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Ticker: Musk to launch own AI company; Inflation dips to 2-year low

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:21:57 GMT

Elon Musk, who has hinted for months that he wants to build an alternative to the popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot, announced the formation of what he’s calling xAI, whose goal is to “understand the true nature of the universe.”On a website unveiled Wednesday xAI said its team will be led by Musk and staffed by executives who have worked at a broad range of companies at the forefront of artificial intelligence, including Google’s DeepMind, Microsoft Corp. and Tesla Inc., as well as academic institutions such as the University of Toronto.Musk was involved in the creation of OpenAI, the highest-profile AI startup and developer of ChatGPT. But he has frequently and publicly criticized OpenAI since he left the board in 2018, especially after it created a for-profit arm the following year. He has said he believes it to be “effectively controlled by Microsoft.”Inflation dips to 2-year lowThe US inflation rate slid to a more than two-year low, a major step toward ending the ...

Playboi Carti to make San Diego stop on world tour

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:21:57 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Playboi Carti is making a stop in San Diego as part of his Antagonist world tour, it was announced Wednesday.The rapper, known for his hits like "Magnolia" and "Sky," will be performing at Pechanga Arena on Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m.Tickets for the San Diego show will go on sale Friday, July 14 at noon and will range from $44.50 to $154.50 before fees, according to AXS.You can register for early access to tickets here.This will be Playboi Carti's first headlining tour since 2021 after the release of his Billboard 200 chart-topping album "Whole Lotta Red." Ice Cube to headline old-school rap concert in San Diego The Antagonist tour will kick with a Sept. 6 show in Denver, stopping at major U.S. cities before heading to Europe and closing out with a Dec. 4 show at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark.The rap music superstar recently performed at several major music festivals like Rolling Loud California in Los Angeles, Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash in Chicago and the Wirele...

There have been 175 sports-betting violations since 2018, 17 active investigations, NCAA head says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:21:57 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The NCAA has found 175 infractions of its sports-betting policy since 2018 and there are 17 active investigations, according to a letter from the sports organization’s president that was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.NCAA President Charlie Baker included the numbers in a letter sent this week in response to a query from Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat from Nevada whose district includes the Strip in Las Vegas.The NCAA does not release details of active investigations and Baker’s letter does not list any schools or athletes. The NCAA told the AP in an email that less than 0.25% of its approximately 13,000 sporting events “are flagged for suspicious betting patterns, and a much smaller percentage have specific, actionable information.” The NCAA pays a company to look for and flag potential betting policy infractions; many college conferences do the same thing.In Baker’s letter to Titus, he said athletes, coaches and administrators comm...

‘Heartless’: Miller criticizes Manitoba government’s decision not to search landfill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:21:57 GMT

The federal minister of Crown-Indigenous relations says Manitoba’s government is standing in the way of a search for the remains of two slain Indigenous women believed to be in a landfill. “We are willing to play a role, a very important role in this,” Marc Miller said Wednesday at the Assembly of First Nations general meeting in Halifax. “But the reality of where we’re working is that the Government of Canada can’t nationalize the garbage dump or the waste disposal system of the City of Winnipeg.”Dozens of protesters have blocked the main road of the Brady Road landfill demanding a search of a different landfill north of Winnipeg, called Prairie Green, where it’s believed the remains of two Indigenous women were dumped last year. The blockade began last week after Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson said the province would not support a search of Prairie Green, pointing to a study that said it could cost $184 million, pose safety risks...

Small plane that crashed in rural Alaska, killing 2, apparently struck tree, official says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:21:57 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A small plane that crashed in Alaska last month, killing a bush pilot who was featured on a reality TV show and a hunting guide, apparently struck a tree during takeoff from a rural airstrip, an official said Tuesday.Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region chief, told Alaska Public Media the apparent strike of a large snag, or dead tree, made the plane’s left horizontal stabilizer inoperative. He said ”the airplane crashed shortly after that.”The agency on Tuesday released a preliminary report on the crash that killed pilot Jim Tweto, 68, of Unalakleet, and Shane Reynolds, 45, of Orofino, Idaho. Tweto’s family-run rural aviation business was featured in three seasons of the Discovery Channel’s “Flying Wild Alaska” series. Tweto was also well known in Alaska’s aviation community. The investigation continues, with a final report expected within a year.The crash occurred near the coastal village of Shaktoolik, w...

Historic Anchor Brewing Co. is closing after 127 years, with beer sales in decline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:21:57 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s 127-year-old Anchor Brewing Co. will shut down and liquidate after years of declining sales, citing tough economic conditions. Anchor was a trailblazer in the U.S., brewing craft beers in the 1970s when most Americans were loyal to a handful of major brands. Its unique brewing techniques ignited demand beyond the city borders of San Francisco, and it quickly became a sought-after prize by beer geeks everywhere. In recent years, however, brewers have faced increasing difficulty turning a profit with a proliferation of canned cocktails, crafted drinks, spirits and wines dinging beer sales. Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic pressured brewers further. Last year, overall beer sales volume slid 3.1% in the U.S., according to the Brewers Association. Craft brewer sales volume ticked 0.1% higher during the period, but imports are rising. “We recognize the importance and historic significance of Anchor to San Francisco and to the craft brewing indust...

Laurentian Bank shares soar after it announced a review of strategic options

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:21:57 GMT

TORONTO — Shares of Laurentian Bank of Canada soared more than 30 per cent in early trading Wednesday after the bank said it was conducting a review of its strategic options to maximize shareholder value.A strategic review is often seen by investors as a prelude to a sale by a company.In a news release Tuesday, the bank said it does not intend to disclose further developments until the review is concluded.Laurentian says it has a strong capital and liquidity position as well as a strong, stable and diversified funding and deposit base. All of the Big Six banks will probably evaluate buying Laurentian, National Bank analyst Gabriel Dechaine said in a research note, where he put a potential acquisition price of $2.6 billion for the bank.He said some of the most likely buyers would include Scotiabank, since it’s looking to reduce how much its international segment contributes to its bottom line, and TD, which has lots of extra capital around after its deal to buy First Horizon Co...

Stock market today: Wall Street returns to highest level in more than a year after inflation cools

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:21:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street returned to its highest level in more than a year on Wednesday after a report showed inflation cooled a bit more than expected last month, which hopefully takes some more pressure off the economy.The S&P 500 rose 32.90, or 0.7% to 4,472.16 to reach its strongest closing level since April 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 86.01, or 0.3%, to 34,347.43, and the Nasdaq composite gained 158.26, or 1.2%, to 13,918.96.Most stocks rose on Wall Street, from flashy Big Tech behemoths to staid utility companies, though the gains faded a bit as the day progressed. The U.S. government’s latest update on inflation showed that consumers paid prices for gasoline, food and other items that were 3% higher overall in June than a year earlier. That’s down from 4% inflation in May and a bit more than 9% last summer. Perhaps more importantly, it was a touch lower than economists expected.High inflation has been at the center of Wall Street’s problems because it’s...

Former Minneapolis police officer sentenced to nine months after fatally crashing into a man

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:21:57 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former Minneapolis police officer was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in the county workhouse, with eligibility for electric home monitoring in three months, after the officer pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in a high-speed chase that killed a bystander two years ago. Prosecutors said former officer Brian Cummings was pursuing a suspected car thief on July 6, 2021, when he ran a red light and hit a car driven by Leneal Frazier, 40, of St. Paul, who died at the scene. Frazier, a father of six children, was an uncle of Darnella Frazier, who shot the cellphone video of George Floyd’s death when former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck in 2020.Cummings was driving nearly 80 mph (129 kph) in Minneapolis with his siren and lights activated when his squad car slammed into the vehicle, officials said. The crash ended a chase that lasted more than 20 blocks, including through residential neighborhoods where the posted speed l...

Manhattanhenge fans hope cloudy weather won’t obscure NYC’s famed sunset phenomenon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:21:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wednesday and Thursday are the last two days of Manhattanhenge, the biannual alignment of the setting sun with the city’s east-west streets that brings New Yorkers out of their apartments to watch it bathe the urban canyons in a rosy glow. With forecasters predicting gloomy weather, fans of the spectacle will have to hope the clouds part at the right time.“We have had luck in the past when the weather clears,” said Jackie Faherty, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History whose sold-out lecture on Manhattanhenge on Thursday will be followed by a viewing party. “All we need is for it to be clear at sunset.” It was Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the museum’s Hayden Planetarium, who coined the term Manhattanhenge to describe the phenomenon. He was inspired by Stonehenge, where tourists and modern-day Druids camp out on the summer solstice to watch the rising sun align with the prehistoric stones.Manhattanhenge attracts its own Druids when...