CNN – Business/Consumer

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Gennadiy Tsygan knows how expensive it is to build a home in the United States. That’s why he imported almost everything for his dream house from China. Most of his home fixtures were imported directly from over two dozen factories, and Tsygan — an engineer in Baltimore

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN (CNN) — Just looking at the raw numbers, less than 1% of filers have been audited by the IRS in recent tax years. Based on the latest data available, for example, in tax year 2021 the IRS pursued a mere 0.3% of filers overall. The audit rate has been higher for

By Lisa Eadicicco, CNN (CNN) — Microsoft is offering about 7% of its US workforce the option to retire early, the latest attempt by a major tech firm to downsize while ramping up artificial intelligence investments. The one-time retirement program, a company first, will be available to employees whose age and years of service total

By Alicia Wallace, CNN (CNN) — Americans still feel lousy about the economy and worry that the US-Israeli war with Iran will continue to push up prices. The University of Michigan’s final consumer sentiment reading for April measured 49.8, a slight improvement from the preliminary report earlier this month but still at the lowest level

By Brian Stelter, CNN (CNN) — In the same way that President Donald Trump’s second term is unlike any other, this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner will be unlike any other. Trump will be attending the gala for the first time as president and speaking before thousands of journalists and politicos — leaving attendees to

By John Liu, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — China’s DeepSeek unveiled a preview version of its much-anticipated new model on Friday, promising to rival models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google a year after the then little-known start up took the global AI industry by storm. The Hangzhou-based company highlighted major upgrades in the new model

By Lisa Eadicicco, Clare Duffy, CNN (CNN) — Meta said on Thursday it plans to lay off roughly 10% of its workforce, or about 8,000 people, the latest in a string of tech industry layoffs fueled in part by artificial intelligence. The company is also closing around 6,000 open roles, Janelle Gale, Meta’s chief people

By Chris Isidore, Donald Judd, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would consider purchasing the embattled Spirit Airlines “if we can get it at the right price.” “Spirit is an airline that has had some trouble,” Trump said. “They have some good aircrafts, some good assets, and when the price of

By Lisa Eadicicco, CNN (CNN) — Foreign entities primarily based in China have conducted “industrial-scale” campaigns to crib frontier AI models from US companies, Michael Kratsios, White House director of the office of science and technology policy, said in a memo on Thursday. The effort entails using tens of thousands of surrogate accounts to go

CNN By Brian Stelter, CNN (CNN) — Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have cleared the way for CNN, HBO and Warner’s other media brands to join Paramount Skydance later this year. Shareholders “overwhelmingly” voted in support of the takeover deal, WBD said after a pro forma special meeting took place on Thursday morning. The vote was

By Brian Stelter, CNN (CNN) — The New York Times said the Federal Bureau of Investigation “began investigating” its reporter Elizabeth Williamson after she wrote a story involving FBI director Kash Patel titled “Patel’s girlfriend seeks fame and fortune, escorted by an FBI SWAT team.” Times executive editor Joe Kahn called the probe an “alarming”

By Brian Stelter, CNN (CNN) — Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have cleared the way for CNN, HBO and Warner’s other media brands to join Paramount Skydance later this year. Shareholders “overwhelmingly” voted in support of the takeover deal, WBD said after a pro forma special meeting took place on Thursday morning. The vote was anticlimactic,

By John Towfighi, CNN New York (CNN) — Brent crude has climbed back above $100 per barrel and the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for the global economy, remains closed. But the stock market is brushing off the turmoil. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit record highs on Wednesday, resuming a rally despite

By Andrew Kirell, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out prominent Trump ally Laura Loomer’s defamation lawsuit against Bill Maher and HBO, ruling that the “Real Time” host’s joke about her constituted protected speech and not defamation. Maher suggested during his September 13, 2024, broadcast that Loomer, a far-right activist with a

By Chris Isidore, CNN (CNN) — Spirit Airlines is close to getting a bailout from the federal government, an attorney for Spirit said during a bankruptcy hearing Thursday. The deal is expected to include the federal government taking a stake in the troubled airline, which had struggled to make money ever since the Covid pandemic.

By Brian Stelter, CNN (CNN) — Paramount’s blockbuster acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, is poised to clear a pivotal hurdle later this week. Warner will hold a special meeting for shareholders to vote on the $110 billion bid on Thursday morning. With the company’s board and multiple proxy advisory firms urging shareholders

By Hanna Ziady, CNN London (CNN) — The European Union has unveiled a raft of planned emergency measures to cushion its economy from soaring energy costs. The proposals, announced Wednesday, underscore the economic damage the Iran war is inflicting on Europe, which only recently emerged from the energy crunch precipitated by Russia’s 2022 invasion of

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — The Gates Foundation has launched an independent investigation into ties between the philanthropic organization and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The foundation, which provides billions of dollars in charitable donations, said in a statement Tuesday that it has “commissioned an external review to assess past foundation engagement with Epstein”

By David Goldman, CNN (CNN) — From his start at Apple, Tim Cook was a numbers guy. Shortly after Steve Jobs returned to Apple (AAPL) in the late 1990s to rescue the company he had founded, he hired Cook from Compaq to run Apple’s supply chain and operations. Jobs was in charge of the flashy

By John Liu, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — A customer’s complaint about a disappointing cake kicked off a massive investigation that uncovered thousands of “ghost” food vendors in China, resulting in staggering fines for some of the country’s largest firms and highlighting the pitfalls of the cutthroat price competition. The inquiry –– marked by scuffles

By Hadas Gold, CNN (CNN) — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier opened an investigation into OpenAI over whether the company “bears criminal responsibility” for a shooting at Florida State University last year. The attorney general’s office said it is investigating whether OpenAI’s ChatGPT helped the suspect, Phoenix Ikner, carry out the crime. “If that bot were

By Kit Maher, David Goldman, CNN (CNN) — Safe sex could get more expensive if the Iran war continues to disrupt global supply chains, according to a new interview with the CEO of the world’s largest condom manufacturer. Karex CEO Goh Miah Kiat told Reuters on Tuesday that the company may be forced to raise

By David Goldman, CNN (CNN) — Confirmation hearings for Federal Reserve chairs are usually staid, rubber-stamp affairs. Not this one. Democrats and one key Republican from the Senate Banking Committee repeatedly attacked President Donald Trump; his pick for Fed chair, Kevin Warsh; and at times, both, in a fiery hearing that included questions about an

By Alicia Wallace, CNN (CNN) — Americans saw large chunks of their wallets get eaten up by soaring gas prices in March; however, consumers still had money left in the tank to spend elsewhere. A war-driven spike in gas prices sent US retail sales 1.7% higher March, the fastest monthly pace in more than three

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Apple veteran John Ternus will take over the $4 trillion company as CEO come September 1. “Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor,” he said in a

CNN By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Apple veteran John Ternus will take over the $4 trillion company as CEO come September 1. “Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor,” he said in

By Lisa Eadicicco, CNN (CNN) — Tim Cook, the executive who led Apple to become a $4 trillion company and defined its identity in the post-Steve Jobs era, is stepping down as CEO, Apple said on Monday. John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, will take over as CEO effective September 1. Cook

By Hadas Gold, CNN (CNN) — Satirical news site The Onion said it has reached an agreement to take over conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ InfoWars company, in a move that could help repay the more than $1 billion he owes the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims. Should The Onion win court approval, it would