Aug. 8 (ZFJ) — The Federal Reserve maintained the target federal funds rate at 5.25-5.50% at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)’s July 31 meeting.
This rate was set on July 26, 2023, and has been held steady since then. The Fed has been aggressively increasing the interest rate since raising it from 0.00-0.25% to 0.25-0.50% in March 2022 in order to fight stubborn inflation.
“The labor market has come into better balance and the unemployment rate remains low,” said Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his opening remarks at a press conference.
April 14 (ZFJ) — YouTube is requiring creators to disclose when realistic-appearing content—anything that can easily be mistaken for a real person, place, scene, or event—has been generated or altered using artificial intelligence, announced the video platform on March 18.
Examples provided by YouTube of content requiring disclosure include digitally replacing a person’s face, synthetically generating a person’s face, making it appear as if a real building caught fire, altering a real cityscape to appear differently, and realistically showing a fictional tornado moving toward a real town.
Feb. 6 (ZFJ) — Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music corporation, has pulled all of its music from TikTok following the expiration of its previous licensing agreement on Jan. 31 after renewal talks collapsed.
That means that any TikToks containing music from Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Drake, Harry Styles, and many, many more artists have had their audio muted. Until a new licensing agreement is finalized, TikTok users won’t be able to add any music from Universal’s catalog to their videos.
NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (ZFJ) — The New York Times filed a federal copyright infringement lawsuit on Dec. 27 against Microsoft and OpenAI for using its news articles unauthorized to train generative artificial intelligence models.
The Times says it initiated negotiations with Microsoft and OpenAI in April 2023, but no licensing agreement, like in the case of The Associated Press, was reached, leading to the lawsuit.
“Defendants insist that their conduct is protected as ‘fair use’ because their unlicensed use of copyrighted content to train GenAI models serves a new ‘transformative’ purpose,” wrote The Times in its civil complaint.
Dec. 17 (ZFJ) — The Fed maintained the target federal funds rate at 5.25-5.50% for the third time in a row on Wednesday, Dec. 13, noting that inflation has eased but is still elevated.
“Inflation has eased from its highs, and this has come without a significant increase in unemployment,” said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. “This is very good news. But inflation is still too high, ongoing progress in bringing it down is not assured, and the path forward is uncertain.
Nov. 10 (ZFJ) — Ørsted has pulled out of developing two offshore wind farms, set to have been New Jersey’s first ones, due to economic challenges, the company announced on Tuesday, Oct. 31.
“Macroeconomic factors have changed dramatically over a short period of time, with high inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain bottlenecks impacting our long-term capital investments,” said David Hardy, group executive vice president and CEO of Ørsted Americas.
Nov. 5 (ZFJ) — The Federal Reserve maintained the interest rate at 5.25-5.50% for the second time in a row on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
This rate was set on July 26 and held steady on Sept. 20. The Fed has been aggressively increasing the interest rate since it raised it from 0.00-0.25% to 0.25-0.50% in March 2022 in order to fight stubborn inflation.
Economic activity has been expanding at a strong pace, said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
EDISON, N.J., Aug. 12 (ZFJ) — To celebrate its trademark battle win, Taco Bell will fund Taco Tuesday celebrations in all U.S. states except New Jersey, the company announced on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
On Tuesday, Sept. 12, Taco Bell, partnering with DoorDash, will spend $5 million to cover orders from participating Mexican food vendors.
“Taco Tuesday belongs to all who make, sell, eat, and celebrate tacos, and this Free-For-All will not only thank taco fans who supported the cause, but also spotlight local restaurants and vendors who can now embrace Taco Tuesdays without fear of legal action,” said Taco Bell U.
