Business Update – 19 July 2023
Welcome to our Weekly Digest – stay in the know with some recent news updates relevant to business and the economy.
Senate to hold classified briefing on Artificial Intelligence and National Security
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has invited all 100 senators to a classified briefing on artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on global and national security
Firefighters are leaving the U.S. Forest Service for better pay and benefits
Thousands of federal wildland firefighters could walk off the job if Congress fails to pass a permanent pay increase, officials and advocates warned amid an already scorching summer that could lead to an explosion of wildfires later in the year.
Tesla’s Cybertruck is starting production
Just this week, Tesla began production of its Cybertruck in Giga, Texas, four years after releasing its prototype and two years behind its planned production date.
Biden’s new plan to forgive $39 billion in student loans, explained
The Biden administration announced Friday that it will cancel $39 billion in federal student loans for more than 804,000 borrowers, following the US Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down the White House’s previous student loan forgiveness plan.
San Francisco’s downtown ‘never going back to the way it was,’ Salesforce’s Marc Benioff says
San Francisco, California-based tech CEO Mark Benioff says the city will never go back to the way it was before the pandemic
United Airlines pilots reach ‘historic’ agreement in principle, with big pay raises, other perks
United Airlines and the union representing its pilots said Saturday they reached agreement in principle on a contract that will raise pilot pay by up to 40% over four years.
What is the FedNow Service?
The FedNow Service is a new service for instant payments built by the Federal Reserve to help make everyday payments fast and convenient for American households and businesses. Starting in late July 2023, banks and credit unions of all sizes will be able to sign up for the FedNow Service and offer new instant payment services to their customers.
Senate report confirms data leakage from tax software
A recent Senate investigation report says that major tax preparation software companies have been sending sensitive personal information to tech companies like Meta and Google, in possible violation of taxpayer privacy laws.
CFPB takes action against Bank of America
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered Bank of America to pay more than $100 million to customers for systematically double-dipping on fees imposed on customers with insufficient funds in their account, withholding reward bonuses explicitly promised to credit card customers, and misappropriating sensitive personal information to open accounts without customer knowledge or authorization.
Google’s medical AI chatbot is already being tested in hospitals
Google’s Med-PaLM 2, an AI tool designed to answer questions about medical information, has been in testing at the Mayo Clinic research hospital, among others, since April.
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