business

The Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings wants more researchers and students to ask deep questions about artificial intelligence and its potential to upend human norms. To that end, Mr. Hastings has donated $50 million to Bowdoin College, his alma mater, to create a research initiative on “A.I. and Humanity” — the largest gift to the liberal … Read more

The United States could run out of cash to continue paying its bills by mid-July if Congress does not take action to raise or suspend the nation’s debt limit, according to an analysis on Monday by the Bipartisan Policy Center. That deadline, known as the “X-date” — the moment when the United States is unable … Read more

DoorDash customers can now take out a loan for a $40 order of burritos or a $50 pizza delivery. The financial tech company Klarna and the delivery company DoorDash said that they had partnered to provide a “buy now, pay later” loan option for orders. The arrangement, announced on Thursday, lets customers defer the cost … Read more

In most states, playing slot machines online for real money is illegal. But a group of companies known as sweepstakes casinos has found a way around the law to let users play classic casino games online. Their revenues have grown 10-fold in the last five years, and they’re now large enough to feature ads with … Read more

A foul cell in a Moscow detention center was about the last place an American businessman named Michael Calvey expected to find himself after spending 25 years building a flourishing venture capital firm in Russia that transformed some tech startups into global brands. First, beefy agents from the F.S.B., the federal security service, ransacked his … Read more

Times are tough on Sesame Street. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit responsible for Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and the rest of the stars of “Sesame Street,” is confronting what executives have described as a “perfect storm” of problems. The organization is losing its lucrative contract with HBO, which has paid $30 million to $35 million … Read more

Disney’s latest remake, “Snow White,” arrived in theaters on Thursday night as one of the most snakebit projects in the company’s 102-year history. Almost everything that could have went wrong did, resulting in a torrent of negative prerelease publicity. Did the tumult have an impact on the box office? It certainly didn’t help: Based on … Read more

The George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine was the kitchen appliance America didn’t know it needed. When it arrived in the mid-1990s, Food Network and food blogging had just been born. Martha Stewart was redefining home entertaining, and Richard Simmons had made low-fat fun. Salsa was outselling ketchup for the first time, a … Read more

Nearly 30,000 pounds of ready-to-eat beef sticks were recalled on Thursday after consumers complained that they had found metal fragments in them, food safety and company officials said. The voluntary recall affects Chomps Original Beef Sticks, but the company said in statement posted online on Thursday and Friday that it had included Original Turkey sticks … Read more

Since President Trump began his second term in January, no high-level officials from the United States have met with their counterparts in China, even as the world’s two largest economies have taken turns imposing steep tariffs on each other. In the absence of official meetings, Senator Steve Daines of Montana has cast himself as a … Read more