CHICAGO — A union seeking to represent Trader Joe’s workers at a Chicago grocery store notched a win in a hotly contested union election Tuesday. But Trader Joe’s said it plans to appeal the decision, a move that could stall the case indefinitely before the paralyzed National Labor Relations Board, which has not been able to issue ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — People who toil on the Universal Studios lot out of the public eye recently got an upgrade to their workplace meant to bring it more in line with its glamorous image as a historic movie factory and theme park known to the world.

The old campus was so uninspired and bland that wags compared it to "a mayonnaise factory," said Ed...Read more

Microsoft Corp. unveiled artificial intelligence tools that can create video-game scenes that would normally have to be programmed and animated by a human, a model it built using data collected from Xbox gamers and their controllers.

Called Muse, the model is the first of its kind, according to Microsoft. A machine learning research team ...Read more

The push to put pennies out of circulation that was kicked off during the Super Bowl by President Donald Trump ultimately depends on Congress, which has shown reluctance to cancel the 232-year-old coin since one of the first serious proposals to do so during the administration of President Gerald Ford.

Although momentum may be building toward a...Read more

The federal cost-cutting effort dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency says it has saved $55 billion in federal spending so far, but its website only accounts for $16.6 billion of that.

And that’s before factoring in an error in the data published on DOGE’s website that mislabels a contract as $8 billion, which was later corrected ...Read more

While Americans should be greatly concerned about Elon Musk accessing their Social Security data, what could ultimately threaten monthly benefit checks would be efforts to reduce the agency’s staffing, former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley said in a TV interview Tuesday night.

President Donald Trump’s administration has ...Read more

A group of Los Angeles fast food workers walked off the job Tuesday to urge city officials to approve a law that would give them more control over their work schedules.

Fast food workers have long complained of unstable schedules that make it difficult to plan their finances, child care, medical appointments and other obligations.

Los Angeles ...Read more

Grok looks like any plush toy you’d find in a kid’s bedroom. Its round body is shaped like a rocket, and my two kids have been playing with it for months. It’s different from other toys they’re used to. For one thing, Grok is heavy. Inside it is a plastic box containing a small computer, so that whenever it detects human speech it can ...Read more

Facebook's parent company Meta said it's working on the world's longest undersea cable as part of the social media giant's efforts to connect more people to high-speed internet.

Called Project Waterworth, the massive cable spanning more than 50,000 kilometers will bring "industry-leading connectivity" to the United States, India, Brazil, South ...Read more

Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to shift a $1.5 billion order with LG Energy Solution to bolster operations at a Michigan battery plant after General Motors Co. backed out of the project, according to people familiar with the matter.

GM said in December it would sell its $1 billion stake in the Lansing, Michigan, plant, leaving LG scrambling to ...Read more

Calling the trend of children buying antiaging skin care "ridiculous and a paradox," a state legislator has introduced a bill that would ban the sale of such beauty products to customers under the age of 18.

The recent obsession among so-called Sephora Kids for skin care containing potent chemicals has alarmed parents and dermatologists, who ...Read more

Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday said it's offering up to $2,500 for one year on the latest gas and hybrid F-Series truck models with the Ford Security Package if the vehicle is stolen and not recovered or found with damage to cover insurance deductibles.

Vehicle thefts have increased since the start of the pandemic as automotive prices and parts have...Read more

King Soopers and union leaders agreed late Monday to return to the bargaining table, ending a 12-day strike by more than 10,000 union members in metro Denver and Pueblo, Colorado.

The announcement came after the supermarket chain and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 tried but failed over the weekend to restart negotiations. ...Read more

The Trump administration’s antitrust enforcers will follow Biden-era merger review rules, disappointing critics who had hoped for a rollback of the requirements.

In a memo to staff Tuesday announcing the policy, U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson said maintaining consistent standards for merger reviews is key for the business...Read more

The Bay Area job market, a long-time engine for California’s economy, has sputtered badly in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, reflecting a profound shift in the fortunes of Silicon Valley.

The slowdown is so pronounced that the region has become a drag on California’s job market. In 2024, job growth in the state ranked only 37th among ...Read more

California homeowners were just reminded that the financial backstop of last resort for houses destroyed by wildfires is … other California homeowners. It’s a sign of what’s in store for the rest of the country when too many homes lack adequate protection from the growing risk of natural disasters.

Last week, surprising no one, California...Read more

ROME, Georgia — For all of his 75 years, Alvin Jackson has called this city in the Appalachian foothills of northwest Georgia his home.

Like many in the town of about 40,000 residents, Jackson has quenched his thirst with water that comes straight out of his tap. For decades, Jackson thought little about what was in that water, which is ...Read more

Southwest Airlines Co. will cut about 1,750 jobs in its leadership ranks, a dramatic step to reduce expenses that mark the first layoffs in the carrier’s history.

The pullback will impact 15% of corporate positions, including senior leadership and directors, the airline said in a statement Sunday. The reductions start in late April and will ...Read more