Business category, Page 74
Independent booksellers continued to expand in 2023, with more than 200 new stores opening
NEW YORK — Three years ago, Erin Decker was a middle school librarian in Kissimmee, Florida, increasingly frustrated by the state’s book bans and worried that she couldn’t make a difference remaining in her job. So, she and fellow librarian Tania Galiñanes thought of a way to fight back. “We...
Government sues Ticketmaster owner and asks court to break up company’s monopoly on live events
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department sued Ticketmaster and its parent company Thursday, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly over live events in America and asking a court to break up the system that squelches competition and drives up prices for fans. Filed in federal court in Manhattan, the sweeping...
Buy now, pay later companies must adhere to credit card standards, consumer agency says
NEW YORK — Buy now, pay later companies must provide consumers with the same legal rights and protections as credit card lenders do, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday in a new rule. That includes the right to demand a refund and to dispute transactions. The agency began an...
U.S. applications for jobless benefits fall as labor market continues to thrive
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remained historically low despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to loosen the labor market. Jobless claims for the week ending May 18 fell by 8,000 to 215,000, down from 223,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday....
Nvidia’s profit soars, underscoring dominance in chips for artificial intelligence
SAN FRANCISCO — Nvidia on Wednesday overshot Wall Street estimates as its profit skyrocketed, bolstered by the chipmaking dominance that has made the company an icon of the artificial intelligence boom. Its net income rose more than sevenfold compared to a year earlier, jumping to $14.88 billion in its first...
Shutdown of fintech middleman Synapse freezes thousands of Americans’ deposits
NEW YORK — The bank accounts of tens of thousands of U.S. businesses and consumers have been frozen in the aftermath of the abrupt shutdown and bankruptcy of financial technology company Synapse, which acts as a middleman between financial technology companies and banks. Synapse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection...
Judge signs off on $600 million Ohio train derailment settlement but residents still have questions
A federal judge has signed off on the $600 million class action settlement over last year’s disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment in eastern Ohio, but many people who live near East Palestine are still wondering how much they will end up with out of the deal. Preliminary approval for the settlement...
Average U.S. vehicle age hits record 12.6 years as high prices force people to keep them longer
DETROIT — Cars, trucks and SUVs in the U.S. keep getting older, hitting a record average age of 12.6 years in 2024 as people hang on to their vehicles largely because new ones cost so much. S&P Global Mobility, which tracks state vehicle registration data nationwide, said Wednesday that the...
Using AI, Mastercard expects to find compromised cards quicker, before they get used by criminals
NEW YORK — Mastercard said Wednesday that it expects to be able to discover that your credit or debit card number has been compromised well before it ends up in the hands of a cybercriminal. In its latest software update rolling out this week, Mastercard is integrating artificial intelligence into...
OpenAI is halting use of ChatGPT voice that Scarlett Johansson says is ‘eerily similar’ to hers
NEW YORK — OpenAI on Monday said it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices that “Her” actor Scarlett Johansson says sounds “eerily similar” to her own. In a post on the social media platform X, OpenAI said it is “working to pause” Sky — the...
Biden releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from Northeast reserve in bid to lower prices at pump
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Tuesday that it is releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from a Northeast reserve established after Superstorm Sandy in a bid to lower prices at the pump this summer. The sale, from storage sites in New Jersey and Maine, will be allocated in increments...
AI companies pledge to develop tech safely at AI summit, countries agree on safety institutes
SEOUL, South Korea — Leading artificial intelligence companies made a fresh pledge at a mini-summit Tuesday to develop AI safely, while world leaders agreed to build a network of publicly backed safety institutes to advance research and testing of the technology. Google, Meta and OpenAI were among the companies that...
Macy’s tops expectations for 1st quarter as luxury and beauty sales shine
NEW YORK — Macy’s sales and profits fell during the first quarter as higher costs and other financial challenges had customers pulling back on spending. Yet the quarterly results Tuesday beat Wall Street expectations. And Macy’s, which also operates upscale Bloomingdale’s and beauty chain Bluemercury, said it is seeing a...
CEO of Post-Gazette’s parent company ousted as brothers’ feud continues
The chief executive of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s parent company has been fired. The move was the latest in a family feud over what the ousted CEO, Allan Block, says are attempts to sell Block Communications Inc., the family-owned business that also owns The Blade in Toledo, Ohio, four television stations...
White House says FDIC chairman to step down following report on agency’s ‘toxic culture’
NEW YORK — The White House said Monday that the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will step down, a departure that follows the release earlier this month of a damning report about the agency’s toxic workplace culture. The White House said Martin Gruenberg will step down once a...
Senate report finds parts made with China’s forced labor in cars by BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and VW
WASHINGTON — BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen have bought parts made by a Chinese company sanctioned under a 2021 law for using forced labor, a Senate inquiry found, prompting lawmakers to call for stricter enforcement. The automakers responded to the Senate report, released Monday, by saying they have taken...
Microsoft’s AI chatbot will ‘recall’ everything you do on a PC
REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you’re doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next. The software giant on Monday revealed an upgraded version of Copilot, its AI assistant,...
Red Lobster seeks bankruptcy protection days after closing dozens of restaurants
Red Lobster, the casual dining chain that brought seafood to the masses with inventions like popcorn shrimp and “endless” seafood deals, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The 56-year-old chain made the filing late Sunday, days after shuttering dozens of restaurants. “This restructuring is the best path forward for...
Sour Patch Kids Oreos? Peeps Pepsi? What’s behind the weird flavors popping up on store shelves
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream usually draws customers with gourmet takes on classics like vanilla and pistachio. But occasionally, the artisanal ice cream maker headquartered in New York slips in what it calls a “shock flavor,” like Hidden Valley Ranch or pizza. Surprising flavor combinations—think gravy-flavored Jones Soda or Sour Patch...
Former OpenAI leader: Safety has ‘taken a backseat’ at the AI company
A former OpenAI leader who resigned from the company this week said Friday that safety has “taken a backseat to shiny products” at the influential artificial intelligence company. Jan Leike, who ran OpenAI’s “Super Alignment” team alongside a company co-founder who also resigned this week, wrote in a series of...
Bike shops boomed early in the pandemic. It’s been a bumpy ride for most ever since
For the nation’s bicycle shops, the past few years have probably felt like the business version of the Tour de France, with numerous twists and turns testing their endurance. Early in the pandemic, a surge of interest in cycling pushed sales up 64% to $5.4 billion in 2020, according to...
Google wants judge, not jury, to decide upcoming antitrust case in Virginia
Google on Thursday asked that a judge, rather than a jury, decide whether it violated U.S. antitrust laws by building a monopoly on the technology that powers online advertising. To bolster its case, the tech giant wrote a multimillion-dollar check to the U.S. government that it says renders moot the...
McDonald’s plans $5 U.S. meal deal next month to counter customer frustration over high prices
McDonald’s plans to introduce a $5 meal deal in the U.S. next month to counter slowing sales and customers’ frustration with high prices. The deal would let customers get a four-piece McNugget, small fries, a small drink and either a McDouble burger or a McChicken sandwich for $5 in most...
Japanese automaker Honda revs up on EVs, aiming for lucrative U.S., China markets
TOKYO — Japanese automaker Honda reaffirmed its commitment to electric vehicles Thursday, saying it will invest 10 trillion yen ($65 billion) through fiscal 2031 to deliver EV models around the world, including the U.S. and China. “Honda has not changed its belief that EVs are the most effective solution in...
Dow tops 40,000 for 1st time as Wall Street drifts higher
NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped the 40,000 level for the first time Thursday, as U.S. stocks drifted higher to add to their records set a day before. The Dow was up 115 points, or 0.3%, at 40,023, in midday trading. It made its last leap of...
