News

Jul 01, 2023

Business Highlights: Yellow trucking expected to file for bankruptcy; Solar panel recycling heats up

___ Teamsters say trucking giant Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations, filing for bankruptcy NEW YORK — Troubled trucking company Yellow Corp. is shutting down and filing for bankruptcy, the Teamsters

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Teamsters say trucking giant Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations, filing for bankruptcy

NEW YORK — Troubled trucking company Yellow Corp. is shutting down and filing for bankruptcy, the Teamsters said Monday. An official backruptcy filing is expected any day for Yellow, after years of financial struggles and growing debt. Its impending liquidation marks a significant shift for the U.S. transportation industry and shippers nationwide. The company’s collapse arrives just three years after Yellow, formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., received $700 million in pandemic-era loans from the federal government. But the company was in financial trouble long before that — with industry analysts pointing to poor management and strategic decisions dating back decades.

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The first generation of solar panels will wear out. A recycling industry is taking shape

The largest solar panel recycling plant in North America has opened in Yuma, Arizona, just as the flow of used and spent solar panels sharply ramps up. We Recycle Solar can process 345,000 pounds of modules in a single day, or roughly 69 million pounds per year. The business sends about 60% of the panels for resale and reuse, and strips apart and repurpose the valuable materials like copper and aluminum. Some of the used panels are sold out of a shop in Puerto Rico, where the grid was destroyed by back-to-back hurricanes Maria and Irma. The goal is to address an “anticipated tsunami” of solar waste and keep it out of landfills. The company also employs a trained crew that goes out and dismantles solar farms and brings the panels back intact.

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Chatbots sometimes make things up. Is AI’s hallucination problem fixable?

Spend enough time with ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots and it doesn’t take long for them to spout falsehoods. Described as hallucination, confabulation or just plain making things up, it’s now a problem for every business, organization and high school student trying to get a “generative AI” system to compose documents and get work done. Builders of AI systems known as large language models say they’re working to make them more truthful. But some experts say the problem isn’t fixable. The say there’s a mismatch between the technology’s capabilities and how people want to use it.

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Musk threatens to sue researchers who documented the rise in hateful tweets

WASHINGTON — A nonprofit organization that researches links between social media, hate and extremism has been threatened with a lawsuit by X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. An attorney for the platform recently wrote to the Center for Countering Digital Hate accusing the group of trying to hurt the site’s advertising. The center has published numerous research reports documenting an increase in hate speech on the platform since it was purchased last year by Elon Musk. The center says Musk is trying to silence his critics, despite his claims to support free speech.

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DeSantis-controlled Disney World district abolishes diversity, equity initiatives

ORLANDO, Fla. — Diversity, equity and inclusion programs have been abolished from Walt Disney World’s governing district, which is now controlled by appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The move is an echo of the Florida governor’s agenda which has championed curtailing such programs in higher education and elsewhere. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District said in a statement on Tuesday that its diversity, equity and inclusion committee would be eliminated, as would any job duties connected to it. Also gone were initiatives left over from when the district was controlled by Disney supporters which awarded contracts based on goals of achieving racial or gender parity.

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Brightly flashing ‘X’ sign removed from the San Francisco building that was Twitter’s headquarters

SAN FRANCISCO — A brightly flashing “X” sign has been removed from the San Francisco headquarters of the company formerly known as Twitter just days after it was installed. The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection said Monday it received 24 complaints about the unpermitted structure over the weekend, including concerns about its structural safety and illumination. The Elon Musk-owned company, which has been rebranded as X, had removed the Twitter sign and iconic blue bird logo from the building last week. That work was temporarily paused because the company did not have the necessary permits.

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Job openings fall to lowest level in 2 years as demand for workers cools

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers posted fewer jobs in June, a sign that the red-hot demand for workers that has been a key feature of the post-pandemic economy is cooling a bit. Job openings dropped to 9.6 million in June, the Labor Department said Tuesday, down slightly from the previous month but much lower than the 10.3 million in April and the fewest in more than two years. The government’s report also showed that the number of people who quit their jobs in June fell sharply to 3.8 million from 4.1 million, another sign the job market is slowing.

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US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns

BUDAPEST, Hungary — The United States is imposing travel restrictions on citizens of Hungary over concerns that the identities of nearly 1 million foreigners granted Hungarian passports over nine years were not sufficiently verified. That’s according to the U.S. Embassy and a government official. The restrictions apply to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which allows passport holders from 40 countries to enter the United States for business or tourism without a visa for up to 90 days. The changes that started Tuesday are the only such restrictions among the 40 participating states in the Visa Waiver Program. A senior U.S. government official said the change followed failed efforts to work with Hungary’s government to resolve the security concerns.

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US opens safety probe into complaints from Tesla drivers that they can lose steering control

DETROIT — U.S. auto safety regulators have opened another investigation into safety problems with Tesla vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into a dozen complaints about loss of steering control or loss of power steering in the 2023 Models 3 and Y electric vehicles. The probe covers an estimated 280,000 vehicles. Five drivers alleged in complaints they couldn’t steer the vehicles at all. Seven more cited a loss of power steering assist. There was one report of a crash but no injuries. Investigators will look into how often the problem happens, manufacturing processes and the severity. The probe is at least the sixth started by the agency into Tesla vehicles in the past three years. A message was left Tuesday seeking comment from Tesla.

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The S&P 500 fell 12.23 points, or 0.3%, to 4,576.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 71.15 points, or 0.2%, to 35,630.68. The Nasdaq composite fell 62.11 points, or 0.4%, to 14,283.91. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 9.01 points, or 0.4%, to 1,994.17.

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