Ticker: AI industry insiders voice alarms to NYC council

The day’s business news at a glance

Artificial intelligence insiders are warning New York City's leaders about dangers of the emerging technology, calling for greater oversight as local governments move to respond to mounting safety concerns.

At a hearing of the New York City Council on Monday, recently departed employees of Anthropic, OpenAI and Google DeepMind said the biggest tech companies are racing to create technology they do not understand how to control. With the Trump administration taking a passive approach and Congress proving itself inactive, state and city governments have been considering ways to regulate AI.

Starbucks accused of mislabeling drinks

Starbucks is facing a consumer lawsuit over claims that the protein drinks labeled as "sugar-free" on its cafe menus may actually contain more sugar than a Reese's peanut butter cup.

The federal lawsuit was filed late Friday in Seattle. It alleges Starbucks sells eight protein beverages in the U.S. that are marketed as "sugar-free" but contain varying amounts of sugar. The lawsuit alleges that Starbucks is violating federal labeling regulations. Starbucks said Monday that the sugar in the drinks comes from the protein-boosted milk it uses.

Food scrap pickups want coffee grounds, eggshells

Composting leftover coffee grounds, eggshells and carrot tops is a way to reduce the amount of food waste that goes into landfills, where it produces the potent greenhouse gas methane.

It also helps create healthy soil for gardeners and urban farmers. But it's not easy for everyone to have their own compost bin or get to a drop-off location. Companies and organizations that offer compost pickup services are removing one of the biggest barriers to composting -- getting food scraps to a composting site.

US stocks rise to the edge of an all-time high

U.S. stocks rose near their records after a couple buyout announcements helped lift the market.

The S&P 500 added 0.7% Monday and pulled within 0.3% of its all-time high, which was set during the summer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1% to set a record of its own. Oil prices continued their sharp swings, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude volleyed between $100 and $103 before settling at a little more than $100. In the bond market, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 5.31%.

Oil exporters will stay steady in November

Seven major oil-exporting countries agreed Sunday to keep production steady in November at a time when the Iran war has driven the price of benchmark Brent crude oil above $100 a barrel.

The so-called OPEC+ subgroup will meet again on Nov. 1 to review conditions in the oil market. The group includes Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.

Lao man deported by the US is released

A Lao man deported by the United States to Eswatini under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown has been released after more than a year in prison.

Phone Chomsavanh's lawyer said that his client was released Sunday to go to Laos. Chomsavanh was among five immigrants deported to the southern Africa nation of Eswatini in July 2025 in the early days of the Trump administration's contentious third-country deportation program. Hundreds of immigrants have been deported by the U.S. to African countries where they have no ties. His lawyer said Chomsavanh was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his parents fled Laos, and his family moved to the United States when he was 7.