Walmart says it's not using personal information to set prices as it expands digital shelf labels

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is aiming to assuage customers' fears about its new pricing technology as it rolls out digital price labels at its stores. In a statement posted online, Walmart Inc.’s CEO John Furner vowed that the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer isn’t using personal information like income, shopping history or a shopper’s willingness to pay to set prices and won’t be doing so in the future. The pledge comes as concerns are mounting from some shoppers, consumer advocates and lawmakers skeptical about the rollout of digital price labels by Walmart and other stores. Digital price labels let stores change prices instantly from a central computer instead of having workers swap out paper labels by hand.

Anthropic and OpenAI sound the alarm on AI safety — and seek to shape how it's controlled

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As tech titans warned an AI-weary world that their own advanced systems could endanger humanity, the question emerged: What do they have to gain? The answer may lie in the companies’ efforts to score political goals ahead of the U.S. midterm elections and the money top artificial intelligence labs and their investors stand to make in much-anticipated listings on a jittery stock market. Experts, analysts and former government evaluators tell The Associated Press that Anthropic and OpenAI appear with their rhetoric to be seeking public favor and to set the terms for their own safety protocols in the unregulated market.

OpenAI pauses training of latest models after agents probed US government sites in unexpected ways

NEW YORK (AP) — OpenAI announced it has halted development of its latest artificial intelligence models hours after it disclosed its agents scouring federal government website acted in unexpected ways that suggest a lack of control. It's the second time in three months the company paused development. The decision also came after AI evaluator Transluce said Friday that agents apparently from OpenAI tried but failed to hack into the Department of Education website, a detail that OpenAI has not confirmed. AI companies are facing pressure from lawmakers and tech experts to slow development and build guardrails to stop their agents from going rogue, hacking websites and disclosing nonpublic information.

New Mexico jury finds Facebook liable for deceiving users about privacy protections

A New Mexico jury has found Facebook liable of deceiving users about privacy protections on the social media platform. The verdict arrived Friday, the latest legal setback that has already cost the company billions of dollars. It is now up to the judge to determine how much the company would pay. Attorneys representing the state are asking for the maximum $5,000 penalty per violation. The two-week trial centered on accusations that Facebook deceived users about a data breach stemming from a third-party personality quiz that harvested data from roughly 87 million profiles and sold it to a political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, to generate targeted ads. The now-defunct firm’s clients included the 2016 campaign for Donald Trump.

EU vows to defend its stand against X after the US backs a court challenge from Elon Musk

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says it's ready to defend a 120 million euro fine issued to social media platform X. This comes after the U.S. government supported Elon Musk's legal effort to dismiss the case. The EU fined X for breaching digital regulations, marking the first penalty under the bloc's rules. The U.S. Justice Department argues the fine could impact American companies in the EU. The EU insists it has the right to protect its citizens and will defend its position in court. The case has added tension to EU-U.S. relations, but Brussels says broader ties remain unaffected.

OpenAI says its models engaged with US government websites in new model misbehavior disclosure

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — OpenAI has disclosed its artificial intelligence models have interacted with U.S. government websites in unexpected ways. The AI giant says its models accessed public information on sites like SEC.gov and the U.S. Census Bureau. OpenAI says it has not found any misuse of credentials or data breaches. A spokesperson says the lab is reviewing what it calls misaligned model activity, where AI behaves unexpectedly. Most activity involved routine research tasks. An independent investigation found a failed hacking attempt on a Department of Education website. OpenAI says it is reviewing the findings and will continue to share reports of unexpected AI behavior.

China and US agree to establish AI safety channel and continue trade and military talks

BANGKOK (AP) — China and the U.S. have agreed to set up a channel for handling AI-related incidents and accelerate work on military crisis communications. This follows a three-day summit between their leaders in Washington. The two sides will also work on a Board of Trade for selected bilateral trade issues. They plan to sign a memorandum to strengthen crisis communications between their militaries, China’s Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday. An AI-specific dialogue is scheduled for November. The leaders agreed to extend a trade truce by two months and will meet at upcoming international summits.

A reprieve from rising oil prices helps US stocks finish the week higher

NEW YORK (AP) — A cooldown in oil prices helped release some of the pressure that’s built up on Wall Street, and U.S. stocks closed out their first winning week in the last three. The S&P 500 added 0.5% Friday to pull within 0.7% of its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%. Stocks got a boost after the price of a barrel of Brent oil dropped below $98. That helped Treasury yields ease shortly after the 10-year yield briefly jumped near its highest level since 2007.

Europe uses subsidies, taxes and policy pauses to offset pain of high fuel prices

BRUSSELS (AP) — Governments across Europe are using subsidies, taxes, and policy changes to help their economies, companies and aggrieved citizens weather an energy crisis caused by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that seven of the 10 nations working most actively to limit the impact of soaring fuel prices are located in the European Union. Lithuania cut train ticket prices in half. France and Spain extended fuel subsidies for farmers and fishermen. Germany cut fuel taxes. Greece is taxing gambling more to fund relief efforts. The EU relies heavily on outside sources of energy.

Federal court says Pentagon can label Anthropic a supply chain risk

A federal appeals court has rejected Anthropic's challenge to the Pentagon's labeling of it as a supply chain risk. The decision, made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday, allows the Pentagon to remove Anthropic's Claude models from its systems. The dispute began in February when President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused Anthropic of endangering national security. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused to back down. The ruling is separate from a previous case where a judge found the Pentagon acted illegally against Anthropic for its criticism of AI use.