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Bank execs blame panicked depositors for Silicon Valley, Signature failures, but senators blame them
NEW YORK (AP) — Top executives at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank largely avoided taking responsibility for their banks’ dramatic failures at a Senate hearing Tuesday, instead using their time to assign blame to events they said were largely out of their control. The arguments got little traction with senators on both sides of the aisle. Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee criticized the executives for taking risky actions or missing obvious problems that directly led to the demise of their banks, while still accepting lucrative pay packages and bonuses, even in the days and weeks leading up to the failures.
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IRS moves forward with free e-filing system in pilot program to launch in 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — The IRS is planning to launch a pilot program for a government-run, online tax filing system that’s free for all. The IRS was tasked with looking into how to create a “direct file” system as part of the funding it received with the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ flagship climate and health care measure that President Joe Biden signed last summer. After months of research, the IRS published a feasibility report Tuesday — which lays out taxpayer interest in direct file, how the system could work, its potential cost, operational challenges and more.
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Disney asks judge to dismiss DeSantis-appointed board’s lawsuit in latest tit-for-tat
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Disney is asking a state judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a governing board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee Disney World. The company claimed in its motion on Tuesday that Disney has been the victim of the “weaponizing” powers of government aimed at punishing it for protected speech. Disney’s motion was filed in state court in Orlando. It was the latest twist in legal battles being played out in federal and state courts among the entertainment giant, DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The fight is over who controls the special governing district that decides what gets built at Disney World.
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Retail sales up 0.4% in April, buoyed by solid job market and declining prices in some areas
NEW YORK (AP) — Consumers picked up their spending modestly in April from March, particularly in dining out and online, buoyed by a solid job market and easing inflationary pressures. A bump up in car sales also helped results, according to the Commerce Department report issued Tuesday. But shoppers are facing plenty of challenges heading into the second half of the year from tightening credit to a weaker job market. Retail sales increased 0.4% in April from March when it was down 0.7%. It marked the first increase since January when unusually warm weather and a big jump in Social Security benefits likely spurred more spending.
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ChatGPT chief says artificial intelligence should be regulated by a US or global agency
The head of the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT has told Congress that government intervention will be critical to mitigating the risks of increasingly powerful AI systems. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified at a Senate hearing Tuesday that he supports the formation of a U.S. or global agency that would license the most powerful AI systems. He said the agency should also have the authority to ensure compliance with safety standards. His San Francisco-based startup rocketed to public attention after it released ChatGPT late last year. Lawmakers expressed concerns about the ability of the latest crop of “generative AI” tools to mislead people, spread falsehoods, violate copyright protections and upend the job market.
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YouTube’s recommendations send violent and graphic gun videos to 9-year-olds, study finds
WASHINGTON (AP) — YouTube is great at sending users videos that it thinks they’ll like based on their interests. But new research shows that the site’s powerful algorithms can also flood young users with violent and disturbing content. The nonprofit Tech Transparency Project created YouTube accounts mimicking the behavior of young boys with an interest in first-person shooter games. The site soon began recommending videos featuring graphic imagery of school shootings and tactical firearm training to users as young as nine. YouTube says it works hard to protect children, but the researchers say the material could traumatize vulnerable kids or send them down dark roads of radicalization and extremism.
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Monopoly concerns push FTC to sue to block Amgen’s more than $26B deal for Horizon
Federal regulators are suing to block biotech drug developer Amgen’s more than $26 billion deal for Horizon Therapeutics. The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that the deal, announced last December, would give Amgen unfair leverage to block competition for Horizon medications. The FTC said the deal would entrench Horizon’s monopoly position on treatments for thyroid eye disease and chronic refractory gout. An Amgen representative did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment. Amgen leaders said in December that the deal would give their company a strong platform to expand into rare disease treatments.
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Biden vetoes bid by Congress to reinstate tariffs on solar panel imports from SE Asia
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has vetoed a congressional resolution that would have reinstated tariffs on solar panel imports from Southeast Asia. Biden’s action settles — for now — a long-running dispute over whether to punish China for trade violations that bypass U.S. rules limiting imports of cheap solar panels from Asia. The result of Biden’s veto is that a two-year delay on tariffs will continue until at least June 2024. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed concerns about what they call unfair competition from China. Some U.S. manufacturers contend China has essentially moved operations to four Southeast Asian countries — Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia — to skirt U.S. anti-dumping rules.
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Wells Fargo agrees to pay $1 billion to settle shareholders’ class-action lawsuit
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wells Fargo has agreed to a pay $1 billion to settle a lawsuit filed by its shareholders. The shareholders had alleged that the bank made misleading statements about its compliance with federal regulators after a fake account-opening scandal came to light in 2016. The class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of hundreds of thousands of public employees of Rhode Island and Mississippi whose retirement funds had invested in Wells Fargo. A federal judge in New York on Tuesday granted preliminary approval of the settlement that was filed late Monday. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo said it disagreed with the allegations in the case but was pleased to have it resolved.
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The S&P 500 fell 26.38 points, or 0.6%, to 4,109.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 336.46 points, or 1%, to 33,012.14. The Nasdaq composite fell 22.16 points, or 0.2% to 12,343.05. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 25.37 points, or 1.4%, to 1,736.18.
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