complex problems in a way that feels effortless for the person using the product.”

Bacon believes that this technology has the potential to make oral care more consistent and personalised. “Many people brush their teeth in exactly the same way every day without really knowing if they are cleaning effectively, and many are not flossing as regularly as they should. Dyson CameraJet brings brushing, precision-flossing and mouth-rinsing to your routine to target the gaps between teeth where plaque can build up.”

Privacy included

(Image credit: Dyson)

But in an age of AI, the internet of things and relentless data collection, having a camera in your bathroom is a natural cause for concern. For Dyson, privacy was also a key consideration, however. Bacon reassures me that the camera is only active during live viewing or auto-jetting; no images are recorded or stored on the product or in the cloud, and images remain private to the user.

“We take privacy very seriously,’ he says. “The MyDyson app is a great companion piece and comes with unique cleaning insights such as location coverage. Through the app, you can also access guided cleaning, coverage mapping and personalised feedback so you have a better understanding of where you are cleaning well and where you may be missing.”

The app is a closed ecosystem, but could it one day become a broader health-data platform, similar to how people use Oura or Apple Health? “The app has been designed as a platform that can evolve over time, and the immediate focus is on useful, evidence-led insights that help people understand their brushing and interdental cleaning habits,” says Bacon. “There is an opportunity to help make those behaviours easier to see, understand and improve. Any future information or guidance would need to be grounded in robust evidence and developed responsibly, but our ambition is to empower users with helpful, accurate feedback about their oral care. We're always exploring how technology can help people get more from our products.”

Teething problems

(Image credit: Future / Emily Peck)

Since its launch, there have been reports on Reddit of a small number of early production batches malfunctioning, so TechRadar reached out to Dyson for comment.

‘We are aware that a small number of early batches of Dyson CameraJet products may have experienced a component issue,’ says a spokesperson for Dyson.

‘We are isolating those batches and are taking all the necessary steps to support our customers. We have had a very positive reaction to the new Dyson CameraJet and are experiencing strong demand globally and we are seeing some shortages of supply as we are in the process of scaling up production.’

Whether or not you’re tempted to try a toothbrush with a built-in camera and smart app, it’s exciting to see Dyson engineers paving a way with new innovations in oral health. And for that, I think we have a reason to smile.

• Lockheed Vectis carries its air-to-air and strike weapons inside the aircraft
• Lockheed expects the first Vectis prototype to fly in 2027
• The aircraft measures roughly 34 feet long with a 38-foot wingspan

Lockheed Martin has released promotional footage offering a clearer look at Vectis, its proposed stealth Collaborative Combat Aircraft for future operations.

The company says the aircraft is intended for autonomous missions alongside crewed fighters, including the F-35 and future combat platforms.

Lockheed expects the first Vectis prototype to fly in 2027, with four additional aircraft now entering development and testing.

Vectis reveals its internal weapons arrangement

New computer-generated imagery shows a deeply recessed intake above the fuselage, indicating significant attention to the aircraft's signature characteristics.

The footage also depicts Vectis launching AIM-120 missiles and GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb IIs from internal weapons compartments.

Keeping those weapons inside the aircraft allows the illustrated configuration to avoid exposing them on external attachment points during missions.

The arrangement supports the stealth requirements associated with the aircraft, although Lockheed has released few detailed performance specifications for Vectis.

The company describes Vectis as an autonomous aircraft capable of operating independently or cooperating with crewed aircraft during demanding missions.

It also displayed a full-scale mock-up measuring about 34 feet long with a wingspan of approximately 38 feet.

Those dimensions establish the physical size of the aircraft, while important information about propulsion, payload and other systems remains undisclosed.

Ron Fehlen, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of Skunk Works, said the design responds to demanding customer requirements.

“The technical specs, as you can imagine, are designed to meet and, in some cases, exceed the customer sets that we are working with and their requirements and their mission needs,” said Fehlen.

Affordability remains central to the Increment 2 effort

Lockheed claims the aircraft is survivable, affordable, and adaptable across different missions, without disclosing its projected production cost.

“Engineered for affordability and built for survivability, it delivers the flexibility today’s operational environment demands. This is the future of airpower, built the Skunk Works way.” Lockheed said.

Vectis is being developed for the Air Force's Increment 2 requirement after Lockheed lost the earlier Increment 1 competition.

For Increment 1, the Air Force selected Anduril's FQ-42 and General Atomics' FQ-44 rather than Lockheed's earlier, more expensive aircraft proposal.

Lockheed reduced complexity and cost while continuing development of a more capable stealth-oriented aircraft for Increment 2.

The Air Force's requirements for Increment 2 remain under development, leaving the eventual balance between affordability, survivability and capability unresolved.

Earlier Increment 1 requirements called for more than 700 nautical miles of combat radius, while the later requirement could demand greater performance.

The lower costs could involve simpler stealth features and shorter-lived engines using manufacturing methods such as 3D printing.

A more demanding combat role, however, could require expensive propulsion, advanced avionics and sophisticated measures for reducing detectable signatures.

That combination leaves Vectis within an acquisition programme where the eventual technical requirements and preferred cost level remain unsettled.

• The trend of ditching AM and FM radios might have to be reversed 
• Supporters argue AM radio offers critical information during emergencies
• EV makers have said interference from motors can affect AM radio signal

Automakers in the US may have to reintroduce a 100-year-old technology into new vehicles, as the House of Representatives approved legislation this week that would require new cars, trucks, and SUVs to include AM radio at no additional charge to consumers, according to TechCrunch.

The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act will now head to the Senate, but it could require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to create new rules that would make AM radio standard in new vehicles.

While support for the Act has been relatively slow to gain traction, there has been a recent spike in interest from politicians of both parties, as well as the broadcast industry and emergency responder organizations.

The key argument is that AM radio provides critical information in the event of emergencies, when cellphone signals could be knocked out.

“Farmers use AM radio for weather forecasts, local information, and crop reports, while older Americans rely on it for local news and programming,” House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie said on the House floor.

While this may be good news for AM radio fans, farmers, or those living in rural communities where cellphone signals can be an issue, a growing number of automakers may be forced to rethink their infotainment offerings.

Tesla famously began phasing out AM radio in 2020, claiming that interference from the electric motors ruined the listening experience.

It then removed built-in FM and AM radio in hardware in certain trim levels, relying instead on streaming and Bluetooth connectivity.

But since then, many more automakers have followed suit, with Volvo, BMW, Polestar, and Rivian all favoring streaming services for their software-defined vehicles.

Analysis: EVs could be hardest hit

(Image credit: Rivian)

According to USA Today, the budget office said that the legislation could particularly impact manufacturers of electric vehicles, with analysis of EV sales data revealing that the legislation would require manufacturers to update radio equipment in about 2 to 2.5 million vehicles each year.

Those carmakers that still offer FM radio built-in likely won’t feel the financial pressure as much, yet the likes of Tesla and Rivian, both of which have removed AM and AM/FM receivers entirely in certain models, will likely have to rethink their strategies.

Senator Ted Cruz said the vote sent a clear message to car manufacturers that “AM radio is a lifeline that must be protected in new vehicles,” although all eyes will be on the Senate to see whether the Act passes into law.