Business briefs - Associated Press - June 29, 2024

Federal Reserve's shows price pressures easing further

WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure of prices that's closely tracked by the Federal Reserve suggests that inflation pressures in the U.S. economy are continuing to ease. Consumer prices were flat from April to May, the mildest such performance in more than four years. Measured from a year earlier, prices rose 2.6% last month, slightly less than in April. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 0.1% from April to May, the smallest increase since the spring of 2020, when the pandemic shut down the economy. The latest figures will likely be welcomed by the Fed's policymakers, who have said they need to feel confident inflation is slowing sustainably toward their 2% target before they'd start cutting interest rates.

EU's competition boss signals fresh AI scrutiny 

LONDON (AP) — The European Union is escalating its scrutiny of the artificial intelligence industry, including taking a fresh look into Microsoft's multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI. The bloc started reviewing the deal last year to see whether it broke EU merger rules but dropped it after concluding Microsoft hadn't gained control of OpenAI. A top EU official said Friday that bloc would take another tack to examine the deal. It's using the bloc's antitrust rules, which target abusive behavior by companies that have a dominant market position, and is requesting information on the agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI.