Business News

Police officers are starting to use AI chatbots to write crime reports. Will they hold up in court?

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Police officers are starting to use artificial intelligence to help write crime reports. Pulling from the sounds of an officer’s body camera, an AI tool based on the same technology as ChatGPT can churn out the first draft of an incident report in seconds. Officers who’ve tried it in Oklahoma City and other police departments are enthused about the time-saving technology. Some prosecutors, police watchdogs and legal scholars have concerns about how it could alter a fundamental document in the criminal justice system that plays a role in who gets prosecuted or imprisoned.

Edgar Bronfman Jr. withdraws offer for Paramount, allowing Skydance merger to go ahead

NEW YORK (AP) — The merger between entertainment giant Paramount and media company Skydance is set to go ahead after Edgar Bronfman Jr. withdrew a competing offer. Bronfman is executive chairman of streaming service Fubo. He told Paramount’s special committee of directors that he would not proceed with his bid. Bronfman is also the former chairman and CEO of Warner Music. He had intitially offered $4.3 billion for Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, the controlling shareholder of Paramount. He then upped that bid to $6 billion. Paramount agreed last month to a merger deal with Skydance that will inject desperately needed cash into a legacy studio that has struggled to adapt to a shifting entertainment landscape.

Leonard Riggio, who forged a bookselling empire at Barnes & Noble, dead at 83

NEW YORK (AP) — Leonard Riggio, a brash, self-styled underdog who transformed the publishing industry by building Barnes & Noble into the country’s most powerful bookseller but later saw his company overtaken by the rise of Amazon.com, has died at age 83. Riggio’s reign at Barnes & Noble began in 1971 when he used a $1.2 million loan to purchase the company’s name and its flagship store on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. He acquired hundreds of new stores and launched what became a nationwide empire of “superstores” that combined a chain’s discount prices and massive capacity with the cozy appeal of couches and cafes.

High rents are forcing small businesses into tough choices like raising prices or changing location

NEW YORK (AP) — While many costs have come down for small business, rents remain high and in some cases are still rising, forcing many owners into some uncomfortable decisions. Some are raising prices, while others are choosing to be late on payments or seeking out new locations where the rent is lower. A few are pushing back against their landlord. According to Bank of America, rent payments per small business client rose 11% year-over-year in July. That’s more than twice the increase for renting and owning a residence, a metric known as shelter, according to the government’s monthly Consumer Price Index.

US consumer confidence rises in August as Americans’ optimism about future improves

American consumers felt more confident in August as their outlook for the future improved. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 103.3 in August from 101.9 in July. The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market rose to 82.5 from 81.1 in July. Consumers’ view of current conditions rose to 134.4 in August from 133.1 last month. Consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic activity and is closely watched by economists.

Zuckerberg says the White House pressured Facebook over some COVID-19 content during the pandemic

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic. He vowed that the social media giant would push back if it faced such demands again. Zuckerberg sent a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Zuckerberg alleges that the officials, including those from the White House, “repeatedly pressured” Facebook for months to take down “certain COVID-19 content including humor and satire.” In response, the White House said in a statement that it was confronted with a deadly pandemic, and the administration was encouraging “responsible actions to protect public health and safety.”

Harris campaign releases new ad to highlight plans to build 3 million homes and reduce inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has a new advertising push to draw attention to her plan to build 3 million new homes over four years. The Tuesday move is designed to contain inflationary pressures that also draws a sharp contrast to Republican Donald Trump’s approach. Harris highlights her plan in a new minute-long ad that uses her personal experience. The Democratic presidential nominee grew up in rental housing while her mother had saved for a decade before she could buy a home. The ad targets voters in the swing states including Arizona and Nevada. Campaign surrogates are also holding 20 events this week focused on housing issues.

Comic Relief US launches new Roblox game to help children build community virtually and in real life

NEW YORK (AP) — A nonprofit’s experiment building a Roblox game to develop charitable habits among children went so well that this year’s campaign is expanding. Comic Relief US is launching its second annual “Game to Change the World” campaign. It features a magical new universe on the popular world-building app Roblox. There will also be an exclusive virtual concert featuring Imagine Dragons and a Nickelodeon partnership. The goal is to instill empathy and raise money through a scavenger hunt. Users can collect magical tools that will improve their surroundings. Comic Relief US CEO Alison Moore says the community-building message is meant to be emblematic in the gameplay itself.

Stock market today: Wall Street wavers as the Dow hovers around its record high

Stocks wavered on Wall Street and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered around the record high it set a day earlier. The Dow was little changed in afternoon trading Tuesday. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher. The parent company of the Paramount movie studio fell more than 6% after Edgar Bronfman Jr., the former head of Warner Music Group, abandoned his bid for the company, clearing the way for it to be acquired by the media company Skydance. Treasury yields held steady in the bond market. A report on consumer confidence was better than expected.

Chipotle may have violated workers’ unionization rights, US labor board says

The National Labor Relations Board says Chipotle may have violated federal labor law in its treatment of employees at its only unionized store. The board said late Monday that its Detroit regional director found merit to allegations filed against Chipotle by the Teamsters union. The union alleges that Chipotle unlawfully disciplined an employee in Lansing, Michigan, for engaging in union activity and told employees the company couldn’t give them raises because they were unionized. Chipotle says it respects workers’ right to organize. The NLRB could file charges against the company if it doesn’t reach a settlement with the union.