Business

The Washington Post reports: Vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data centers and clean-technology factories proliferate around the country, leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans to expand the nation’s creaking power grid. A major factor behind the skyrocketing demand is the rapid innovation in artificial intelligence, which is …

The Texas Tribune reports: Xcel Energy on Thursday acknowledged its involvement in the Smokehouse Creek fire, which started last week and quickly became the largest wildfire in state history, burning more than 1 million acres. “Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire,” the …

Axios reports: Oscar Mayer is introducing its first plant-based products: hot dogs and sausages in bratwurst and Italian flavors, made from ingredients like bamboo fiber, mushroom and pea protein. The splashy announcement shows there’s still momentum in the plant-based meat sector, for which many obituaries have been written. Oscar Mayer NotHotDogs and NotSausages will hit grocery stores in the second …

Ars Technica reports: Elon Musk and X Corp. were sued yesterday by four former Twitter executives who say they were cheated out of more than $128 million in severance when Musk bought the social network and fired them. Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, former Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, and former General Counsel Sean Edgett filed …

NPR reports: The cost of a late payment on your credit card could soon be going down. Federal regulators issued a new rule Tuesday capping credit card late fees at $8, down from the current average of $32. The move is expected to save customers $10 billion a year. Consumer advocates praised the measure as providing welcome relief for millions …

Reuters reports: Rocket maker SpaceX on Tuesday will appear before a U.S. labor board judge to face claims that it fired eight engineers for criticizing CEO Elon Musk and accusing him of sexist conduct in a letter to company executives. The NLRB’s general counsel, which acts as a prosecutor, claims SpaceX violated U.S. labor law by firing the engineers in …

Changing America reports: Although marijuana is illegal under federal law, 54% of Americans live in a state where recreational use of marijuana is legal, according to an analysis from the Pew Research Center. The analysis revealed that 74% of Americans live in a state where marijuana is legal for either medical or recreational use. Additionally, 79% of Americans live in …

CNBC reports: JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines on Monday said they are ending their agreement to merge, weeks after losing a federal antitrust lawsuit that challenged the deal. A federal judge in January blocked JetBlue’s attempted takeover of budget carrier Spirit after the Justice Department sued to bar the deal last year. The Justice Department alleged the acquisition would stifle …

USA Today reports: More than 50 years after the oral contraceptive pill went on the market in the United States, the country’s first over-the-counter birth control pill will be available in stores and online nationwide later this month. Known as Opill, the birth control pill will be available without prescription necessary in major retailers and pharmacies nationwide in late March, …

Bloomberg News reports: Apple Inc. was hit Monday with a €1.8 billion ($2 billion) penalty from the European Union over an investigation into allegations it shut out music-streaming rivals, including Spotify Technology SA, on its platforms. The European Commission also ordered the Cupertino, California-based firm to stop preventing music-streaming apps from informing users of cheaper deals away from Apple’s App …

Bloomberg News reports: Elon Musk, a cofounder of OpenAI who is no longer involved in the company, sued OpenAI and its Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman late Thursday, alleging the company’s close relationship with Microsoft Corp. has undermined its original mission of creating open-source technology that wouldn’t be subject to corporate priorities. OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon pushed back …

The New York Times reports: The two largest pharmacy chains in the United States will start dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone this month, a step that could make access easier for some patients. Officials at CVS and Walgreens said in interviews on Friday that they had received certification to dispense mifepristone under guidelines that the Food and Drug Administration issued …

Reuters reports: A California state judge tentatively ruled that nearly 6,000 Black factory workers can sue Tesla as a group for the electric vehicle maker’s alleged failure to address rampant race discrimination and harassment at its Fremont plant. California Superior Court Judge Noel Wise in Oakland said in a written order issued on Wednesday that the lawsuit presents questions common …

The Associated Press reports: Wendy’s says that it has no plans to increase prices during the busiest times at its restaurants. “Wendy’s will not implement surge pricing, which is the practice of raising prices when demand is highest. We didn’t use that phrase, nor do we plan to implement that practice,” the company said. Wendy’s said that its digital menu …

Bloomberg News reports: Apple Inc. is canceling a decadelong effort to build an electric car, according to people with knowledge of the matter, abandoning one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the company. Apple made the disclosure internally Tuesday, surprising the nearly 2,000 employees working on the project. The decision was shared by Chief Operating Officer Jeff …

Courthouse News reports: Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week sued a major online porn distributor in an effort to enforce a new state law mandating age verification and purported health warnings on adult websites. The lawsuit, filed in state court in Austin on Monday, accuses the adult-entertainment company Aylo of violating House Bill 1181, a new state content-warning …

The Associated Press reports: Wendy’s is looking to test having the prices of its menu items fluctuate throughout the day based on demand, implementing a strategy that has already taken hold with ride-sharing companies and ticket sellers. During a conference call earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said that the Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain will start testing dynamic pricing, …

NBC News reports: Family Dollar Stores was this week ordered to pay $41.6 million for using a rodent-infested warehouse to distribute food, cosmetics and medical devices to more than 400 stores across the South. The largest criminal penalty of its kind comes after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigation found “live rodents, dead and decaying rodents, rodent feces, urine, …

CBS News reports: Macy’s on Tuesday said it plans to close roughly 150 underperforming stores over the next three years, the struggling retailer’s latest effort to energize its business as it seeks to fend off a proposed takeover by activist investors. The department store chain said it plans to focus on expanding its luxury brands, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury. Macy’s will …

The New York Post reports: Kellogg’s CEO Gary Pilnick advised shoppers chalking up more of their paychecks to soaring grocery bills than they have in the past three decades to just eat cereal instead. “The cereal category has always been quite affordable, and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure,” Pilnickan said in an interview …