HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Private investment firms that are helping finance America’s artificial-intelligence race and the huge buildout of energy-hungry data centers are becoming interested in the local utilities that deliver electricity to regular customers — and the servers that power AI. Billions of dollars from such firms are now flowing toward electric utilities in [...]
In the absence of stronger federal regulation, some states have begun regulating apps that offer AI “therapy” as more people turn to artificial intelligence for mental-health advice. Analysts say the laws, all passed this year, don’t fully address the fast-changing landscape of AI software development, however. App developers, policymakers and mental-health advocates also say the [...]
DoorDash and Kroger are expanding their grocery delivery partnership starting today, with DoorDash offering delivery from Kroger’s 2,700 stores, both companies said. San Francisco-based DoorDash, which is the largest delivery provider in the country, launched grocery delivery in 2020 with a handful of partners, including Fresh Thyme and Meijer. DoorDash first partnered with Kroger in [...]
The federal Bureau of Prisons said it is canceling a collective bargaining agreement with its workers and stripping them of union rights. Director William K. Marshall III told the agency’s nearly 35,000 employees that the union, the Council of Prison Locals, had become “an obstacle to progress instead of a partner in it.” The contract, [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said last week he will put import taxes of 100 percent on pharmaceutical drugs, 50 percent on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, 30 percent on upholstered furniture and 25 percent on heavy trucks starting on Wednesday. While Trump did not provide a legal justification for the tariffs, he stated [...]
A Columbus nonprofit that secures drug- and alcohol-free housing for people recovering from addiction has been awarded a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Investments Supporting Partnerships In Recovery Ecosystems initiative. Ohio Recovery Housing Inc., located on the north side of Columbus, is one of six non-profit entities in Ohio to be awarded funding. The [...]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It pays less to buy and flip a home these days. From April through June, the typical home flipped by an investor resulted in a 25.1 percent return on investment, before expenses. That’s the lowest profit margin for such transactions since 2008, according to an analysis by Attom, a real estate [...]
SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon has reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which said the online retail giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime memberships and made it difficult for them to cancel after doing so. The Seattle company will pay $1 billion in civil penalties — the largest fine [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge accelerated slightly in August from a year earlier, but the so-called core inflation rate remained the same as the previous month. The Commerce Department last week reported that its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index was up 2.7 percent in August from a year earlier, a [...]