Wire stories category, Page 28
X marks the lawsuit: Elon Musk’s social media company sues nonprofit highlighting site’s hate speech
WASHINGTON — X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has sued a group of researchers — alleging their work highlighting an increase in hate speech on the platform cost the company millions of dollars of advertising revenue. The suit, filed late Monday night in U.S. District Court in...
Fitch downgrades U.S. credit rating, citing mounting debt and political divisions
WASHINGTON — Fitch Ratings has downgraded the United States government’s credit rating, citing rising debt at the federal, state, and local levels and a “steady deterioration in standards of governance” over the past two decades. The rating was cut Tuesday one notch to AA+ from AAA, the highest possible rating....
Millennial Money: Mystery travel lets you focus on the fun, not the details
Travel planning can be a real chore. Booking flights, deciding on the right hotel and building an itinerary might be fun for some, but others dread it. That’s why some travelers are opting for an unorthodox travel strategy that eliminates the planning stage altogether. It’s called “mystery” or “suprise” travel,...
Bed Bath & Beyond is back, this time as an online retailer
NEW YORK — Overstock has officially relaunched the Bed Bath & Beyond domain online Tuesday in the U.S., after acquiring the bankrupt retail chain’s intellectual property assets for $21.5 million last month. The online retailer Overstock.com said in late June that it was dumping its name online and it will...
Chatbots sometimes make things up. Not everyone thinks AI’s hallucination problem is fixable
Spend enough time with ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots and it doesn’t take long for them to spout falsehoods. Described as hallucination, confabulation or just plain making things up, it’s now a problem for every business, organization and high school student trying to get a generative AI system to...
Brightly flashing ‘X’ sign removed from the former Twitter’s San Francisco headquartersVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — A brightly flashing “X” sign has been removed from the San Francisco headquarters of the company formerly known as Twitter just days after it was installed. The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection said Monday it received 24 complaints about the unpermitted structure over the weekend. Complaints...
Customers want instant gratification; workers say it’s pushing them to the brink
NEW YORK — Six straight days of 12-hour driving. Single digit paychecks. The complaints come from workers in vastly different industries: UPS delivery drivers and Hollywood actors and writers. But they point to an underlying factor driving a surge of labor unrest: The cost to workers whose jobs have changed...
Teamsters say trucking giant Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations, filing for bankruptcy
NEW YORK — Trucking company Yellow Corp. has shut down operations and is headed for a bankruptcy filing, according to the Teamsters Union and multiple media reports. After years of financial struggles, reports of Yellow preparing for bankruptcy emerged last week — as the Nashville, Tennessee-based trucker saw customers leave...
Kimberly Palmer: How to stay safe from financial scams
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to protecting yourself from financial scams is thinking you’re too smart to be duped by one. “We’re all vulnerable — we can all fall for a scam given the right set of circumstances,” says Eva Velasquez, president and CEO...
Automaker Tesla is opening more showrooms on tribal lands to avoid state laws barring direct sales
Tesla is ramping up efforts to open showrooms on tribal lands where it can sell directly to consumers, circumventing laws in states that bar vehicle manufacturers from also being retailers in favor of the dealership model. Mohegan Sun, a casino and entertainment complex in Connecticut owned by the federally recognized...
Deep dive into Meta’s algorithms shows that America’s political polarization has no easy fix
WASHINGTON — The powerful algorithms used by Facebook and Instagram to deliver content to users have increasingly been blamed for amplifying misinformation and political polarization. But a series of groundbreaking studies published Thursday suggest addressing these challenges is not as simple as tweaking the platforms’ software. The four research papers,...
Federal Reserve keeps raising rates. That means it’s harder to get a car loan.
NEW YORK — The Federal Reserve’s decision Wednesday to raise its benchmark rate for the 11th time, by a quarter-point, could once again send ripple effects across the economy. Mortgage rates, which have surged since the Fed began lifting rates in March 2022, may now rise further. So could rates...
Car buyers bear a heavy burden as Federal Reserve keeps raising rates
NEW YORK — The Federal Reserve’s expected move Wednesday to raise interest rates for the 11th time could once again send ripple effects across the economy. Mortgage rates, which have surged since the Fed began lifting rates in March 2022, could rise further. So could rates on credit cards and...
W.Va. residents are at a loss after newspaper that bound community together shuts down
WELCH, W.Va. — Months after Missy Nester ended The Welch News’ 100-year run, she can barely stand to walk through the office doors of the newspaper her mother taught her to read with growing up in West Virginia’s southern coalfields. It’s too painful. The Welch News owner and publisher’s desk...
UPS reaches contract with 340,000 unionized workers, averting potential strike
NEW YORK — UPS has reached a contract agreement with its 340,000-person strong union Tuesday, averting a strike that had the potential to disrupt logistics nationwide for businesses and households alike. The agreement was announced after UPS and the Teamsters came back to the negotiating table Tuesday to talk over...
Santa Barbara’s daily, one of California’s oldest, stops publishing after owner declares bankruptcy
SAN FRANCISCO — The Pulitzer Prize-winning Santa Barbara News-Press, one of California’s oldest newspapers, has ceased publishing after its owner declared the 150-year-old publication bankrupt. The newspaper became an online-only publication in April. But its last digital edition was posted Friday when owner Wendy McCaw filed for bankruptcy. Managing editor...
IRS is ending unannounced visits to taxpayers to protect worker safety and combat scammers
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service said Monday it is ending its decades-old policy of making unannounced home and business visits, in an effort to help keep its workers safe and to combat scammers who pose as IRS agents. Effective immediately, revenue agents will no longer make unplanned visits to...
Elon Musk reveals new X logo to replace Twitter’s blue bird
LONDON — Goodbye, Twitter. Hello, X. Elon Musk has unveiled a new “X” logo to replace Twitter’s famous blue bird as he follows through with a major rebranding of the social media platform he bought for $44 billion last year. The X started appearing at the top of the desktop...
A UPS strike could be just around the corner. Here’s what you need to know
NEW YORK — The clock is ticking. As the deadline to reach a new contract nears, a potential UPS strike feels closer than ever. Negotiations broke down earlier this month and unionized workers have been holding rallies and practice pickets across the country. The Teamsters, which represent more than half...
Musk says Twitter to change logo to X from the bird. Changes could come as early as Monday.
NEW YORK — Elon Musk said Sunday that he plans to change the logo of Twitter to an “X” from the famous blue bird, marking what would be the latest big change since he bought the social media platform for $44 billion last year. In a series of posts on...
Wall Street heads for another winning week as stocks steady
NEW YORK — Wall Street is steadying Friday and clawing back some of its tech-driven losses from a day before, keeping it on track for another winning week. The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in early trading and on pace for its eighth winning week in the last 10. The...
Your paycheck could clear faster now that the FedNow instant payment service for banks has launched
NEW YORK — The Federal Reserve launched a new instant payment service Thursday. FedNow allows banks and credit unions to sign up to send real-time payments so they can offer customers a quicker way to send money between banks. FedNow, which was first announced in 2019, published a list of...
U.S. jobless claims fall again as labor market continues to flash strength
Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week with the labor market continuing to cruise along despite higher interest rates intended to cool hiring. U.S. applications for jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 228,000 for the week ending July 15, from 237,000 previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The...
Tesla recalling nearly 16,000 of its 2021-2023 Model S and Model X vehicles due to seat belt issue
Tesla is recalling nearly 16,000 of its 2021-2023 Model S and Model X vehicles because some front-row seat belts may not have been reconnected properly after being repaired. Tesla said in its safety recall report that in the vehicles, a first-row seat belt was disconnected from its pretensioner anchor as...
How to pay for an expensive summer move
Packing your things and moving to a new home is a financial hurdle even in the best of times, but higher demand for moving-related services in the summer can send prices skyrocketing. If you’re wondering how to pay for an upcoming move, there are financing options, including credit cards and...
