AI agents were the talk of the town as Silicon Valley leaders descended on the Big Apple for New York Tech Week. But some discussions still began with an exchange of definitions.

The decentralized conference consisted of more than 1,000 events, from pickleball matches and movie nights to panels and rooftop soirées, scattered throughout the city. This year’s iteration drew more than 60,000 RSVPs from attendees, according to one organizer.

A sizable chunk of those events focused on the rise of autonomous generative agents, billed as the next big wave in the AI arms race. Tech giants like Microsoft and Salesforce have gone all-in on this concept with lofty predictions about digital workforces at companies of the future.

But separating the hype from the current reality—or even nailing down a firm definition of what agents are—can be a tall order sometimes. Dan Balaceanu, chief product officer of enterprise conversational AI platform Druid, said buzz around the term has swallowed up some of the more precise terminology in the AI world.

“Somehow this agent name absorbed all the related terms,” Balaceanu told Tech Brew before he appeared on a panel on enterprise agents. “We don’t talk about virtual assistants anymore—we call them AI agents. We don’t talk about bots, we call them agents, we don’t talk about intents and skills or conversation flows, we talk about agents. In my opinion, maybe it’s not 100% accurate, but if we understand we are speaking about AI completing and helping humans, it’s fine.”

Keep reading here.—PK

The auto industry’s new tariff-driven reality appears to be setting in.

New-vehicle sales in the US slowed in May, according to industry reports, after consumers rushed to buy cars in March and April to get ahead of expected price increases.

Cox Automotive forecast a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 16 million, “a significant decline from March’s 17.8 million and April’s 17.3 million pace.”

“The vehicle market has been particularly strong since new tariff announcements in March, as many vehicle shoppers who were considering buying this year decided to pull ahead their purchase, before higher prices hit the market,” Charlie Chesbrough, Cox senior economist, said in a statement.

New-vehicle inventory on dealer lots fell 7.4% from April—which means it will be “more challenging for shoppers” to find the vehicle they want, according to Chesbrough.

“Given the swirling tariff, consumer, and auto inventory conditions, the expected May 2025 auto sales result will likely be the last period this year to post positive growth in year-ago and month-prior comparisons,” Chris Hopson, principal analyst at S&P Global Mobility, said in a statement.

Keep reading here.—JG

The Trump administration’s Department of Energy is cutting billions in funding for some green tech maneuvers, and announcing millions for others.

Earlier this week, the DOE announced $8 million specifically for “microgrid innovation” in Alaska, Nevada, and South Dakota as part of the department’s Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership (C-MAP) program. Of the 14 municipalities, nonprofits, unions, and businesses that received shares of that funding, 12 are located in Alaska—where there are already more than 200 microgrids. The funding will support the modernization of power systems to avoid outages and “prioritize local energy supply chains” to lower energy bills, among other things.

“Microgrids in remote Alaska are far too often dependent on flying or barging in diesel fuel, facing outages caused by extreme weather or aging conditions, and overcoming workforce shortages or logistical nightmares,” Erin Whitney, director of the DOE’s Arctic Energy Office, said in a press release. “These C-MAP investments will play an outsized role in propelling these communities forward.”

While it’s unclear if the microgrids that will be supported by the influx of C-MAP funding will run in part or entirely on renewable energy, the department’s release mentions that the program will be working with Renewable Energy Alaska Project and is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Keep reading here.—TC

Usually, we write about the business of tech. Here, we highlight the *tech* of tech.

Beware the Instagram Temu ad: Wired bought and reviewed a Boston Dynamics knockoff purchased from Temu so you don’t have to. The review is worth a read, even if the product isn’t worth your money.

On the surface: The Verge relentlessly reviews various tech products, and is a go-to source if you’re in the market for a laptop or a video game console or headphones. Tom Warren largely has kind words for Microsoft’s tablet/laptop hybrid, the Surface Pro. Just in case, you know, you want to spend your money on something useful. We’re side-eyeing you, Temu robots.