Business News

Europe’s world-leading artificial intelligence rules are facing a do-or-die moment

LONDON (AP) — Hailed as a world first, European Union artificial intelligence rules are facing a make-or-break moment. Negotiators will meet to hammer out the draft’s final details this week, but the talks have been complicated by the sudden rise of generative AI. First suggested in 2019, the AI Act was expected to be the world’s first such comprehensive regulations. But the process has been bogged down by a last-minute battle over how to govern systems that underpin general purpose AI services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard chatbot. Big tech companies are lobbying against what they see as overregulation that stifles innovation. European lawmakers, meanwhile, want added safeguards for the cutting-edge AI systems those companies are developing.

Alaska Air to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal that may attract regulator scrutiny

SEATTLE (AP) — Alaska Air Group has agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal including debt. The airlines announced the agreement Sunday. Alaska will pay $18 in cash for each share of Hawaiian, whose stock closed Friday at $4.86. The deal includes $900 million in Hawaiian debt. The acquisition still needs the blessing of U.S. regulators, which have shown resistance to more consolidation within the airline industry out of fear it could lead to higher airfares. Alaska and Hawaiian are both leading carriers between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland, which could raise worries about the combination hurting competition.

Spotify axes 17% of workforce in third round of layoffs this year

LONDON (AP) — Spotify says it’s axing 17% of its global workforce in the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs this year. It’s trying to slash costs while focusing on becoming profitable. In a message to employees posted on the company’s blog Monday, CEO Daniel Ek said the jobs are being cut as part of a “strategic reorientation.” The post didn’t specify how many employees would lose their jobs, but a spokesperson confirmed that it amounts to about 1,500 people. Spotify had used cheap financing to expand the business but Ek indicated it was caught out as central banks started hiking interest rates last year.

Stock market today: Wall Street loses ground ahead of key reports on the job market

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped on Wall Street ahead of some key reports this week on the job market that might provide more insight into the Federal Reserve’s thinking about interest rates. The S&P 500 was off 0.9% Monday. The index is coming off its best month in more than a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 150 points, and the Nasdaq composite fell 1.5%. Alaska Airlines slumped after it said it would buy Hawaiian Airlines. Spotify jumped after announcing its third round of layoffs this year. Treasury yields were higher and crude oil prices edged lower.

Pilots flying tourists over national parks face new rules. None are stricter than at Mount Rushmore

Fewer airplanes and helicopters will be flying tourists over Mount Rushmore and other national monuments and parks as new regulations take effect that are intended to protect the serenity of some of the nation’s most beloved natural areas. The air tours have pitted tour operators against visitors frustrated with the noise for decades, but it has come to a head as new management plans are rolled out at nearly two dozen national parks and monuments. One of the strictest yet was recently announced at Mount Rushmore and Badlands National Park, where tour flights will essentially be banned from getting within a half mile of the South Dakota sites starting in April.

The Supreme Court wrestles with OxyContin maker’s bankruptcy deal, with billions of dollars at stake

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is wrestling with a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would shield members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids. The justices on Monday seemed by turns reluctant to break up an exhaustively negotiated agreement, but also leery of somehow rewarding the Sacklers. The agreement hammered out with state and local governments and victims would provide billions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic. The Sacklers would contribute up to $6 billion and give up ownership of the company, but retain billions more. The company would emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention.

Former top Ohio utility regulator surrenders in $60 million bribery scheme linked to energy bill

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s former top utility regulator has surrendered in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme. Former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair Sam Randazzo was indicted in federal court in Cincinnati. He faces 11 counts announced Monday centered on allegations he accepted bribes from Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. in exchange for regulatory favors. The indictment marks the latest turn in a sweeping corruption scandal related to a legislative bailout of two nuclear power plants. Former House Speaker Larry Householder is serving 20 years in prison for masterminding the scheme. The 74-year-old Randazzo, of Columbus, was to appear in court later Monday.

The year in review: Influential people who died in 2023

From a hot dog vendor to head of the formidable mercenary army Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin had a meteoric rise through Russian society. It came to a sudden end when his plane mysteriously exploded on Aug. 23. Prigozhin’s death put a final exclamation point on the brutal mercenary leader’s eventful year. But he was just one of many noteworthy people who died in 2023. The world also said goodbye to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, entertainers Tina Turner and Harry Belafonte, writer Cormac McCarthy and many others.

Heavy snowfall hits Moscow as Russian media report disruption on roads and at airports

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials and media say that heavy snowfall that hit Moscow has disrupted traffic on roads and flights in and out of three airports. Moscow’s deputy mayor said Monday that the snowfall has brought an additional 23 centimeters or nine inches to already high levels of snow in the city. He said that around 135,000 people and 18,000 pieces of equipment were involved in the snow-clearing effort. Russian business daily Vedomosti reported that a total of 53 flights were delayed and five more were canceled on Monday morning in three out of four Moscow airports. Heavy snow as well as temperatures below -50 Celsius or -58 Fahrenheit were also reported in the Siberian region of Yakutia.

The death toll from a mining tragedy in South Africa rises to 13 after a worker dies at a hospital

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The death toll from a mining tragedy last week in South Africa that involved an elevator at a mine has risen to 13 after a worker died at a hospital. The mine operator said Monday that the worker died Sunday from injuries sustained when the elevator plummeted on Nov. 27. It was the second mineworker to die in a hospital. Eleven were killed on the day that an elevator plunged around 200 meters (650 feet) down the shaft of a platinum mine while carrying workers to the surface after their shift. Mine operator Impala Platinum said that 50 workers remain hospitalized with eight of them in critical care.