Business Highlights: Spicy food challenge; Google’s antitrust trial; Monday Night Football
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Spicy food challenges have a long history. Have they become too extreme?
NEW YORK (AP) — A tortilla chip maker’s decision to pull its extremely spicy product sold as a “One Chip Challenge” from store shelves following the death of a Massachusetts teen has renewed attention on the popularity — and risks — of similar dares marketed by brands and spread widely online. Spicy food challenges have been around for years. From local chile pepper eating contests to restaurant walls of fame for those who finished extra hot dishes, people around the world have been daring each other to eat especially fiery foods. But extremely spicy products created and marketed solely for the challenges — and possible internet fame — is a more recent phenomenon, and teens are particularly exposed to them because of social media.
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Google’s search engine dominance is at the center of the biggest US antitrust trial in decades
The U.S. government is taking aim at what has been an indomitable empire: Google’s ubiquitous search engine. An antitrust trial will swing into full force Tuesday in a Washington D.C. federal courtroom. The case marks the biggest U.S. antitrust trial since regulators went after Microsoft a quarter century ago to challenge Microsoft’s dominance in personal computer software. The 10-week trial comes years after the Justice Department alleged Google abused the power of its search engine in ways that stifle competition. The government says Google’s practices increasingly force consumers to settle for inferior search results.
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Disney, Charter settle cable dispute hours before ‘Monday Night Football’ season opener
NEW YORK (AP) — Disney and Charter Communications announced a deal to settle a dispute that had cut some 15 million cable TV customers off from ESPN and other Disney-owned stations. The two businesses faced a pressing deadline — the year’s first ‘Monday Night Football’ game, that would have left a lot of angry football fans if they weren’t able to watch the game. It matches the New York Jets against the Buffalo Bills, and many of the affected customers with the Charter-owned Spectrum TV are in the New York area. The companies were seeking to nail an agreement for Spectrum to carry Disney’s stations, made difficult by cord-cutting that has cut into cable’s audience.
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Hostess is being acquired by JM Smucker in a deal valued at $5.6B after coming back from the brink
Hostess, the maker of snack classics like Twinkies and HoHos, is being sold to J.M. Smucker in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $5.6 billion. Smucker, which makes everything from coffee to peanut butter and jelly, will pay $34.25 per share in cash and stock, and it will also pick up approximately $900 million in net debt. In addition to Twinkies, Hostess makes CupCakes, DingDongs and Zingers, and also Voortman cookies.
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US sets record for billion-dollar weather disasters in a year -- and there’s still 4 months to go
The deadly firestorm in Hawaii and Hurricane Idalia’s watery storm surge helped push the United States to an annual record for the number of weather disasters that cost at least $1 billion. And there’s still four months to go on what’s looking more like a calendar of calamities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday there have been 23 weather extreme events in America that cost at least $1 billion this year through August. That breaks the annual record of 22 set in 2020. So far disasters this year have cost more than $57.6 billion and claimed at least 253 lives.
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Europe’s economic outlook worsens as high prices plague consumer spending
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s economic outlook just took a turn for the worse. The European Union’s executive commission on Monday cut its forecast because high inflation is still discouraging consumers from spending money. The European Commission now expects economic growth of 0.8% this year for the 20 countries that use the euro currency. The old forecast was for 1.1% growth. Despite fears of recession, it’s more stagnation because unemployment is low. The weaker outlook could affect what the European Central Bank does on interest rates this week. Some economists think the ECB might avoid another rate increase after nine straight hikes.
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Inflection.ai CEO Mustafa Suleyman explains how to catch a ride on the ‘coming wave’ of technology
If you have watched a telecast involving basketball superstar LeBron James during the past 20 years, you probably have heard an announcer declare: “You can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him.” That sentiment sums up how Inflection.ai CEO Mustafa Suleyman feels about artificial intelligence — a technology that he helped advance as a co-founder of DeepMind, which Google acquired in 2014. After leaving Google last year, Suleyman founded Inflection in an effort to create artificial intelligence that won’t veer into vile behavior. His new book, “The Coming Wave,” focuses on AI’s promise and the need to limit its potential perils.
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Stellantis reports progress in talks with auto workers and plans to make another offer Monday
DETROIT (AP) — Stellantis is reporting progress in talks with the United Auto Workers union with just three days left before contracts expire with Detroit’s three automakers. Human resources chief Tobin Williams told employees in an email that the union made counteroffer to its economic proposal on Sunday Stellantis plans to respond to that on Monday morning. He also says both sides have reached agreement in a number of areas including health and safety, and that both sides are on a path to reach a deal without a strike. UAW President Shawn Fain on Friday called counter offers from Stellantis, General Motors and Ford inadequate. He warned of strikes against any company without a deal when contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. Thursday. Sunday night he reported progress but said things are moving slowly.
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The S&P 500 rose 29.97 points, or 0.7%, to 4,487.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 87.13 points, or 0.3%, to 34,663.72. The Nasdaq composite rose 156.37 points, or 1.1%, to 13,917.89. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.60 points, or 0.2%, to 1,855.14.