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Instagram, YouTube found liable in lawsuit alleging they were designed to addict kids

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES — After a grueling seven weeks of court proceedings and more than 40 hours of tense deliberations across nine days, jurors handed down a landmark decision in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, finding Instagram and YouTube responsible for the suffering of a Chico woman who charged the platform was built to addict young users ...Read more

Toyota/Toyota/TNS

Once a slowpoke, Toyota growing EV portfolio amid industry pullback

Business / Business News /

GEORGETOWN, Ky. — The second-best-selling automaker in the United States is finally making its move on electric vehicles.

Toyota Motor Corp., at a moment when its Detroit competitors are bringing back Hemi engines and taking massive write-downs on EV efforts, showed off its first-ever American-made battery-electric vehicle Monday during an ...Read more

Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Mass deportations could jolt Bay Area economy and trigger job losses: report

Business / Business News /

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mass deportations could jolt the Bay Area economy, erode the region’s already shaky job market, undermine federal, state and property tax revenue, and dampen retail and restaurant spending, according to a new economic report.

Deportations of undocumented immigrants could erase up to 5.8% of the nine-county region’s ...Read more

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Javier Blas: Trump is winning the oil-price jawboning battle

Business / Business News /

Give credit where it’s due. Despite all the setbacks, Donald Trump is right that the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran war hasn’t triggered the oil price super-spike many feared — at least not yet. “I thought it would be worse, much worse,” the American president said last week, and it’s hard to disagree. Trump, wearing his social media ...Read more

Harrison Mantas/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

Texas' economic success no miracle, governor says during Fort Worth visit

Business / Business News /

FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott compared the state’s economy to a master planned community during a stop Tuesday at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Abbott participated in a fireside chat with Hillwood Chairman Ross Perot Jr. to cap off the fifth annual Forward Fort Worth summit.

Years of design, planning and execution have resulted ...Read more

Clarence Tabb Jr./The Detroit News/TNS

Bollinger Motors founder buys back EV startup's assets for just $250K

Business / Business News /

DETROIT — Robert Bollinger, the founder and one-time CEO of one of Michigan's best-known electric vehicle startups, is buying back major assets of his old company for a bargain price: just under $250,000.

It's the latest twist for a firm that just a few years ago sold a majority stake for $150 million during the height of the EV investment ...Read more

Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times/TNS

$8.71 a gallon? Welcome to LA's most infamous gas station

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES — The drab Chevron at the edge of Chinatown always makes the news. It's one of those Los Angeles gas stations that garners gasps, even shrieks, from Angelenos shocked by the cost per gallon, which is perpetually priced above other pumps across the city.

The price of gasoline has surged since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran more ...Read more

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David's Bridal's new CEO is on a mission to create a one-stop shop for wedding planning

Business / Business News /

PHILADELPHIA -- Kelly Cook got married in a $19 dress from a Macy’s clearance rack.

She and her husband, Damon, had $100 in their checking account at the time, she said. There was no theme, website, or videographer, just 50 people gathered in a scorching-hot Houston backyard.

To Cook, she said, “it was the most perfect wedding ever.”

...Read more

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Could Cuban Americans invest and own businesses in Cuba soon? Not so fast. Here's why

Business / Business News /

MIAMI — The possibility that Cubans in South Florida and elsewhere outside the island might soon be able to invest in and own businesses in Cuba may amount to little more than an invitation and a fantasy.

Standing in the way of any investments and businesses that Cuban exiles may want to start on the island, experts say, are U.S. government ...Read more

Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/TNS

As many shoppers and retailers struggle, California's Ross Dress for Less is booming

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES — As big malls and department stores close, bargain chains like Ross Dress for Less are rolling out new stores.

Economic anxiety and inflation are leading shoppers to spend less and search for savings. In this bombed-out retail landscape, some chains are thriving and opening new outlets.

At a new Ross in Alhambra, Liz Lopez was ...Read more

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Michael Hiltzik: Inside the 1979 Silicon Valley demo that made Apple what it is today

Business / Business News /

It's one of the truly seminal events of the computer age.

In December 1979, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs led a delegation of his engineers into Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, the legendary PARC, for a demonstration of PARC's most closely held inventions.

The research lab was already known to Silicon Valley cognoscenti for having invented a ...Read more

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As LA jury deliberates, another social media lawsuit ends in $375 million verdict

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Jurors in New Mexico leapfrogged their California peers Tuesday, handing down a $375 million verdict against Meta for endangering children while a similar lawsuit remains pending in Los Angeles County.

The jury in Santa Fe came back with a decision in just hours while the L.A. panel slogged through its eighth day of deliberations over charges ...Read more

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OpenAI will shut down its Sora tool

Business / Business News /

OpenAI plans to shut down its Sora text-to-video tool, a stunning move that comes three months after Walt Disney Co. pledged to invest $1 billion in the artificial intelligence company and allow the use of dozens of beloved characters.

The San Francisco-based company did not disclose why it was shutting down the tool or the timeline for its ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Democrats call for review of Paramount's Middle Eastern financial backers

Business / Business News /

Democratic lawmakers are demanding scrutiny into Paramount Skydance's financial backers amid rising concerns about potential foreign influence of U.S. media properties.

In a letter this week to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, seven U.S. senators criticized Carr's suggestion that Paramount's $111 billion bid for Warner ...Read more

Clarence Tabb Jr./The Detroit News/TNS

Robot maker Fanuc plans $90 million Michigan facility employing 225

Business / Business News /

DETROIT -- Robot maker Fanuc America will expand its Michigan footprint with a $90 million investment to buy property and build an 840,000-square-foot facility in Pontiac that the company says will will be used for engineering and advanced manufacturing purposes.

The Rochester Hills-based subsidiary of Japanese robotics and automation giant ...Read more

Plus-size fashion chain Torrid to shutter a third of its stores

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES -- Plus-size retail chain Torrid is shuttering nearly a third of its stores as it grapples with sliding sales.

The City of Industry-based company closed 151 locations last year and an additional 11 stores since the start of 2026.

The closures targeted “structurally unproductive stores” with low sales, the company said on an ...Read more

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Epic Games lays off 1,000 employees, citing dip in 'Fortnite' popularity

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Epic Games, the developer of the popular video game “Fortnite,” is laying off more than 1,000 employees and cutting $500 million in costs.

Chief Executive Tim Sweeney announced the cuts Tuesday morning in a message to employees. He said it has nothing to do with AI and instead pointed to what he said was a lack of “Fortnite” engagement ...Read more

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Epic Games to lay off 1,000 as NC game developer cites Fortnite fall

Business / Business News /

RALEIGH, N.C. — Cary, North Carolina, video game developer Epic Games announced Tuesday it will lay off 1,000 workers as the company cited falling player interest in its hit Fortnite franchise.

This is Epic’s second mass jobs cut in the past three years. In September 2023, the company laid off 830 employees companywide, including 170 in the...Read more

Nathaniel Levine/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Will CA finally grant unions' bid for confidential conversations with workers?

Business / Business News /

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In California, attorney-client privilege ensures that communication between an individual and their lawyer remains confidential. California labor groups are hoping 2026 will be the year that a similar, albeit lesser, privilege is extended to union representatives and their members.

A bill authored by Assemblymember Patrick...Read more

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War knocks global economy with dual shock to growth, prices

Business / Business News /

The world economy’s first signs of a synchronized shock emerged in business surveys revealing how the Iran war’s fallout is crippling growth momentum and stoking prices.

Multiple purchasing manager indexes compiled by S&P Global for March showed declines. Among the releases on Tuesday, composite measures for the U.S. and the euro zone were ...Read more