Business

The San Diego-based Qdoba chain, at one time owned by Jack in the Box, has announced it will be bringing 17 new restaurants to the county, with the help of a new franchising partner. The company expects that the additional locations could come on line over the next seven to 10 years, although it was unable to provide more precise timing, nor was it able to disclose any details on where in the county any of the new outlets would be located. In a Wednesday news release announcing the new plans, Qd

By Tim LeeMaster and Scarlet Fu, Bloomberg News With the Labor Day holiday — and summer in the US — now officially over, the traditional push to the end of the year in the market for initial public offerings is on. While Anthropic PBC looms largest in most eyes, a clutch of other companies in artificial intelligence and other sectors are also soon headed for the public markets. “Most of them are heads down focused on getting the numbers in order, looking at the marketplace,” Lise Buyer, founder

By SOPHIE AUSTIN SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of laws Thursday aimed at protecting children from the risks of technology, including social media and AI chatbots. The laws will penalize large social media companies up to $1 million per child if they are found negligent of harming children through their platforms, ban tech businesses from offering addictive feeds to anyone under 16 and require operators of AI chatbots to perform risk assessments

By BARBARA ORTUTAY Anthropic said Thursday it has blocked efforts by bad actors to use its artificial intelligence models for malicious activity such as cyberattacks, surveillance, and research that could have led to biological weapons. As AI models grow more powerful, elaborate cyberattacks no longer require sophisticated skills and even lone individuals can create threats that would not have been possible even a year ago, Anthropic said. The company said it has added stronger safeguards in its

By BILL BARROW, LISA MASCARO and JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s pitch to send Americans $5,000 checks should Republicans prevail in the November midterms is drawing scorn from some members of Congress — the very people who have constitutional authority over federal spending. Economists and other political observers are voicing concerns about the potential effects on inflation and the national balance sheet. Taken together, it’s a swift reaction that makes clear that Trump’s dubious e

By ROB GILLIES TORONTO (AP) — Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday he hopes U.S. President Donald Trump’s Republicans lose both the House and Senate in the midterm elections, saying voters should punish Trump politically for his escalating trade war with Canada. “Hopefully he’s going to lose the Senate. He’s going to lose Congress. I hope so, and hold him accountable,” Ford said. “But we’ll see how that goes. We aren’t going to interfere in the U.S. election.” Ford has emerged as one of

Roughly 650,000 Californians each year choose to become ex-Californians. Now, we can forever debate the reasons behind the long-running pattern of exits to elsewhere in America or the statistical significance of those departures. But today, as a public service, let’s simply offer some help to those contemplating relocating outside the Golden State. My trusty spreadsheet reviewed numerous economic and demographic metrics and several “best state to live in” rankings to grade the

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer Mortgage rates rose for the third week in a row, pushing the average long-term U.S. home loan rate to its highest level in over 14 months. The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 6.76% from 6.71% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.35%. Higher mortgage rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting homebuyers’ purchasing power. As rates rise, that can also lead prospectiv

By GLENN GAMBOA, AP Business Writer Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America, a bipartisan campaign founded by philanthropists Olivia and Tom Walton, announced a $100 million pledge Thursday to make giving birth in the United States safer. The five-year commitment aims to cut the maternal mortality rate in the United States in half by 2031. “For millions of moms in America, maternal health is bad and getting worse,” Olivia Walton told The Associated Press in an interview. “There’s just so much bipar

BEIJING (AP) — China and the United States hope to reach an agreement on lowering import taxes soon, a Chinese government spokesperson said Thursday, fueling expectations that an announcement could come when the leaders of the two countries meet in two weeks. Negotiators are striving to implement reciprocal tariff reductions on $30 billion worth of goods “at an early date,” Commerce Ministry spokesperson Huang Ling said at a weekly briefing. The $30 billion will be from each side, China’s offici

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes declined in August to their slowest annual pace in more than a year as home shoppers grappled with rising mortgage rates and home prices. Existing home sales fell 2% last month from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. This is the third straight monthly decline. Sales also fell 1.2% compared with August last year. The latest sales tally is just

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices keep climbing as the war with Iran keeps clogging the global flow of crude, and they leaped Thursday to their highest levels since before the summer. That worsened worries about inflation and cranked up pressure within the bond market, helping to send stocks lower again on Wall Street. The S&P 500 fell 0.6% for a fourth straight loss, its longest such streak since June, though it’s not far from its all-time high set last month. The

In late August, Kalshi announced brand partnerships with the San Diego Padres and four other Major League Baseball clubs. The company will serve as the prediction market partner for the teams, with collaborations said to include in-stadium signage alongside social media and fan activations. Founded in 2018, Kalshi is a financial exchange, regulated by the federal government, where users can wager on the likelihood of events big and small, such as who will be the 2028 Republican presidential nomi

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale inflation picked up last month after cooling earlier this summer as higher oil and gas prices stemming from the Iran war keep costs elevated. The Labor Department’s producer price index — which captures inflation before it reaches consumers — rose 5.4% in August from a year ago, up from 4.8% in July, the government said Thursday. Annual wholesale inflation peaked this year at 5.9% in May after the Iran conflict raised energy

By PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly fewer Americans filed for unemployment claims last week as jobless claims remain at historically low levels and layoffs are still relatively rare. Filings for benefits dipped to 206,000 last week from a revised 207,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, also fell modestly to 206,000. Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs,

Two thrift stores that are next door to one another on a prominent Clairemont intersection plan to close this weekend. The stores, Goodwill and Bridge Thrift, on the northeastern corner of Clairemont Drive and Balboa Avenue, have served as a discount shopping destination for people in Clairemont and surrounding neighborhoods for years, anchoring a decades-old shopping center once packed with small businesses. Steps from Goodwill, Clairemont Liquor is also preparing to close its doors. Goodwill&#

With fuel prices rising at a relentless pace, some drivers around San Diego are coming up with unusual strategies to scrape their way from one trip to the pump to another. Managers of the Petromerica gas station on 16th Avenue and F Street say a few customers come to the counter with coins. No, not bitcoin — actual coins. “Like $1.50 in quarters,” said station owner Issa Meamari. “Yes, some people are desperate. They want just to move from their place to just around the corner.

By David Goodhue, Miami Herald MIAMI — The pilots of the Amazon Prime plane that crashed at Miami International Airport Sunday may have been trying to go airborne again as they struggled to regain control of the Boeing 767 jet before it overshot the runway and killed five people, federal investigators said. National Transportation Safety Board investigators reviewed the jet’s flight data recorder, which showed the plane was still traveling almost 140 mph 15 seconds before crashing. T

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Realtors trade group is getting behind Amendment 3, the major property tax cut on the November ballot, putting $10 million to support the measure. “Affordability is on the forefront for every Floridian, and they need meaningful relief,” said Chuck Bonfiglio Jr., president of Florida Realtors, said in a released statement. “We’ve spent years working to help people buy homes. But buying the home is only half the challenge. We also need to make sure families can afford to

By KAITLYN HUAMANI, AP Technology Writer An Anthropic researcher said he is resigning from the company over concerns the artificial intelligence firm and its competitors are not acting responsibly in AI development, echoing concerns raised inside and outside of the industry about the technology’s potential to elude human control. Jacob Coxon, who said he spent three years doing research at both Anthropic and OpenAI, said Tuesday on the social platform X that the two AI companies are more f