Hello! May your May be full of sunshine, snacks and autocorrect that finally understands you. This week’s Thing of the Week probably should be Altman v. Musk, but life is short and there are only so many billionaire reality shows one reporter can survive.
So instead: AI chatbots are starting to ride shotgun, your iPhone can make a new charging sound, New Things has an RSS feed and this week’s Old Thing is a remote control from one of tech’s top entrepreneurs.
🚨 Reminder: Today’s newsletter is free, but Wednesday’s editions—with deeper dives, exclusive videos and more perks—are for paid members. Subscribe here! 🚨
Last year, during my AI Year Takeover, I developed a habit of talking to ChatGPT in the car. (Shameless plug: It’s all in my book, I AM NOT A ROBOT, out May 12. It’s coming up soon! Pre-order now! All the book plugs end soon-ish, and then I return to my regularly scheduled dignity.)
On longer drives to New York City or during solo road trips for work, I’d open ChatGPT on my iPhone and talk to it via Bluetooth. I’d brainstorm story or book chapter ideas, ask questions to help me prepare for meetings or interviews and more. Basically, ChatGPT was KITT and I was David Hasselhoff, minus the chest hair.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one. In early April, OpenAI released ChatGPT for Apple CarPlay. Now I just tap the ChatGPT icon on my CarPlay screen and there it is: the glowing blue orb, riding shotgun. (You do need iOS 26.4.) And this week, Google announced Gemini is rolling out to Google built-in vehicles.
This is more than just another “AI is coming to your car” headline.
For years, CarPlay and Android Auto have mostly been projection layers: maps, music, messages, podcasts, calls. Useful, but still basically your phone projected. Now the car is becoming a deeper AI surface.
That matters because vehicles are one of the places where AI makes a ton of sense. You can’t type. You shouldn’t be looking at screens. But you can talk. And on a long drive, you may actually have the one thing AI apps are always fighting for: your attention.
The question is who gets to sit in that passenger seat. Apple with Siri? Google with Gemini? Amazon with Alexa? OpenAI with ChatGPT? Your automaker? GM has chosen Gemini. Tesla has obviously chosen Grok. Because once the assistant can do more than “play Taylor Swift,” the car becomes a battleground for something much bigger: the conversation.
Last summer, when I interviewed Ford CEO Jim Farley on my friend Nilay Patel’s Decoder podcast, I asked him about the move here. He referenced what Chinese EV maker Nio has been doing and hinted that Ford would like to do the same.
“If you look at China being ahead of the West in terms of integrating AI as a companion in your vehicle, early indications are that a well-done companion-like functionality from the OEM can add a lot of value to people’s lives,” he said. “That’s the direction we’re going.”
That deeper integration with the car, the software and eventually autonomous driving makes a lot of sense. AI in our cars isn’t some far-off sci-fi fantasy. It’s quickly approaching the next exit. We’re all David Hasselhoff soon.
Big news at New Things HQ this week: David, our head of video, bought new microphones and a bunch of other items he described as “essential” without asking me for my debit card.
He used his new Mercury virtual card, which works right through the Mercury app and Apple Pay.
I also paid our GFX designer through Mercury, and it was so simple it was almost anticlimactic. Transferred money in, found the pay tool and done.
No digging through a maze of menus. No “allow 5-7 business days.” Just: paid.
One account, multiple cards, contractors getting paid on time…and the time back to keep writing this newsletter and making videos.
Mercury is our launch sponsor at New Things, and its banking works the way modern software should: fast, clean, and, dare I say, like a new thing. Check them out here.
(Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.)
It’s been amazing watching how many of you still love the old-school web and RSS feeds. Truly warms my Really Simple Syndicated heart. Anyway, you asked and I answered: Here is New Things’ RSS feed. Pop it into your reader of choice and enjoy. I even resurrected my NewsBlur account to test it out. Long live Google Reader.
Over the past few weeks, a new iOS 24.6 trick has gone viral. In the Shortcuts app, you can now customize the sound your phone makes when you plug in to charge. Unlike the phone alarm that comes with a menu of pre-selected sounds, this lets you pick any audio file. The options are infinite and we are not here to stop you.
The internet has been hard at work making this sound update: dramatic gasps, movie lines, sound effects of all kinds. (This TikTok account has lots of funny ideas.) I was inspired to set the Mac startup sound as my charge sound. Then I tried to do it myself and spent a while wandering through Shortcuts like I’d been dropped into an Apple escape room. So, let’s do this together.
First: Download whatever sound you fancy to your iPhone’s Files app. (I downloaded the Mac startup sound from here on my Mac and the Windows XP startup sound here. Then I AirDropped them to my Phone.)
Then:
1. Open the Shortcuts app. It’s pre-installed on your iPhone.
2. Tap Automation, then hit + in the top right.
3. Scroll down to Charger.
4. Select Connected and Run Immediately, then tap Next.
5. Select Play Sound.
6. In the search actions bar, look for File.
7. Once that’s added, tap the word File and select your downloaded audio.
8. Drag that audio section above the Play Sound line.
9. Hit the blue check button.
Now, every time I plug in my phone, I hear the glorious Mac startup sound. It’s a lot to follow, which is why we made a quick video for you to follow along here.
After you watch my quick video here, let me know what sound you end up going with! 🔋
Name? Matt Rogers*
What’s your old thing? Logitech Harmony Remote
What year is it from? 2015 (discontinued in 2021)
Why do you love your old thing? The Harmony Remote was “the gold standard of the universal remote,” or at least that’s what one smart former WSJ columnist once said. It was a product built to solve a real and present problem for regular people, at scale. Instead of a graveyard of plastic expanding across your coffee table, the Harmony did the job of three or four remotes in one. I dug the Harmony’s Bluetooth capabilities that enable the actual theater equipment to be stored out of sight (vs. other remotes that use infrared and can’t speak through walls). I was devastated when it was discontinued, but that hasn’t stopped me from still using it. I bought this last replacement in August 2025 from someone in Tennessee on eBay.
* Matt Rogers is the founder and CEO of Mill, a food-waste recycling company. He also was a co-founder of Nest.
Want your old thing featured here? Submit a photo and entry to [email protected]. Include your answers to all of the above, plus the emotional damage this gadget may have caused.
This newsletter was written and curated by Joanna Stern and Adele Lowitz. The amazing New Things branding was designed by Brainstorm. Have a great weekend! 🕶️
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