Business

/

ArcaMax

Teerapong Nantavasin/Dreamstime/TNS

Germany's €3 billion EV subsidy will be open to Chinese brands

Business / Business News /

Germany’s €3 billion ($3.5 billion) subsidy program for electric vehicles will be open to all manufacturers, including Chinese brands, as the government seeks to revive sales in Europe’s largest car market.

The incentive, unveiled Monday, is part of a renewed push to boost electric-car adoption and support the struggling auto industry ...Read more

Stanko07/Dreamstime/TNS

David Fickling: Cement Is hitting a wall. There's no coming back

Business / Business News /

What’s the most important commodity for modern civilization? There’s a good argument that it’s not the ones we think about — oil, gas, copper, iron ore, gold — but something that’s ubiquitous and rarely grabs the attention of financial markets: concrete.

After water, it’s the substance we use most abundantly, with somewhere ...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

'Weaponizing' $10 trillion of US assets is tough ask for Europe

Business / Business News /

As Europe considers how best to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest threats over Greenland’s sovereignty, there’s one extreme potential counter measure that’s fueling debate among investors.

European countries hold trillions of dollars of U.S. bonds and stocks, some of which sit with public sector funds. That’s spurring ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Explaining California's billionaire tax: The proposals, the backlash and the exodus

Business / Business News /

The battle over a new tax on California's billionaires is set to heat up in the coming months as citizens spar over whether the state should squeeze its ultra-rich to better serve its ordinary residents.

The proposed billionaire tax that triggered the tempest is still far from being approved by voters or even making the ballot, but the idea has...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Echoing Trump, Newsom vows crackdown on corporate homebuying in California

Business / Business News /

In his final State of the State speech earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom took aim at a group that some say contribute to California's housing affordability crisis: corporate landlords.

Newsom vowed to take a tougher stance toward institutional investors, such as hedge funds and private equity groups, that buy up hundreds or ...Read more

Michael Kovac/Getty Images North America/TNS

Andreessen Horowitz makes a $3 billion bet that there's no AI bubble

Business / Business News /

An artificial intelligence startup that helps developers write and debug code is now worth nearly as much as United Airlines. A two-month-old AI computer company raised a massive $475 million seed round, with plans to secure even more financing soon. And a platform for ranking AI models is now valued at nearly $2 billion, less than a year after ...Read more

Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA's defense industry is booming. Federal funding crunch could change that

Business / Business News /

When former Space X engineer Josh Giegel launched his North Hollywood tech company Gambit in 2023, he had a vision for the battlefield of the future, one with fewer soldiers and more AI-driven assets.

His software would allow unmanned tanks and swarms of armed drones to communicate and adapt in real time — without human intervention.

The ...Read more

After Dry January, alcohol producers suffer hangover

Business / Business News /

Amanda Lybeck, 37, is giving up alcohol for all 12 months of 2026. A year ago, the Maple Valley, Washington, resident completed Dry January — the trend of going sober for one month — for the first time as a way to support her fitness journey.

It's since gotten easier, she said, as her co-workers participate and an increasing number of ...Read more

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Second Sphere venue in US proposed for Maryland

Business / Business News /

A new Sphere could rise at National Harbor, Maryland, under a proposal announced Sunday, a project officials say could become a new regional landmark and one of the largest economic development efforts in Prince George’s County history.

If finalized, the project would mark the second Sphere venue in the United States and the first built using...Read more

Daniel Mears, The Detroit News/The Detroit News/TNS

Ford Pro looks to upfitter market for growth with Transit van updates

Business / Business News /

DEARBORN, Michigan — New features on the 2026 Ford Transit commercial van show how Ford Pro is betting on its upfitter partners for growth — and potentially securing a bit of that business, too.

After the Transit marked its 10th anniversary, 98% of the vans Ford Motor Co. has produced remain on the road, according to the company. ...Read more

Focke Strangmann/Getty Images Europe/TNS

Americans bear almost all the cost of Trump tariffs, study shows

Business / Business News /

President Donald Trump’s duties on imported goods are paid almost entirely by American importers, their domestic customers and ultimately U.S. consumers, a study from a German think tank concluded.

“Foreign exporters did not meaningfully reduce their prices in response to U.S. tariff increases,” a report released Monday by the Kiel ...Read more

Henry Payne, The Detroit News/The Detroit News/TNS

Q&A: At the Dakar Rally, Ford's CEO talks Raptor, V-8s and hybrids

Business / Business News /

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Ford Racing helps the Dearborn-based automaker across the globe by growing brand profile, employee talent and tech learnings for production cars.

Its latest racing venture is the brutal 14-day Dakar Rally across the Saudi sand. It’s the toughest off-road race on the global calendar — the Le Mans of off-road. Ford ...Read more

Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times/TNS

GameStop shutters stores across California

Business / Business News /

GameStop is shutting down more stores in California.

The video game, toy and collectible retailer has been struggling to find a way to thrive in a market where most of what it sells is easaier to get online. It has been shrinking its brick-and-mortar retail footprint for years to lower costs and has reportedly shut dozens of branches in ...Read more

Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Google to appeal US court ruling of illegal monopoly in search

Business / Business News /

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is appealing a landmark antitrust decision that the company illegally monopolized online search and search advertising, an expected move that will likely delay the implementation of changes to the company’s business.

The notice of Google’s appeal was filed Friday in Washington federal court, along with a request to ...Read more

Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/TNS

Emergency power auction to support AI boom pushed by Trump

Business / Business News /

The Trump administration and more than a dozen states are pushing for big tech companies to effectively fund construction of new power plants as a way to prevent data centers from driving up residential utility bills.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum joined 13 governors in outlining a plan urging the nation�...Read more

Ting Shen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump trio making Michigan, Ohio auto stops as climate rollback looms

Business / Business News /

WASHINGTON — Three key cabinet officials are using visits to Michigan and Ohio to tout Trump administration policies they say are boosting the auto industry and U.S. manufacturing.

The officials are Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Their ...Read more

Jeff Wheeler/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

ICE subpoenas worker documents from Hennepin County's public hospital

Business / Business News /

The Department of Homeland Security issued a subpoena on Jan. 8 to inspect employee records from Hennepin Healthcare, two days after a public protest over the presence of federal immigration agents in its downtown Minneapolis safety-net hospital.

Administrators notified employees on Wednesday, Jan. 14, of the records check, noting “we are ...Read more

Henry Payne, The Detroit News/The Detroit News/TNS

Winners: Detroit News Readers' Choice Awards at the auto show

Business / Business News /

DETROIT — Detroit News readers have spoken, and it’s Motown brands in a landslide.

One hundred readers of The News descended on the Detroit Auto Show Floor on Wednesday to render their verdict in nine categories: Hottest Tech, Most Electrifying, Bargain Buggy, If Money Were No Object, Off Road Warrior, Family Hauler, Muscle Machine, Top ...Read more

Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Econometer: Should Congress bar big investors from buying single-family homes?

Business / Business News /

President Donald Trump said recently on social media he would ask Congress to stop large investors and private equity firms from buying single-family homes.

His plan did not have many details but echoed a common refrain across the U.S. that investors should not own homes and that they drive up prices.

Critics have argued the issue is ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Why is salad titan Sweetgreen wilting?

Business / Business News /

Sweetgreen's salad business isn't as fresh as it used to be.

Not long ago, the Los-Angeles-based company's fresh bowls of fancy salads were all the rage, and its shares soared on hopes that salad-slinging robots could make it more profitable.

Last year was tough, though, as enthusiasm for the brand waned and cash-strapped diners abandoned fast...Read more