Christopher Nolan, the Oscar-winning director whose new version of “The Odyssey” is currently conquering the box office, said it’s been “pretty encouraging” to see deep skepticism of AI, especially from young people.

Nolan was responding to a question from interviewer Hugo Travers, who publishes on YouTube under the name HugoDécrypte. Travers brought up the legendary Trojan horse, which plays a key role in Nolan’s film — just as the horse was a gift concealing murderous Greek invaders, he wondered if AI might be something “that you welcome in your daily life” only to see it become “something else and something darker.”

Laughing, Nolan responded, “I think AI is a Trojan horse that everybody knows the Greeks are inside.” He later described the technology as “a transparent horse, it’s made of glass.”

“I’ve never seen a technology advancing so rapidly [that’s been] so completely rejected by the public,” he said. “Everybody’s suspicion of it is so extreme, particularly young people. The reaction to AI videos online and people my children’s age immediately calling it ‘AI slop’ and coining that term and just putting it in a box.”

In Nolan’s view, this is “a very healthy skepticism, because technology is always going to give us great gifts, as you say, but it has to be viewed with skepticism.” Similarly, he said, “The motives of the people giving it to us also have to be viewed with skepticism. That’s when we’ll get the best out of a new technology, rather than just blind faith that everything’s going to be great.” (Meanwhile, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been angrily posting about the film’s nonwhite and transgender cast members.)

Nolan didn’t get more specific about what he views as the threat from AI, but the technology has been a growing source of concern in Hollywood and was a major focus during the writers’ and actors’ strikes of 2023. The Directors Guild of America, where Nolan is president, also won some generative AI protections in its most recent contract.

The director has been famously resistant to other technologies, including smartphones; his embrace of film can make him seem simultaneously like a Luddite and a pioneer, with “The Odyssey” becoming the first feature film to be shot entirely on Imax film and cameras.

When The New York Times recently asked Nolan if he thinks of himself as a technophobe, he replied, “I think of myself as a techno-skeptic,” and said his love of film comes from the fact that it’s “better in terms of representing the way the eye sees the world than any digital imaging system I’ve seen.”

“I embrace new technology all the time, but it tends to be sold to people at the expense of systems that might still be valid and viable,” Nolan said. “That’s what I saw in my industry — throwing the baby out with the bath water. We almost lost film!”

The Department of Justice says that federal employees can now download TikTok on their government devices, according to Reuters.

A 2022 law banned federal employees from using the short-form video app on those devices, but the DOJ reportedly says the law no longer applies, thanks to a deal transferring ownership of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a joint venture backed by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. (Oracle serves as the security partner for the new joint venture, while previous owner ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake.)

The DOJ memo reportedly says President Donald Trump has cleared “employees of Executive Branch agencies” to “download TikTok onto their official devices, subject ​to the agency’s discretion and consistent with all applicable workplace policies.”

Following the ban focused on government employees and devices, the app was banned more broadly across the United States. But just as the law took effect early last year, the app only went down briefly before Trump repeatedly delayed the move and urged service providers to restore access.

The Honda Prologue, you may have heard, is officially dead — a decision the company confirmed to TechCrunch, removing the last all-electric vehicle from the automaker’s U.S. portfolio. The Prologue’s departure signals more than Honda’s EV backpedaling. It also illustrates a broader EV industry retreat from the U.S. market (in stark contrast to the rest of the world).

The demise of the Honda Prologue got us thinking: What other EVs have left the U.S., and why?

The end of the $7,500 federal tax credit had an outsized effect on EV sales in the United States. But there are other reasons behind the winnowing choices, including tariffs, changing consumer tastes, costs, company priorities, and regulatory action. According to data published in July by Kelley Blue Book and Cox Automotive, 247,226 EVs were sold in the second quarter or about 5.8% of the total market. While EV sales grew between the first and second quarters of 2026, they are still down from the same period last year (and before that tax credit ended in fall 2025).

Still Americans are still buying EVs, and there are new EVs entering the U.S. market — the Rivian R2 is one example. And there are signs of a slow recovery. Fourth quarter 2025 sales were 36% lower than the same period in 2024. This year that gap has narrowed, albeit still below sales figures from the previous year. For example, EV sales in Q2 were 20.5% lower than the same period in 2025.

Even with a recovery underway, automakers are pulling the plug on many EV modes. Here are those ones that have left or are leaving. TechCrunch will periodically update this list of EVs that have left, or are leaving, the U.S. market in 2026.

Afeela

Ah, Afeela we never even knew ya.

The Afeela got its start as the Vision S, a prototype announced by Sony in 2020 at the Consumer Electronics and that ended up being one of the big, surprising reveals of the annual tech trade show. Honda entered the picture in 2022 when the two Japanese conglomerates announced a joint venture; they showed off an Afeela-branded prototype the following year.

In the months and years that followed, there was constant barrage of updates about the Afeela, which seemed to be everywhere, and yet nowhere. It was even displayed at TechCrunch Disrupt one year.

The Afeela, despite the marketing blitz, never made it into production. In March 2026, the joint venture gave up on the two Afeela-branded EVs. The move followed Honda’s decision, announced just a two weeks before, to cancel three EVs planned for the U.S. market.

Honda (and Acura!)

It was just a couple of years ago that Honda declared its EV ambitions with its O Series, including a mid-sized SUV prototype that debuted at the CES 2025 tech trade show and its futuristic Saloon and Space-Hub concepts the year before. The SUV, which was slated for production at Honda’s “EV Hub” factory in Ohio, was supposed to debut in North America in the first half of 2026.

Honda stopped development of the Acura RDX, Honda O sedan and SUV in March 2026 as part of a major overhaul of the company’s EV plans. The company blamed U.S. tariffs and Chinese competition for the decision.

There was also chatter at the time that Honda was planning to stop production of the Prologue, but there was no official announcement until July 16 when CarBuzz was the first to report that the Prologue program was ending. TechCrunch confirmed with Honda that the Prologue was going out of production.

The death of the Series 0 is difficult to measure since it never went into production. The Prologue represented more grounded goals than the O Series, and one that actually went into production and sold to U.S. consumers. The Prologue was a product of a partnership with General Motors — it is built at GM’s Ramos Assembly Plant in Mexico — and closely related to the Chevrolet Blazer EV. And it did OK for awhile, selling roughly 33,000 units in 2024 and 39,000 in 2025, before the tax credit ended and sales went into a free fall.

Hyundai

The Korean automaker has actually done quite well selling EVs to Americans. But it has made a few changes based on changing economics. In March, the company said it would no longer sell the Hyundai Ioniq 6 in the U.S., a decision that was likely tied to tariffs. The Ioniq 6 is made in South Korean and imported to the U.S., while its Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 models are assembled at its Georgia factory.

The company has said it will continue to import its more expensive, lower volume N-model of the Ioniq 6.

Nissan

Nissan decided last year it would not produce a 2026 model year of its all-electric Ariya SUV for the U.S. market. And it doesn’t appear to be returning. Nissan first unveiled the Ariya in 2020 and planned to start selling it in Japan the following year.

The Ariya was the first all-electric to come out of Nissan since the early EV pioneer introduced the Leaf hatchback a decade ago.

Polestar

Swedish EV maker Polestar, owned by Chinese automotive giant Geely, has been forced to leave U.S. over the country’s ban on Chinese-connected vehicle technology. Polestar needed specific authorization from the U.S. Department of Commerce to continue importing and selling its vehicles in the United States.

Without it, Polestar has been effectively banned from the United States. The company said it would continue selling its existing stock of Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 vehicles in the U.S., and that it will “continue to support customers, including providing access to its service network.” The Polestar 3 was assembled at a factory in South Carolina and in Chengdu, China.

Volvo Cars, Polestar’s sibling company that is also owned by Geely, did receive the authorization.

Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X

Tesla announced in January that it would end production of the Model S sedan and Model X SUV to make way for what the company views is the future. And it’s not a traditional electric sedan or SUV. In Tesla’s view, the future is AI, autonomy, and robots. It’s worth noting that sales of the S and X have fallen steadily over the years as consumers turned to its high volume and cheaper vehicles, the Model 3 and Model Y.

The last Model S and X vehicles rolled off the assembly line this spring. The company recently removed the assembly lines for the S and X at its Fremont, California factory to make room for production of its Optimus robots.

Volkswagen

Volkswagen has pulled back on the ID. 4 electric SUV and the ID Buzz.

In April, Volkswagen said it would no longer produce the ID.4 at its U.S. factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee in a shift to high-volume vehicles like its upcoming gas-powered Atlas SUV. The company said, at the time, U.S. customers will be able to buy the ID.4 until the current inventory runs out. VW said it expects U.S. inventory to last into 2027.

To be clear, Volkswagen has said the ID Buzz is merely on a hiatus and will return in 2027. But there is no 2026 model.

There are, however self-driving versions of the ID buzz currently being tested in the United States. Volkswagen subsidiary MOIA America and Uber started testing autonomous microbuses in Los Angeles in April in preparation for a robotaxi service that is supposed to launch in late 2026. When the service initially launches there the vehicles will have himan safety operators.

Volvo

Volvo decided in March that it would pull its subcompact EX30 and EX30 Cross Country variant from the U.S. market. The company said at the time that production for the U.S. would end sfter the summer. The EX30 had a promising start. It recieved a lot of attention prior to it official entry into the U.S. in 2025, and it was the company’s more affordable EV option.

Volvo does plan to continue selling the larger, all-electric EX60 and EX90 SUVs in the United States.