Texas Lithium, Fortnite Dashboard, A.I. Fast Food Order Taking

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It’s only Tuesday and we’ve already gotten so much done. We’re keeping pace today as we talk about the new lithium refinery going up in Texas, as well as Epic games getting into auto, and a new A.I. fast food order taker. If that doesn’t sound like 2023, we don’t know what does.

• Tesla is now the first automaker to enter the lithium refining space as it breaks ground on a massive Texas lithium refinery capable of producing enough lithium for 1 million electric vehicles by 2025
  • The company is claiming a much cleaner process of refining lithium using materials like soda ash. Musk said you could live in the center of the plant without “suffering any ill effect”
  • Texas Governor Greg Abbott was on hand at the announcement event and said: "Texas wants to be able to be self-reliant, not dependent upon any foreign hostile nation for what we need."
  • In a call last year, Musk begged entrepreneurs to get into the lithium refining business and likened it to “printing money” stressing the company didn’t want to get it to the space but saw no other viable options to secure the supply 
  • The company shared a rendering of the new Corpus Christie, TX facility
• Auto tech company, ECARX is set to announce its partnership with Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, to integrate Epic's Unreal Engine into vehicle displays. 
  • Primarily designed for EVs, This collaboration will enable drivers to interact with 3D visuals of gauges and control car features in real time to provide a more immersive experience and be a differentiator for it’s current clients such as Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, and Smart
  • “It is the experience that will make you reach that tipping point and actually decide to buy something,” said Christine Gall, head of Human-Machine-Interface and User Experience at Lynk&Co Design, an automaker and existing customer of ECARX
  • U.S. owned Epic Games is located in Cary, NC, while Chinese Company ECARX is headquartered in London. 
• CKE Restaurants Holdings, the parent company of popular fast food chains Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, is taking a bold step towards automating drive-thrus by partnering with AI companies Presto Automation, OpenCity, and Valyant AI to introduce voice-ordering automation at drive-thru locations across the country
  • The initiative is set to enhance accuracy, speed, and revenue while addressing staffing shortages. 
  • CKE chief technology officer Phil Crawford said a pilot program with Presto showed positive results, recording a "significant" uptick in revenue due to the technology’s ability to upsell customers
  • In a February earnings call, Presto CEO Rajat Suri said the company’s AI "never forgets to upsell, and upsells better than a human."

Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.

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