MoneyWatch

Washington — The number of different electronic cigarette devices sold in the U.S. has nearly tripled to over 9,000 since 2020, driven almost entirely by a wave of unauthorized disposable vapes from China, according to tightly controlled sales data obtained by The Associated Press. The surge stands in stark contrast …

The boom in “generative” artificial intelligence may usher in the “next productivity frontier” in the workplace, but it could also cause job losses and disruption for some knowledge-based workers such as software developers and marketers, according to McKinsey.  Integrating generative AI tools into the workplace could theoretically automate as much …

Beyoncé and Jay-Z have reportedly dropped a cool $200 million on a 30,000-square-foot home in Malibu, California, setting a record for the priciest home ever purchased in California.  TMZ reported that the couple paid all cash for the home on an exclusive stretch of Pacific Coast Highway. Dubbed an “architectural …

The IRS is working on its own version of a free electronic tax-filing system that could compete with tax-prep programs from the likes of Intuit’s TurboTax and H&R Block. The agency is rolling out a pilot program in early 2024, when it will invite some taxpayers to test out the …

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg bagged gold and silver medals this weekend at his first jiu-jitsu tournament. A series of six photos, posted to Facebook and Instagram, shows the Meta founder grappling with two different opponents at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition, which was held Saturday at Woodside High School in Woodside, …

Selling your home now may not reap as much of a profit as you would hope. The typical person who sold a condo or single-family home in the first three months of 2023 netted a profit of $98,350, an analysis from real estate data provider ATTOM found. That’s down from …

Twitter has removed labels describing global media organizations as government-funded or state-affiliated, a move that comes after the Elon Musk-owned platform started stripping blue verification checkmarks from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee. Among those no longer labeled was National Public Radio in the U.S., which announced last week …

Even as prices are cooling for gasoline, groceries and online goods, housing remains a major factor in the cost-of-living crisis. Two years after the pandemic-driven rental surge began, rents in many major cities show little sign of easing.  In February and March, shelter costs were the biggest driver of month-to-month …

Tesla is facing a lawsuit alleging its employees violated car owners’ privacy by distributing private photos and images captured by the vehicles’ cameras. The lawsuit, filed by a Tesla car owner in federal court in the Northern District of California on Friday, alleges Tesla employees shared “highly invasive videos and …

Norfolk Southern will give some workers paid sick days, bowing to union pressure following the derailment of one of its trains earlier this month. The agreement, which the company announced Wednesday, provides sick time to roughly 3,000 unionized track maintenance workers. The deal allows employees to take four paid sick days …