Business category, Page 74
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...
Supreme Court sides with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, spurning a conservative attack
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a conservative-led attack that could have undermined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The justices ruled 7-2 that the way the CFPB is funded does not violate the Constitution, reversing a lower court. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion, splitting with his...
Inflation eased last month in the first slowdown of 2024Video
WASHINGTON — Led by lower food and auto prices, inflation in the United States cooled slightly last month after three elevated readings, likely offering a tentative sigh of relief for officials at the Federal Reserve as well as President Joe Biden’s re-election team. Consumer prices rose 0.3% from March to...
Billionaire Frank McCourt says he’s putting together a consortium to buy TikTok
Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Frank McCourt said he’s putting together a consortium to purchase TikTok’s U.S. business, adding to the number of investors hoping to benefit from a new federal law that requires TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the popular platform or face a ban. The announcement,...
Retail sales were unchanged in April from March as inflation and interest rates curb spending
NEW YORK — Retail sales in April were unchanged from March as inflation continued to sting and elevated interest rates made taking on debt more burdensome. The number following a revised 0.6% pace in March, according to Commerce Department data released Wednesday. It rose 0.9% in February. That comes after...
Meme stocks are roaring again. This time may be different
NEW YORK — Meme stocks are shaking Wall Street once again. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Ever since bands of smaller-pocketed and novice investors began taking stock prices of downtrodden companies to breathtaking heights three years ago, the potential for more flareups has been obvious. Some things are...
CNX plans $1.5B hydrogen fuels plant at Pittsburgh airport, but wants federal tax credit to build it
HARRISBURG — Natural gas producer CNX Resources said it plans to build a $1.5 billion facility at Pittsburgh’s airport to make hydrogen-based fuels, but only if President Joe Biden’s administration allows coal mine methane to qualify for tax credits that are central to the Democrat’s plan to fight climate change....
Justice Department: Boeing violated deal that avoided prosecution after 737 Max crashes
WASHINGTON — Boeing has violated a settlement that allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution after two deadly crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft, the Justice Department told a federal judge on Tuesday. It is now up to the Justice Department to decide whether to file charges against the aircraft...
TikTok content creators sue the U.S. government over law that could ban the popular platform
Eight TikTok content creators sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, issuing another challenge to the new federal law that would ban the popular social media platform nationwide if its China-based parent company doesn’t sell its stakes within a year. Attorneys for the creators argued in the lawsuit that the law...
Red Lobster closes dozens of locations across the country just months after ‘endless shrimp’ losses
NEW YORK — Dozens of Red Lobster locations across the U.S. are on the chopping block. Restaurant liquidator TAGeX Brands announced this week that it would be auctioning off the equipment of over 50 Red Lobster locations that were recently closed as part of the seafood chain’s “footprint rationalization.” The...
Google’s unleashes AI in search, raising hopes for better results and fears about less web traffic
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google on Tuesday rolled out a retooled search engine that will frequently favor responses crafted by artificial intelligence over website links, a shift promising to quicken the quest for information while also potentially disrupting the flow of money-making internet traffic. The makeover announced at Google’s annual...
Appeals court upholds ruling requiring Georgia county to pay for a transgender deputy’s surgery
ATLANTA — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that a Georgia county illegally discriminated against a sheriff’s deputy by failing to pay for her gender-affirming surgery. In its ruling Monday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was tasked with determining whether a health...
Lawmakers issue ultimatum to tech platforms over data privacy
WASHINGTON — For years Congress has held dozens of hearings aiming to enact laws on data privacy and kids’ online safety, and to curb the freewheeling collection and sale of Americans’ data without enacting any substantial legislation. The frustration is showing. Two House lawmakers, who direct blame squarely at tech...
Waymo is latest company under investigation for autonomous or partially automated technology
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s highway safety agency has opened another investigation of automated driving systems, this time into crashes involving Waymo’s self-driving vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted documents detailing the probe on its website early Tuesday after getting 22 reports of Waymo vehicles either crashing or...
U.S. investigating Waymo autonomous vehicles after reports of crashes or possible traffic violations
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s highway safety agency has opened another investigation of automated driving systems, this time into crashes involving Waymo’s self-driving vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted documents detailing the probe on its website early Tuesday after getting 22 reports of Waymo vehicles either crashing or...
U.S. energy panel approves rule to expand transmission of renewable power
WASHINGTON — Federal energy regulators on Monday approved a long-awaited rule to make it easier to transmit renewable energy such as wind and solar power to the electric grid — a key part of President Joe Biden’s goal to eliminate carbon emissions economy-wide by 2050. The rule, under development for...
Small, well-built Chinese EV called the Seagull poses a big threat to the U.S. auto industryVideo
LIVONIA, Mich. — A tiny, low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling. The car, launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD, sells for around $12,000 in China, but drives well and is put together with craftsmanship that rivals U.S. electric vehicles that cost three times...
Carnegie Mellon grad aims to make West African cuisine more accessible
Ozioma Aniagu sits in her Downtown Pittsburgh apartment, beaming with excitement over her upcoming achievement — she’s one day away from becoming an alumna of Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. Her box braids are styled in a bun secured by a wax print scarf, and she wears a...
U.S. airlines are suing the Biden administration over a new rule to make certain fees easier to spot
WASHINGTON — U.S. airlines are suing to block the Biden administration from requiring greater transparency over fees that the carriers charge their passengers, saying that a new rule would confuse consumers by giving them too much information during the ticket-buying process. The U.S. Transportation Department said Monday it will vigorously...
Small, well-built Chinese EV called the Seagull poses a big threat to the U.S. auto industry
LIVONIA, Mich. — A tiny, low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling. The car, launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD, sells for around $12,000 in China, but drives well and is put together with craftsmanship that rivals U.S.-made electric vehicles that cost three times...
