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Apple unveils sleek, $3,500 ‘Vision Pro’ goggles. Will they be what VR has been looking for?
CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple has unveiled a long-rumored headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter’s ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public’s imagination. After years of speculation, Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday hailed the arrival of the sleek goggles — dubbed “Vision Pro” — at the the company’s annual developers conference held on a park-like campus in Cupertino, California, that Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs helped design. The Vision Pro will sell for $3,500 when it comes out early next year, a price likely to limit its appeal.
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Pride becomes a minefield for big companies, but many continue their support
Dozens of big companies from Delta and Coca-Cola to Walmart are sponsoring LGBTQ+ Pride events and displaying racks of Pride-themed merchandise. But this year, the rainbow has lost some shine. Longtime Pride sponsors like Bud Light and Target have come under attack by conservatives for their LGBTQ-friendly marketing. Calls to boycott Kohl’s, Lego and Southwest Airlines for their LGBTQ-friendly marketing have also popped up in recent days. Nonetheless, many big companies are still backing Pride celebrations. Some say they want to support their LGBTQ+ employees. They also don’t want to turn their back on a population with significant spending power.
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Binance mishandled funds and violated securities laws, according to SEC lawsuit
WASHINGTON (AP) — The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao are accused of misusing investor funds, operating as an unregistered exchange and violating a slew of U.S. securities laws in a lawsuit filed by the SEC. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit on Monday lists thirteen charges against the firm — including commingling and divert customer assets to an entity Zhao owned called Sigma Chain. Binance is a Cayman Islands limited liability company founded by Zhao.
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Is it real or made by AI? Europe wants a label for that as it fights disinformation
LONDON (AP) — The European Union is pushing online platforms like Google and Meta to step up efforts to fight false information by adding labels to text, photos and other content generated by artificial intelligence. A top EU Commission official said Monday that the ability of a new generation of AI chatbots to create complex content and visuals in seconds raises “fresh challenges for the fight against disinformation.” The 27-nation bloc has asked Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok and other tech companies that have signed up to the voluntary EU agreement on combating disinformation to work to tackle the AI problem. The official says companies should roll out technology to recognize AI-generated content and “clearly label this to users.”
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Federal judge calls Indiana attorney general’s TikTok lawsuit largely ‘political posturing’
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The fate of an Indiana lawsuit against the social media company TikTok is uncertain after a federal judge lambasted it as “political posturing.” The case came before a federal judge at TikTok’s request because the company wants the case moved to federal court. The judge denied that request. Indiana Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita is suing TikTok because he claims the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform misleads people about its inappropriate content and consumer security. The case remains with a county judge who dealt a blow to the case last month, ruling that downloading TikTok isn’t a consumer transaction because people don’t pay for it.
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Hundreds of journalists strike to demand leadership change at biggest US newspaper chain
NEW YORK (AP) — Journalists at two dozen local newspapers across the U.S. walked off the job Monday to demand an end to painful cost-cutting measures and a change of leadership at Gannett, the country’s biggest newspaper chain. The mostly one-day strike coincided with Gannett’s annual shareholder meeting, during which the company’s board was duly elected despite the NewsGuild-CWA union urging shareholders to withhold their votes from CEO and board chairman Mike Reed as an expression of no confidence in his leadership. The strike includes journalists from Arizona Republic, the Austin American-Statesman, the Bergen Record, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, and the Palm Beach Post. Gannett has said there would be no disruption to its news coverage during the strike.
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European Central Bank chief signals more rate hikes ahead with inflation still ‘strong’
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde says inflation pressures are “strong.” She made clear Monday that the central bank will keep raising interest rates to bring down inflation to its goal of 2%. That means there is a ways to go after inflation clocked in at 6.1% in May. Falling energy prices helped, but Lagarde has warned that is only part of the story but “there is no clear evidence that underlying inflation has peaked.” She stressed the burden that inflation puts on ordinary people, particularly those who are low income. Analysts expect the ECB to raise rates again at its meeting June 15.
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Agenda spat at UN climate talks as top official sees chance to ask ‘difficult questions’ in Dubai
BERLIN (AP) — Nations have resumed talks on tackling global warming with the aim of shaping a deal that might put the world on track to prevent a dangerous increase in temperatures. The U.N.’s top climate official said Monday that the world needs deep cuts in fossil fuel use. Diplomats began their negotiations despite failing to agree on a formal agenda for the two-week talks in Germany because of differences on the topic of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The issue lies at the heart of the climate problem since burning oil, coal and gas is responsible for most warming that’s occurred since preindustrial times. Environmental campaigners have lamented that this year’s U.N. climate summit will be held in the United Arab Emirates. The country is a major fossil fuel exporter.
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Wild blueberry production takes a dip in the face of drought
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The nation’s production of wild blueberries slipped a bit last year as some growers contended with drought. Wild blueberries are smaller than their cultivated cousins and are widely used in frozen and processed products such as smoothie mixes. Maine is the only state in the U.S. where the blueberries are harvested commercially. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says the 2022 harvest of the blueberries fell a little more than 25% to 77.5 million pounds. That was still a relatively strong year, and the third-most since 2017.
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The S&P 500 fell 8.58 points, or 0.2%, to 4,273.79. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 199.90 points, or 0.6%, to 33,562.86. The Nasdaq composite fell 11.34 points, or 0.1% to 13,229.43. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 24.19 points, or 1.3%, to 1,806.71.
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