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The U.S. stock market seems to be steadying on Friday, as banks recover some of their sharp losses from the day before. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% in midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 23 points, or 0.1%, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% lower. All three indexes drifted between gains and losses through the morning, but the moves weren’t as jarring as the big hour-to-hour swings they had earlier in the week. Drops for Big Tech stocks weighed on the market, including a 0.5% dip for Nvidia. Theyre fighting criticism that their stock prices have soared too high because of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology, even though their profits have also been growing quickly. Bank stocks stabilized after several reported stronger profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected, including Truist Financial, Fifth Third Bancorp, and Huntington Bancshares. That helped steady the group, a day after tumbling on worries about potentially bad loans hitting smaller and mid-sized banks. The two banks at the center of Thursdays action also rose Friday to trim some of their sharp losses. Zions Bancorp., which is charging off $50 million of loans where it found apparent misrepresentations and contractual defaults by the borrowers, added 2.8% following its 13.1% loss. Western Alliance Bancorp, which is suing a borrower due to allegations of fraud, rose 1.3% after its 10.8% fall on Thursday. Scrutiny is rising on the quality of loans that banks and other lenders have broadly made following last months Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing of First Brands Group, a supplier of aftermarket auto parts. One of the financial firms that could feel pain because of First Brands’ bankruptcy, Jefferies Financial Group, rose 5.1% Friday. It had lost roughly 30% of its value since mid-September. The question is whether the lenders problems are just a collection of one-offs or a signal of something larger threatening the industry. Uncertainty is high following a long stretch where many borrowers were able to keep running, even with the weight of higher interest rates. And with prices soaring to records for all kinds of investments, the appetite for risk may have gotten too high. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon addressed the issue on an earnings conference call with analysts earlier this week. When you see one cockroach, there are probably more, Dimon said. Everyone should be forewarned on this one. But banks make loan loss provisions and typically have plenty of capital to keep the cockroaches from causing structural damage, said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. Based on earnings and data so far, it looks like this isnt an infestation and that the potential canary in the coal mine is probably passed out and not dead. Trading has been shaky on Wall Street, with stocks regularly swinging between gains and losses, since President Donald Trump threatened to crank tariffs much higher on China at the end of last week. But Trump told Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures that such high tariffs are not sustainable, helping to ease some of the worries. He also said that he would meet with Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, at an upcoming conference in South Korea after earlier saying there seemed to be no reason for such a meeting. In the bond market, Treasury yields steadied following their sharp slides from Thursday, which came as investors rushed into investments seen as safer. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.00% from 3.99% late Thursday. Gold also pulled back from its latest record as more calm seeped through the market. The price for an ounce slipped 1.3% to fall back to $4,247.40, but it’s still up more than 60% for the year so far. Besides worries about tariffs, gold’s price has also surged on expectations for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve and concerns about the massive amounts of debt that the U.S. and other governments worldwide are building. In stock markets abroad, indexes tumbled across much of Europe and Asia after Wall Street’s weakness from Thursday moved westward. Germanys DAX lost 1.7%, and Hong Kongs Hang Seng sank 2.5% for two of the worlds bigger moves. Stan Choe, AP business writer AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.
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The U.S. has succeeded in blocking a global fee on shipping emissions as an international maritime meeting adjourned Friday without adopting regulations. The worlds largest maritime nations had been deliberating on adopting regulations to move the shipping industry away from fossil fuels to slash emissions. But U.S. President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia, and other countries vowed to fight any global tax on shipping emissions. The U.S. had threatened to retaliate if nations support it. Trump urged countries to vote “No” at the International Maritime Organization headquarters in London, posting on his social media platform Truth Social on Thursday that the United States will not stand for this global green new scam tax on shipping. The IMO is the United Nations agency that regulates international shipping. Saudi Arabia called for a vote to adjourn the meeting for a year. More than half of the countries agreed. Now you have one year, you will continue to work on several aspects of these amendments, Arsenio Dominguez, secretary general of the International Maritime Organization, said in his closing remarks. You have one year to negotiate and talk and come to consensus. Ralph Regenvanu, minister for climate change for the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, said the decision is unacceptable, given the urgency we face in light of accelerating climate change. If the green shipping regulations were adopted, it would have been the first time a global fee was imposed on planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Most ships today run on heavy fuel oil that releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants as its burned. The delay leaves the shipping sector drifting in uncertainty. But this week has also shown that there is a clear desire to clean up the shipping industry, even in the face of U.S. bullying, said Alison Shaw, IMO Manager at Transport & Environment, a Brussels-based environmental nongovernmental organization. Shipping emissions have grown over the past decade to about 3% of the global total as trade has grown and vessels use immense amounts of fossil fuels to transport cargo over long distances. In April, IMO member states agreed on the contents of the regulatory framework, with the aim of adopting the Net-Zero Framework at this London meeting. Adopting the regulations was meant to demonstrate how effective multilateral cooperation can deliver real progress on global climate goals, said Emma Fenton, senior director for climate diplomacy at a U.K.-based climate change nonprofit, Opportunity Green. Delaying the process risks undermining the framework’s ambitions, they added. The regulations would set a marine fuel standard that decreases, over time, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions allowed from using shipping fuels. The regulations also would establish a pricing system that would impose fees for every ton of greenhouse gases emitted by ships above allowable limits, in what is effectively the first global tax on greenhouse gas emissions. The IMO, which regulates international shipping, set a target for the sector to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by about 2050, and has committed to ensuring that fuels with zero or near-zero emissions are used more widely. What matters now is that countries rise up and come back to the IMO with a louder and more confident yes vote that cannot be silenced, said Anas Rios, shipping policy officer for Seas At Risk. “The planet and the future of shipping does not have time to waste. ___ The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Sibi Arasu and Jennifer McDermott, Associated Press
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If theres any doubt whether people are willing to pay $900 for a premium credit card, just look at the latest quarterly results for American Express: The credit card issuer reported Friday that it beat third-quarter earnings estimates and raised its full-year outlook. Its been a month since American Express refreshed its Platinum line of credit cards, raising the annual fee by $200 to $895, and that change is already paying dividends. The company has seen strong demand for these cards and more than 500,000 people have requested the New York-based issuers new pocket mirror card. The initial customer demand and engagement exceeded our expectations, with new U.S. Platinum account acquisitions doubling compared to pre-refresh levels, Stephen J. Squeri, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. American Express reported that revenue rose 11% from a year ago to a record $18.4 billion in the third quarter, driven largely by a 9% increase in card member spending. Earnings per share came in at $4.14, higher than the consensus of analyst estimates. American Express Platinum cardholdersboth individuals and businessesaccount for about $530 billion in annual billings, according to the company, and the recent refresh has helped drive additional revenue. In the first three weeks since the card refresh, the company reported a 45% increase in new high-yield savings accounts from these members and record-high bookings on Amex travel. RACE FOR PREMIUM MARKET Squeri said the successful relaunch of Platinum cards reinforces our leadership in the premium space. Indeed, the race for the premium credit card market has heated up in recent years as issuers have raced to one-up each other with a wide variety of cardholder benefits. JPMorgan Chase bumped up the annual fee on its Sapphire Reserve card from $550 to $795 in June, promising even more perks at this higher rate, and American Express followed with its fee increase in September. Offering these types of perks comes at a cost: American Express has paid $13.6 billion in card member rewards year-to-date, a 12% increase from the same period in 2024. Thats more than double the amount of another expense: Salaries and employee benefits. But nabbing the premium market is clearly a priority for issuers, even if a majority of cardholders arent willing to fork over $800 to $900 for the privilege of using a credit card. Consumers who pay more than $500 in annual credit card fees spend nearly three times more each month than those with lower-fee cards, according to figures from J.D. Power. MARKET REACTION And thanks partly to the successful relaunch of its Platinum cards, American Express also announced Friday that it has raised its full-year guidance for both revenue growth and earnings. It now expects a 10% increase in revenue, up from 9% previously, and a $0.30 boost to earnings per share, to a total of $15.50. Stock market investors rewarded the better-than-expected earnings report: Shares of American Express surged more than 6% by mid-day Friday. The stock is up nearly 16% this year, and has outperformed the S&P 500.
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Between July and September, electric vehicle sales in the U.S. hit a record high. Americans bought more than 430,000 EVs, up 40% from the previous quarter, as they race to qualify for federal tax credits before they expire. That EV boom wasnt just limited to the U.S., though: Global EV sales hit an all-time high of 2.1 million in September. Two-thirds of those sales were in China, the worlds largest EV market. And yet, theres still talk of an EV retreat, both in the U.S. and abroad. Automakers have expressed concerns about their EV profits, and policymakers in Canada and the European Union are pausing, or adjusting, their EV mandates. Theres an inherent duality of the market moment were in, says Corey Cantor, research director of the Zero Emissions Transportation Association. On the one hand, EV sales are higher than they have ever been, and yet automakers still remain concerned. Heres why, and whats going on in the electric vehicle landscape. EV rush before tax credits expired EVs counted for nearly 11% of total vehicle sales in the U.S. between July and September. Thats a big increase from the same time period last year, when their share was 8.6%, according to Cox Automotive, which recently released data about the countrys third quarter EV sales. That jump wasnt a surpriseit was expected, experts say. Americans were rushing to buy EVs before the federal tax credits expired on September 30. The tax credits, part of President Bidens Inflation Reduction Act, offered up to $7,500 back for Americans who bought a new EV, if the cars they purchased met certain conditions. There was also a credit of up to $4,000 available for used EVs. President Trumps One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated those tax credits, killing what analysts say was a key catalyst for EV adoption. EVs are still seen as a premium purchase; in August, the average EV cost more than $57,000, according to Cox$9,000 more than a similar gas car. Concerns about future growth Not every automaker benefited from all those third quarter EV sales, either. Cox Automotive notes that Mercedes-Benz EV sales in that time period were mostly flat year-over-year, and Toyota and Nissan sold fewer EVs during that boom than they did in the third quarter of 2024. Despite the backlash Tesla has been dealing with throughout 2025, that carmaker actually saw an 8% sales increase year-over-year, but its share of total EV sales has fallen. Tesla once made up 49% of all EV sales in the third quarter of 2024, but its share this past quarter was 41%. Volkswagen, General Motors, Honda, and Hyundai had notable increases in their EV sales. Volkswagen and GMs sales were more than double the levels one year ago. But those automakers still have concerns. This week, GM said it was taking a $1.6 billion hit from changing its EV rollout in the U.S. It changed its rollout in part because of Trumps elimination of the tax credits, and his move to loosen emissions regulations. These policies make the future far less certain for automakers. Federal policies could tighten again in a couple of years or remain the same, Cantor says. The federal policy pathway is far less clear moving forward than it was a year ago. One thing experts do expect is that U.S. EV sales will slump after this quarter, because that surge to purchase before the tax credits expired pulled forward sales that would have been spread out over more time. Cox Automotive forecasts that EV sales will drop notably in Q4 and through the early months of 2026. EV struggles worldwide Changing U.S. policies arent only affecting the EV sales outlook here. Trumps tariffs are also adding costs for automakers in international markets, like Canada and across the European Union. The EU recently said it would review its 2035 target for cutting car emissions to zero. A policy note published before those talks highlighted challenges for the European car industry, including higher tariffs on shipments to the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported, as well as low profit margins for EVs and the growth of cheaper Chinese offerings. China has been dominating the EV market, not just in its own country but worldwide, in part because it offers extremely affordable EVssome priced as low as $10,000. But that could make the market oversaturated. While Chinese EV sales are increasing, that growth is happening more and more at the expense of profitability, the Wall Street Journal notes; more than 110 EV brands operated there in 2023, and they likely wont all last. Hope for the future Even before Trumps policies, there was talk of an EV sales slump in 2024. Thats because while sales were increasing, the rate at which they were growing sloweda common issue for all new technologies as they vie for mainstream appeal. Early adopters drive that beginning growth, and then the industry has to figure out how to attract everyone else. Now, changing federal policies are making that next step even more difficult. But EV experts still have hope. We’d expect the impact of these policy changes to be most acute during the forthcoming year, Cantor says. Overall, the global move towards electric vehicles continues. The International Energy Agency said in May that it expects one in four cars sold worldwide this year to be electric. Cox Automotive says EV sales are the future, too. Cx Automotive continues to believe that over the long termthe next 10 years or moresales of vehicles powered solely by internal combustion engines will continue to decline, the company wrote in its Q3 EV sales report. Electrified vehicleshybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure EVsare the future. We might not get to that future as fast as EV advocates hoped, though. Biden set a goal for EVs to make up 50% of all vehicle sales by 2030. Cox now says EV sales can hit 25% by then. So growth will be slower, but certainly moving out of the niche category, Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox, wrote in September. And though the future of U.S. federal policy is up in the air, experts still say innovations will advance to help the EV market. Continued innovation in battery technology, improved transparency in battery health and expanding infrastructure give reason for optimism, Valdez Streaty wrote. The road ahead wil be challenging, but progress will continue.
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ChatGPT will be able to have kinkier conversations after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the artificial intelligence company will soon allow its chatbot to engage in erotica for verified adults.” OpenAI won’t be the first to try to profit from sexualized AI. Sexual content was a top draw for AI tools almost as soon as the boom in AI-generated imagery and words erupted in 2022. But the companies that were early to embrace mature AI also encountered legal and societal minefields and harmful abuse as a growing number of people have turned to the technology for companionship or titillation. Will a sexier ChatGPT be different? After three years of largely banning mature content, Altman said Wednesday that his company is not the elected moral police of the world and ready to allow more user freedom for adults at the same time as it sets new limits for teens. In the same way that society differentiates other appropriate boundaries (R-rated movies, for example) we want to do a similar thing here, Altman wrote on social media platform X, whose owner, Elon Musk, has also introduced an animated AI character that flirts with paid subscribers. For now, unlike Musk’s Grok chatbot, paid subscriptions to ChatGPT are mostly pitched for professional use. But letting the chatbot become a friend or romantic partner could be another way for the world’s most valuable startup, which is losing more money than it makes, to turn a profit that could justify its $500 billion valuation. Theyre not really earning much through subscriptions so having erotic content will bring them quick money, said Zilan Qian, a fellow at Oxford University’s China Policy Lab who has studied the popularity of dating-based chatbots in the U.S. and China. There are already about 29 million active users of AI chatbots designed specifically for romantic or sexual bonding, and that’s not counting people who use conventional chatbots in that way, according to research published by Qian earlier this month. It also doesn’t include users of Character.AI, which is fighting a lawsuit that alleges a chatbot modeled after Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen formed a sexually abusive relationship with a 14-year-old boy and pushed him to kill himself. OpenAI is facing a lawsuit from the family of a 16-year-old ChatGPT user who died by suicide in April. Qian said she worries about the toll on real-world relationships when mainstream chatbots, already prone to sycophancy, are primed for 24-hour availability serving sexually explicit content. “ChatGPT has voice chat versions. I would expect that in the future, if they were to go down this way voice, text, visual it’s all there,” she said. Humans who fall in love with human-like machines have long been a literary cautionary tale, from popular science fiction of the last century to the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion, obsessed with a woman he sculpted from ivory. Creating such a machine would seem like an unusual detour for OpenAI, founded a decade ago as a nonprofit dedicated to safely building better-than-human AI. Altman said on a podcast in August that OpenAI has tried to resist the temptation to introduce products that could juice growth or revenue but be very misaligned with its long-term mission. Asked for a specific example, he gave one: Well, we havent put a sexbot avatar in ChatGPT yet. Idaho-based startup Civitai, a platform for AI-generated art, learned the hard way that making money off mature AI won’t be an easy path. When we launched the site, it was an intentional choice to allow mature content, said Justin Maier, the company’s co-founder and CEO, in an interview last year. Backed by the prominent venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which has also invested in OpenAI, the Idaho startup was one of several that tried to capitalize on the sudden popularity of tools like Stable Diffusion and Midjourney that enabled people to type a description and conjure up almost any kind of image. Part of Stable Diffusion’s initial popularity was the ease with which it could generate a new kind of synthetic and highly customized pornography. “What we had seen was that there was a lot of interest in mature content, Maier said. Training these AI systems, known as models, on mature themes actually made it so that these models were more capable of human anatomy and resulted in actually better models, he said. We didnt want to prevent the kind of growth that actually increased everything for the entire community, whether you were interested in mature content or Pixar, Maier said. So we allowed it early on and have always kind of had this battle of making it so that we can keep things filtered and safe, if thats not what youre interested in. We wanted to ultimately give the control to the user to decide what they would see on the site and what their experience would be. That also invited abuse. Civitai last year implemented new measures to detect and remove sexual images depicting children, but it remained a hub for AI-generated pornography, including fake images of celebrities. Confronting increasing pressure, including from credit card processors and a new law against nonconsensual images signed by President Donald Trump, Civitai earlier this year blocked users from creating deepfake images of real people. Engagement dropped. Another company that hasn’t shied away from mature content is Baltimore-based Nomi.ai, though its founder and CEO Alex Cardinell said its companion chatbots are strictly for users over 18 and were never marketed to kids. They are also not designed for sex, though Cardinell said in an interview earlier this year that people who build platonic relationships with their chatbot might find it veering into a romantic one. Its kind of very user-dependent for where theyre kind of missing the human gap in their life. And I think thats different for everyone, he said. He declined to guess how many Nomi users are having erotic conversations with the chatbot, comparing it to real-life partners who might do mature content things for some part of their lives but all sorts of other stuff together as well. Were not monitoring user conversations like that, Cardinell said. Altman’s announcement that erotica for adults could arrive on ChatPT in December came a day after California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation that would have banned companies from making AI chatbots available to anyone under 18 years old if it was foreseeable that they would engage in erotic or sexually explicit interactions” with kids or encourage them to harm themselves. The tech industry lobbied heavily against the bill, which Newsom said was too broad, but OpenAI, Meta, and others introduced new age restrictions and parental controls for AI-teen interactions. Matt O’Brien, AP technology writer
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