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☆ Wendy's customers could soon order from an AI chatbot at its drive-thru that's been trained to recognize customer lingo like 'biggie bags' and 'JBC'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Wendy's is automating its drive-through service and introducing an AI chatbot to take orders. The chatbot has been trained to recognize common abbreviations and lingo that customers use. The chatbot has been trained to recognize customers' lingo when they order items like burgers and fries from Wendy's menu. A spokesperson for Wendy's told Insider in a statement that because customers can fully customize their orders at Wendy's, it leads to multiple different order combinations. Since OpenAI launched its AI chatbot ChatGPT in November and became the fastest-growing consumer app in internet history, businesses have been deploying AI tools to streamline work and complete tasks more quickly.

CNN —Harry Belafonte, the dashing singer, actor and activist who became an indispensable supporter of the civil rights movement, has died, his publicist Ken Sunshine told CNN. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Belafonte, left, plays a school principal in a scene from the film "See How They Run" in 1952. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Belafonte poses with the Emmy Award he won in 1960 for the musical special "Tonight With Belafonte." Fred Sabine/NBCU/Getty Images Belafonte and other recipients of Albert Einstein Commemorative Awards display their medallions after being honored in 1972. He is survived by his wife Pamela, his children Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, Shari Belafonte, Gina Belafonte, David Belafonte, two stepchildren Sarah Frank and Lindsey Frank and eight grandchildren.

Paris CNN —Air France and Airbus have been found not guilty of involuntary homicide in a criminal trial over the 2009 crash of a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris that killed 228 passengers and crew. The acquittal was confirmed in an abstract of the court’s ruling provided by the Paris prosecutor’s office. The court did find Airbus and Air France both liable for civil damages for certain failings, though they lacked a “tie of certain causality” with the accident. The 2009 crashMystery initially surrounded the crash of Air France flight 447, in part because it occurred while the plane was flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Problems with pitot tubes had affected Airbus aircraft in the past, but the company had not corrected the problem.

☆ California Comes in Last in Personal Income Growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) late last week published its 2022 report on state personal income growth, and it deserves more media attention than it’s been getting, which is none. These columns have documented the economic disparities between states such as New York and California that imposed severe lockdowns for longer and those that reopened sooner such as Florida and Texas. But lockdown states would have been expected to record a stronger rebound last year compared to 2021 when many of their restrictions were still in effect. That’s not what happened.

A series of atmospheric rivers are bringing widespread heavy rainfall to California, and the latest was forecasted to arrive Thursday and continue into Friday. Atmospheric rivers are essentially moisture streams in the sky, which can often be seen from space as narrow bands stretching from the West Coast out across the Atlantic. This one is what’s known as a “pineapple express” because of its origins near Hawaii. CANADA UNITED STATES PACIFIC OCEAN MEXICO CANADA UNITED STATES PACIFIC OCEAN MEXICO CANADA UNITED STATES PACIFIC OCEAN MEXICOAs these long, thin storm systems stretch across the ocean and hit land, they often bring extensive amounts of precipitation in the form of rain and snow. Use the map below to see the latest precipitation forecasts for locations across the West Coast.

☆ Investing in Space: Sizing up
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. Measuring the size of the space economy, whether globally or just for the U.S., is an important part of understanding the scale of the industry and its influence on our lives. But a new space survey is underway, by none other than the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). While BEA did a pilot study on space previously, the more robust study will be an annually refreshed estimate on the sector. It also plans to expand the analysis to breakdowns of each state, to show where space dollars are getting spent across the U.S.

☆ Inflation surprisingly rose in January, according to the Fed’s preferred gauge
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Minneapolis CNN —The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge heated up unexpectedly in January, showing the continued strength of the US economy – and that rising prices won’t be so easily defeated. Inflation picked up speed in January as the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 5.4% in January from a year earlier, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday. In December, prices rose 5.3% annually. The Fed’s go-to inflation gauge, the Core PCE Index (which strips out the often volatile food and energy categories) showed prices rising 0.6% on a monthly basis and 4.7% for the 12 months ending in January. Consumer spending and personal incomes rose 1.8% and 0.6% last month, respectively, according to the report.

☆ Venture capital for Black entrepreneurs plummeted 45% in 2022, data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Dixon is one of many Black entrepreneurs who struggled to secure funding for their businesses and relied on venture capital financing earmarked for diverse founders. While Dixon and many others have ultimately succeeded, Black-led businesses and Black founders have historically faced disparities in securing VC funding. Overall, Black entrepreneurs typically receive less than 2% of all VC dollars each year while companies led by Black women receive less than 1%, according to data from Crunchbase. That drop is the largest year-over-year decrease Black entrepreneurs have seen over the past decade. "Venture capital is a very privileged and exclusive industry, and has always been that way.

☆ I asked ChatGPT investors' burning questions – and a CIO told me why the bot won't be challenging Wall Street's top stock-pickers anytime soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I asked ChatGPT questions about markets and showed the answers to Morningstar Investment Management CIO Dan Kemp. He called some of its knowledge "remarkable" – but isn't worried it'll put top strategists out of their jobs anytime soon. "It provides answers, but it doesn't ask questions like a good investment manager," Kemp said. Kemp told me he was impressed with the breadth of the bot's knowledge – especially its ability to avoid unnecessary jargon when producing stock market content. "It's an interesting mistake and it's one that lots of investors made last year – not every high risk comes with a high reward."

☆ Photos show 10 mummified crocodiles found in an Egyptian tomb, likely after being sacrificed
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A ancient Egyptian tomb was uncovered containing ten mummified crocodiles. The tomb's contents was likely sacrificed for the crocodile-headed god Sobek. The leading theory is that the crocodiles were sacrificed as an offering to Sobek, the crocodile-headed god of the Nile and fertility. Sobek, the crocodile-headed god of fertilitySobek, the crocodile-headed god of fertility, is shown in hieroglyphs in Kom Ombo, southern Egypt. "In theory, it was an area where there was not much devotion to the crocodile god Sobek."

If you are dreaming of a white Christmas, your dreams may just come true this year. While a white Christmas might help the treetops glisten, the storm is likely to bring hazardous travel conditions as well. Last year, NOAA updated the average probabilities of a white Christmas across the United States. The song “White Christmas” was written during one of those long, snowless-Christmas spells. By the time he wrote the song at the end of the 1930s, New York City had not seen a white Christmas since 1930, according to weather service data and the official definition of a white Christmas.

☆ Landslide kills at least 14 attending funeral in Cameroon capital
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Amindeh Blaise Atabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

YAOUNDE, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A landslide in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on Sunday killed at least 14 people who were attending a funeral, the region's governor said. Dozens of people were attending a funeral on a soccer pitch at the base of a 20-metre high soil embankment, which collapsed on top of them, witnesses told Reuters. Yaounde is one of the wettest cities in Africa and is made of dozens of steep, shack-lined hills. Heavy rains have triggered several devastating floods throughout the country this year, weakening infrastructure and displacing thousands. Reporting by Amindeh Blaise Atabong; Writing by Cooper Inveen; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ This School Took Away Smartphones. The Kids Don’t Mind.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Julie Jargon | Photographs Bea Oyster For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A boarding school is conducting a social experiment: a smartphone ban for all students and faculty. Buxton School, a 57-student high school in Williamstown, in northwest Massachusetts, had always prided itself on its close-knit community, where family-style meals are eaten at round tables and students and teachers share in chores. But as smartphones became ubiquitous, faculty members say that sense of community eroded.

☆ U.S. beauty pageant can exclude transgender contestants, court rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Beauty pageant operator Miss United States of America LLC cannot be forced to allow transgender women to compete because doing so would interfere with its ability to express “the ideal vision of American womanhood,” a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday. Miss United States of America does business as United States of America Pageants. VanDyke was joined by Circuit Judge Carlos Bea, an appointee of former Republican President George W. Bush. Miss United States of America and a lawyer for Green did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Graber was appointed to the 9th Circuit by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.

☆ Key inflation gauge for the Fed rose 0.5% in September, in line with expectations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An economic gauge that the Federal Reserve follows closely showed that inflation stayed strong in September but mostly within expectations, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday. The core personal consumption expenditures price index increased 0.5% from the previous month and accelerated 5.1% over the past 12 months, the report showed. The monthly gain was in line with Dow Jones estimates, while the annual increase was slightly below the 5.2% forecast. Including food and energy, PCE inflation rose 0.3% for the month and 6.2% on a yearly basis, the same as in August. However, when adjusted for inflation, spending rose just 0.3%.

☆ U.S. economy grew 2.6% in the third quarter, better than expected as a six-month downturn is reversed
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

GDP gains also came from increases in consumer spending, nonresidential fixed investment and government spending. The underlying picture from the BEA report showed an economy slowing in key areas, particularly consumer spending and private investment. Consumer spending as measured through personal consumption expenditures increased at just a 1.4% pace in the quarter, down from 2% in the second quarter. Gross private domestic investment fell 8.5%, continuing a trend after falling 14.1% in the second quarter. Also, the personal consumption expenditures price index, a key inflation measure for the Federal Reserve, increased 4.2%, down sharply from 7.3% in the prior quarter.

☆ U.S. GDP accelerated at 2.6% pace in Q3, better than expected as growth turns positive
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

GDP gains also came from increases in consumer spending, nonresidential fixed investment and government spending. Declines in residential fixed investment and private inventories offset the gains, the BEA said. The underlying picture from the BEA report showed an economy slowing in key areas, particularly consumer spending and private investment. Consumer spending as measured through personal consumption expenditures increased at just a 1.4% pace in the quarter, down from 2% in Q2. Earlier this year, the Fed began a campaign of interest rate hikes aimed at taming inflation.

☆ A flight attendant broke his ankle in 2 places after being thrown to the ground by severe turbulence as his plane flew through a storm
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Stephen Jones | Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A flight attendant was badly hurt when his plane was hit with turbulence during its descent. The attendant broke his ankle in two places during the July 2021 incident on a Norwegian flight. Turbulence began when the plane was forced to fly through a storm previously missed by air traffic radar. His colleague — cabin crew member three — also injured her ankle in the incident, but provided assistance, and informed the rest of the flight crew of her colleague's more severe injury. Cabin crew member two suffered two fractures and a dislocated ankle, while crew member three suffered bruising.

☆ Bridgewater's co-CEO explains how the hedge fund, famous for its brutally honest culture, will evolve for the next generation of employees
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Alyson Velati | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Co-CEO Nir Bar Dea is already making changes to its famously radically transparent culture. Bridgewater Associates' co-CEO Nir Bar Dea is looking to make some changes to its controversial culture as founder Ray Dalio takes a step back. "The ideas are different," Dea said speaking at the Bloomberg Invest event Wednesday. Changing the culture for the next generationThe culture changes are already underway, said Dea. In a tweet last week, Ray Dalio said that he would give up control of the $150 billion hedge fund.

But France's BEA accident agency also revealed earlier discussions between Air France and Airbus about the reliability of the probes, and made dozens of safety recommendations from cockpit design to training and search-and-rescue. The relative roles of pilot or sensor error will be key to the trial, exposing differences that insiders say plunged Airbus and Air France into in-fighting behind the scenes for over a decade. We don't want Airbus or Air France to turn this trial into a conference of engineers," said lawyer Sebastien Busy. It is the first time French companies face trial for "involuntary manslaughter" following an air crash. It's their reputations...that's what's at stake for (Air France and Airbus)," said families lawyer Alain Jakubowicz.

☆ Flight AF447: Airbus and Air France stand trial over 2009 crash
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Jim Bittermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Paris CNN Business —The trial of two of France’s biggest companies begins Monday over the crash of Air France flight 447 in 2009 that killed 228 passengers and crew. Air France denied the company was responsible for the crash and said the charges should again be dismissed. The Air France A330 aircraft plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009. It was a problem that had affected a few Airbus aircraft in the past, but one which the company had not corrected. Air France stands accused of failing to train pilots on how to respond to the kind of situation the crew faced.

☆ Flight AF447: Airbus and Air France charged with involuntary homicide for Rio-Paris crash in 2009
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Jim Bittermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Paris CNN Business —The trial of two of France’s biggest companies began Monday over the crash of Air France flight 447 in 2009 that killed 228 passengers and crew. Air France denied the company was responsible for the crash and said the charges should again be dismissed. The Air France A330 aircraft plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009. It was a problem that had affected a few Airbus aircraft in the past, but one which the company had not corrected. Air France stands accused of failing to train pilots on how to respond to the kind of situation the crew faced.

But France's BEA accident agency also revealed earlier discussions between Air France and Airbus about growing problems with external "pitot probes" that generate the speed readings. We don't want Airbus or Air France to turn this trial into a conference of engineers," said lawyer Sebastien Busy. It is the first time French companies have gone on trial for "involuntary manslaughter" following an air crash. It's their reputations... that's what's at stake for (Air France and Airbus)," said families lawyer Alain Jakubowicz. Rigail expressed "the deepest compassion" after telling the court Air France would never forget its worst-ever accident.

☆ U.S. economic growth revised up; gap between GDP and GDI narrows sharply
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The economy contracted 2.8% in 2020, revised up from the previously published 3.4% decline. Revisions showed GDI rebounding 5.5% in 2021, revised down from the previously published 7.3%. The gap between GDI and GDP, also known as the statistical discrepancy, is the sum of measurement errors in estimating the respective components of GDP and GDI. SUBSIDIES A CHALLENGEWith GDP revised higher and GDI lower, the statistical discrepancy narrowed to -0.6% of GDP in 2021. Overall, the GDP revisions to data from the fourth quarter of 2016 through the fourth quarter of 2021 did not change the economic picture.

☆ Jobless claims hit five-month low despite Fed's efforts to slow labor market
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Initial filings for unemployment claims fell last week to their lowest level in five months, a sign that the labor market is strengthening even as the Federal Reserve is trying to slow things down. The drop in claims was the lowest level since April 23 and the first time claims fell below 200,000 since early May. Continuing claims, which run a week behind, fell 29,000 to 1.347 million. Despite the efforts, there was more bad news Thursday for the Fed on the inflation front. However, the Cleveland Fed's own Inflation Nowcasting gauge shows little improvement on the inflation front in September even with a sharp decline in gas prices.

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