Business category, Page 59
‘This is the place’: Tech leaders, Shapiro tout Pittsburgh as AI hub
With top-notch universities, a plethora of tech companies and support from local and state leaders, Pittsburgh is at the forefront of innovations in artificial intelligence, industry experts said Monday during an artificial intelligence summit in the city’s East End. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly prevalent in daily life, bringing conveniences,...
Documents show OpenAI’s long journey from nonprofit to $157B valued company
Back in 2016, a scientific research organization incorporated in Delaware and based in Mountain View, California, applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt charitable organization by the Internal Revenue Services. Called OpenAI, the nonprofit told the IRS its goal was to “advance digital intelligence in the way that is most...
Boeing to lay off 10% of employees as strike by factory workers cripples airplane production
Boeing plans to lay off about 10% of its workers in the coming months as it continues to lose money and tries to deal with a strike that is crippling production of the company’s best-selling airline planes. New CEO Kelly Ortberg told staff in a memo Friday the job cuts...
TD Bank to pay $3 billion in historic money-laundering settlement with the Justice DepartmentVideo
WASHINGTON — TD Bank will pay approximately $3 billion in a historic settlement with U.S. authorities who said Thursday that the financial institution’s lax practices allowed significant money laundering over multiple years. Canada-based TD Bank pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, the largest bank in U.S. history to...
Average U.S. 30-year mortgage rate surges to 6.32%, adding pressure to buyers facing high home prices
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. surged to 6.32% this week, adding pressure on home buyers facing sky-high prices and a limited supply of houses for sale. The rate ticked up from 6.12% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate...
Social Security recipients will get a 2.5% cost-of-living boost in 2025, smaller than in recent past
WASHINGTON — Millions of Social Security recipients will get a 2.5% cost-of-living increase to their monthly checks beginning in January, the Social Security Administration announced Thursday. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for retirees translates to an average increase of more than $50 for retirees every month, agency officials said. About...
U.S. jobless claims hit 258,000, the most in a year. Analysts point to Hurricane Helene, Boeing strike
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week jumped to its highest level in a year, which analysts are saying is more likely a result of Hurricane Helene — and the Boeing machinist strike — than a broader softening in the labor market. The Labor Department reported Thursday...
U.S. inflation reaches lowest point since February 2021, though some price pressures remain
WASHINGTON — Inflation in the United States dropped last month to its lowest point since it first began surging more than three years ago, adding to a spate of encouraging economic news in the closing weeks of the presidential race. Consumer prices rose just 2.4% in September from a year...
Social Security’s scheduled cost of living increase ‘won’t make a dent’ for some retirees
WASHINGTON — Sherri Myers, an 82-year-old resident of Pensacola City, Florida, says the Social Security cost-of-living increase she’ll receive in January “won’t make a dent” in helping her meet her day-to-day expenses. “Inflation has eaten up my savings,” she said. “I don’t have anything to fall back on — the...
States sue TikTok, claiming its platform is addictive and harms the mental health of children
NEW YORK — More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia have filed lawsuits against TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the popular short-form video app is harming youth mental health by designing its platform to be addictive to kids. The lawsuits stem from a national investigation into TikTok, which...
Woman accusing Vince McMahon of sexual abuse asks WWE to waive confidentiality agreements
A former WWE employee who filed a lawsuit against the company and ex-leader Vince McMahon, accusing him of sexual battery and trafficking, is asking them to not enforce nondisclosure agreements with other former and current employees and contractors so they can potentially come forward with similar accusations. A lawyer for...
John Dorfman: Occidental, Humana on Casualty List
“I can only buy on train wrecks,” famed money manager John Neff once said. Neff’s lament was that his fund (the Windsor Fund) had grown so large that he normally couldn’t buy a stock without pushing the price up. Accordingly, he felt that he could only buy on bad news....
Federal judge orders Google to open its Android app store to competitionVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Monday ordered Google to tear down the digital walls shielding its Android app store from competition as punishment for maintaining an illegal monopoly that helped expand the company’s internet empire. The injunction issued by U.S. District Judge James Donato will require Google to...
Amazon, UPS each want 2,000 seasonal workers in Western Pa.
Amazon and United Parcel Service Inc. each want to hire about 2,000 workers in advance of the holiday shopping season for its distribution centers in Western Pennsylvania, the companies said this week. Workers looking for full-time and part-time seasonal jobs with the competing major shipping and delivery companies can earn...
U.S. adds a robust 254,000 jobs and unemployment dips to 4.1% in sign of still-sturdy labor market
WASHINGTON — America’s employers added a surprisingly strong 254,000 jobs in September, the latest evidence that the U.S. labor market is still solid enough to support steady hiring and a growing economy. Last month’s hiring gain was up sharply from the 159,000 jobs that were added in August, and the...
Dockworkers’ union to suspend strike until January to allow time to negotiate new contract
DETROIT — The union representing 45,000 striking U.S. dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports reached a deal Thursday to suspend a three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. The union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, is to resume working immediately. The temporary end to...
Taxpayers in 24 states will be able to file their returns directly with the IRS in 2025
WASHINGTON — The IRS is expanding its program that allows people to file their taxes directly with the agency for free. The federal tax collector’s Direct File program, which allows taxpayers to calculate and submit their returns to the government directly without using commercial tax preparation software, will be open...
Amazon, Target and other retailers are ramping up hiring for the holiday shopping season
Retailers are ramping up hiring for the holiday season, but fewer seasonal employees are expected to be taken on this year to help customers in stores and assemble online orders in warehouses. E-commerce giant Amazon said Thursday it will hire 250,000 full, part-time and seasonal workers for the crucial shopping...
Tesla issues 5th recall for new Cybertruck within a year, the latest due to rearview camera
Tesla is recalling more than 27,000 Cybertrucks because the rearview camera image may not activate immediately after shifting into reverse, the fifth recall for the vehicle since it went on sale late last year. Tesla has released a free software upgrade to address the issue and owner notification letters are...
Elections have less impact on your 401(k) than you might think
NEW YORK — Much like those annoying political TV ads, the warnings come back every four years: All the uncertainty around the U.S. presidential election could have big consequences for your 401(k)! Such warnings can raise anxiety, but remember: If your 401(k) is like many retirement savers’, with most invested...
Dockworkers join other unions in trying to fend off automation, or minimize the impact
NEW YORK — The massive port workers’ strike that has crippled all the major dockyards on the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. is highlighting a fear held by many workers: Eventually, we will all be replaced by machines. The International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents the approximately 45,000 dock workers who...
Trump’s crypto venture begins sign-ups as business’s purpose remains unclear
Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial decentralized finance project has started to sign up users even though it remains unclear what services the crypto platform will offer. The project backed by the former president is now accepting accredited U.S. investors and non-U.S. persons, according to posts Monday on the social networks...
CNN puts paywall on its website as TV revenues decline
CNN has long had one of the most visited news websites in the world. Starting Tuesday, users are going to have to pay for it. The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned news operation is putting a paywall on CNN.com, requiring U.S. users to pay $3.99 for access or a discounted rate of...
Dockworkers may have the negotiating advantage in their strike against U.S. ports
PHILADELPHIA — With 45,000 longshoremen at 36 U.S. ports from Maine to Texas on strike for the first time in decades, experts say the workers may wield the upper hand in their standoff with port operators over wages and the use of automation. Organized labor enjoys rising public support and...
U.S. job openings rise to 8 million as labor market remains sturdy
WASHINGTON — U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in August as the American labor market continued to show resilience. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers posted 8 million vacancies in August, up from 7.7 million in July. Economists had expected openings to be virtually unchanged. Openings were up in construction...
