The firestorms that swept through Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other communities Jan. 7 not only devastated thousands of homeowners but highlighted a giant problem: the growth of the state's insurer of last resort. The California FAIR Plan Assn. offers policies that cover less, but typically are expensive.

Now, California home insurers are ...Read more

Microsoft sees artificial intelligence transforming the internet as fundamentally as mobile phones have over the past two decades. But the technology's limitations could curb Microsoft's grand vision.

Generative AI — which creates content based on a user's request — burst into the zeitgeist in late 2022 when Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched...Read more

Victoria’s Secret & Co. kept mum on Wednesday as a prolonged “security incident” kept its website dark for a third straight day, flummoxing customers and investors alike and pushing the stock price down 7%.

The retailer also ceased some office operations and told employees to steer clear of company technology as some email passwords ...Read more

After Tennant figured out how to keep its plants open during the pandemic, it had a second problem to solve.

The company’s designers aren’t all in the same place. Neither are its customers, and sharing pen-and-paper designs isn’t easy on a video call.

Video game technology gave the company a way to move forward over Zoom, and it worked ...Read more

Target’s latest quarterly profits would have been much worse if it had not received $593 million in settlements from an antitrust lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard that was filed a dozen years ago.

“When you look at the numbers, the profits don’t look too bad,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. “If you take...Read more

Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings is joining the board of San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company Anthropic.

Anthropic, valued at $61.5 billion after its most recent funding round in March, is known for its AI chatbot model Claude.

"Anthropic is very optimistic about the AI benefits for humanity, but is also very aware of the economic...Read more

I’ve turned into one of those people who wear earbuds all day at work.

We don’t have traditional phones at my office. We use Microsoft Teams as our voice phones, so when the phone rings, I usually answer it on my computer.

And because I work with three other people in one big room, we all use headphones.

I have been wearing Apple’s ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The pullback on Biden-era tax credits in the budget passed by the Republican-controlled U.S. House could stunt the growth of the nation's still-fledgling electric vehicle industry and create ripple effects throughout the global autos market, clean energy advocates warn.

"Anybody who claims to be concerned about Chinese dominance ...Read more

Stellantis NV said Wednesday that Antonio Filosa, who currently oversees the Americas for the automaker, will serve as the company's next chief executive officer.

The internal hire of Filosa, a 25-year veteran of the company, was announced early Wednesday morning and ends a six-month-long search for a new CEO after Carlos Tavares resigned ...Read more

Has any American company run away from a public commitment faster than Target?

In an Aug. 19, 2020, conference call, Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell forthrightly put his company in the forefront of the quest for racial and ethnic justice. George Floyd had been murdered by Police Officer Derek Chauvin, abetted by several other officers in ...Read more

For decades, Hollywood directors including Stanley Kubrick, James Cameron and Alex Garland have cast artificial intelligence as a villain that can turn into a killing machine.

Even Steven Spielberg's relatively hopeful "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" had a pessimistic edge to its vision of the future.

Now Google — a leading developer in AI ...Read more

President Donald Trump's trade war with China underscores the importance of a reliable supply chain for the automotive industry of rare-earth minerals and magnets made from them that are necessary for parts from electric vehicle motors to windshield wipers and anti-lock braking systems.

Rare earths describe 17 metallic elements with properties ...Read more

Carolyn Bennett remembers flipping through a yellow telephone book in the 1980s to find carpet stores and workers who refinished wood to help renovate her home.

Today, the 67-year-old uses a chatbot to help her shop. Bennett has turned to ChatGPT, which she refers to as "Chat," to find vendors for a kitchen renovation project, compare heat ...Read more

Meta Platforms Inc. has done all it can in court to fight back at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s claims that it’s a monopoly. Now it’s up to a federal judge to decide whether the company should be broken up.

The seven-week trial wrapped up Tuesday, and now each side has four months to make its case in writing. Then U.S. District ...Read more

General Motors Co. is pouring $888 million into a plant near Buffalo, New York, to make V-8 engines used in full-size SUVs and trucks, the company said Tuesday.

The capital infusion into Tonawanda Propulsion will pay for new machinery, equipment, tools and renovations as the plant gears up to start making the next generation of V-8 engines in ...Read more

The personal information of about 38,000 patients of a UChicago Medicine medical group may have been exposed in a cybersecurity incident involving one of the group’s vendors.

UCM Medical Group said in a news release that one of its vendors — debt collection agency Nationwide Recovery Service — notified the group that in July an ...Read more

Walmart has agreed to pay a $16,000 fine for shipping realistic toy guns to New York in violation of state law, Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday.

The 2015 ban on realistic toy guns came about after Cleveland police killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice when he was holding a pellet gun in November 2014. A number of retailers, including ...Read more

Farmer Jim Maxwell has weathered more than a few rough patches in his long agricultural career. As an adviser, he’s now helping farmers and lenders navigate through what some are calling a perfect storm of financial trouble.

Low commodity prices, declining land values, and a tightening credit market have all contributed to increased anxiety ...Read more

A Republican-backed tax and spending bill passed by the U.S. House on Thursday aims to roll back federal clean energy incentives — a move critics warn could raise costs for consumers and derail investments in Georgia’s burgeoning electric vehicle and battery industry.

The GOP bill, backed by President Donald Trump, targets provisions in ...Read more

Pratt & Whitney workers with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union voted Tuesday to approve a new agreement on a revised contract offer, ending the strike that has had workers out in sun and cold rain for three weeks outside the manufacturing giant.

The union representing about 3,000 workers at Pratt & Whitney ...Read more