GoKawiil
Tech News
OpenAI revealed six additional cases of what it described as unexpected or troubling behavior from its AI models, stating publicly that the industry has not yet solved alignment and monitoring challenges. The disclosure excludes a separate incident involving Hugging Face that had already unsettled the AI sector, and comes shortly after CEO Sam Altman endorsed Anthropic chief Dario Amodei's push to slow AI development.
The US central bank lifted its benchmark interest rate, marking the first increase in three years as it responds to persistent inflation pressures. The move comes as American consumers face rising prices, with fuel costs climbing sharply amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday for the first time since 2023, increasing borrowing costs for consumers just as prices for electronics, groceries and housing have been climbing for the past year and a half. Economists note that even if the Fed succeeds in slowing inflation toward its 2% target, existing price increases won't reverse, meaning consumers face a higher cost baseline going forward.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to raise interest rates by a quarter point, marking the Fed's first increase since July 2023 and pushing its benchmark rate to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent. Chair Kevin Warsh cited persistently high inflation as the reason for the move. The change will ripple differently across consumer debt, from mortgages to car loans to credit cards.
A newly launched interactive analysis built on BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey data from 2000-2024 finds that the bottom 50% of U.S. households by income spend more than they earn once essential costs are covered. The tool reproduces official quintile-level averages for income, taxes and spending exactly, while offering adjustable what-if scenarios for finer breakdowns like deciles, childcare costs, and wealth taxes that aren't directly reported by BLS. It also flags several data inconsistencies, such as a 2013 methodology shift in tax estimation and missing 2024 after-tax figures, and includes inflation-adjusted projections for 2025-2026 since BLS hasn't yet published that data.
Major U.S. indexes closed lower for the week as crude oil topped $100 a barrel amid U.S.-Iran tensions and the 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since October 2023, reviving fears the Fed will raise rates again. The Dow fell 1.6%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped 0.8% and 0.7% respectively, despite a Friday rebound. Inflation readings from the producer and consumer price indexes came in largely as expected, but portfolio holdings Meta and Apple offered upbeat signals about their AI prospects.
The August consumer price index rose 0.4% month-over-month and 3.4% annually, matching analyst forecasts, while core CPI ticked up slightly more than expected at 0.3%. The reading follows Thursday's hotter-than-anticipated producer price index and a surge in crude oil to $6 a gallon, pushing traders to raise the odds of a quarter-point Fed rate hike next week above 70%. Stock futures rose Friday morning as investors weighed the data and looked to snap a four-session losing streak, with Oracle's earnings also drawing market attention.
A Maine business that sold fox and coyote urine to hunters as a cover scent noticed an unusually large order from a lawn and garden store outside hunting season. A phone call revealed the retailer's customers were gardeners using the same product to scare rabbits away from vegetable patches, uncovering an entirely new customer base the founder hadn't realized existed.
A Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas analysis found that job postings in AI-exposed fields across Texas fell 8% by early 2025 compared to less-exposed roles, hitting recent college graduates hardest. Texas leads the nation in data center construction, yet the study suggests the buildout has coincided with weaker hiring rather than the job growth often promised by AI boosters. Governor Greg Abbott, once a vocal supporter of the data center expansion, recently froze new grid connections amid mounting public pressure.
Amid escalating political pressure from President Trump on the Federal Reserve, commentators are floating ways to strengthen the central bank's accountability mechanisms as a means of preserving its independence. The proposals aim to balance greater oversight of the Fed's decisions with protecting its ability to set monetary policy free from short-term political interference.
Gap Inc. announced that customer chief Michael Francis will replace Haio Barbeito as Old Navy's CEO starting in November, part of an ongoing effort to revive the struggling brand. The announcement came alongside Gap's mixed second-quarter results, which beat earnings estimates but missed on revenue, sending shares up more than 16% in after-hours trading.
Kevin Warsh, the Federal Reserve's new chair, has broken from his predecessors by declining to offer clear signals about future interest rate moves, even as inflation remains elevated. At his most recent press conference he repeatedly avoided answering whether the Fed would raise rates if inflation persists, leaving investors and economists uncertain about his approach. He is expected to address these concerns in a closely watched speech at the Fed's Jackson Hole symposium.