Breaking News

Group of employees sue Meta over layoffs

A group of 26 Meta employees has sued the company, claiming it used artificial intelligence systems to select people for layoffs, disproportionately targeting those on medical, parental or family leave. They are among the 8,000 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, Meta said it would lay ...

Writers Guild seeks to block Paramount’s buyout of Warner

NEW YORK — The Writers Guild of America became the latest group to challenge Paramount’s $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, filing a lawsuit that seeks to block the merger on the grounds it would cause “specific harm” to movie and TV writers working across the U.S. A Paramount-Warner merger “threatens the economic and creative health of the American entertainment industry,” reads Tuesday’s federal complaint, which was filed by both the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East (jointly the WGA). The union argued that the ...

Ticker: Subaru issues recall for 541,000 SUVs

Subaru of America is recalling over 541,000 Crosstrek, Forester and Ascent vehicles in the U.S. due to an inaccurate label. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the cars were made with a certification label that incorrectly states their gross axle weight rating. The regulator warns this could lead to overloaded vehicles and increase crash risks. Subaru is unaware of any related crashes or injuries. Inflation cools more than expected in June U.S. inflation cooled last month as the cost of gas, clothes, and used cars fell, providing some relief to consumers, while ...

Twelve states challenge Warner Bros. takeover

NEW YORK — Twelve states sued to block Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday, arguing that the $81 billion merger would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices for consumers across the U.S. “Audiences on every sofa and in every movie ...

Oil prices jump following Iran attacks

NEW YORK — Oil prices jumped Monday following a weekend of attacks in the Middle East, while more losses for computer chip companies and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom dragged stock markets lower. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed 9.6% to $83.30 after the United States and Iran each said the Strait of Hormuz is under its control. Fighting in the region has kept oil tankers from using the strait to deliver crude to customers from the Persian Gulf, which drives up fuel prices worldwide. The gains for oil prices accelerated ...

Ticker: Large AI buildout poses latest inflation threat

American consumers — and the Federal Reserve — are being hit with another high-cost headache. The gusher of investment in data centers — likely topping $700 billion this year — to power artificial intelligence has made memory chips, computer processors, and other equipment, as well as electricity more expensive, and economists expect it will continue to push up inflation at least through the end of this year. While it won’t be as large a spike as occurred in 2021-2023, when inflation peaked at 9.1%, massive AI spending is likely to keep prices rising more quickly than the ...