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By BYRON TAU, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The website of the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek, whose chatbot became the most downloaded app in the United States, has computer code that could send some user login information to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company that has been barred from operating in the United States, security researchers say.

The web login page of DeepSeek’s chatbot contains heavily obfuscated computer script that when deciphered shows connections to computer infrastructure owned by China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunications company. The code appears to be part of the account creation and user login process for DeepSeek.

In its privacy policy, DeepSeek acknowledged storing data on servers inside the People’s Republic of China. But its chatbot appears more directly tied to the Chinese state than previously known through the link revealed by researchers to China Mobile. The U.S. has claimed there are close ties between China Mobile and the Chinese military as justification for placing limited sanctions on the company. DeepSeek and China Mobile did not respond to emails seeking comment. read more

The effects of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton put a damper on Disney theme parks’ attendance and income in the final stretch of 2024, according to the company’s quarterly financial report released Wednesday.

Operating income — that’s profit minus costs of regular operation — was down 5% for the domestic theme parks segment, including Walt Disney World, in the final three months of last year.  A 28% gain by the international parks helped the segment, which also includes Disney Cruise Line, maintain a flat quarter.

Walt Disney Co.’s fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

The company said a decline in attendance due to Helene, which struck in late September, and Milton, which hit Florida in October, affected revenue, though it was still up 2% over the same quarter a year earlier. Milton prompted a one-day shutdown of Disney World and canceled one sailing of the Disney Wish cruise ship out of Port Canaveral.

But Disney also reported increased guest spending at U.S. parks for the quarter. Domestic theme park revenue was reported as $6.43 billion. read more

By ZEN SOO, AP Business Writer

HONG KONG (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is reversing course a day after placing a ban on all inbound packages from China and Hong Kong.

The post office had announced Tuesday that it would no longer accept parcels from the China and Hong Kong after the U.S. imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods and ended a customs exception that allowed small value parcels to enter the U.S. without paying tax.

The Postal Service reversed course Wednesday but gave no reason. It said it would work with Customs and Border Protection to implement a collection process for the new China tariffs to avoid delivery disruptions.

The post office pointed to the short prepared statement on the reversal when asked for more details about the reversal Wednesday by The Associated Press.

The ban had the potential to create massive disruptions for online shopping platforms like Shein and Temu, popular with younger shoppers in the U.S. for cheap clothing and other products, usually shipped directly from China. read more

By KIM COOK

Ever wonder how some of the stuff we use every day came to be?

By Kimberly Palmer, NerdWallet

Spending less, it turns out, can be pretty trendy.

Social media influencers are celebrating the art of consuming less. They are thrifting, sharing no-buy challenges and buying items with longevity in mind, and showing followers how they can, too — all under the hashtag “#underconsumptioncore”.

“There is a discourse pushing back against overconsumption,” says Dana Miranda, author of “You Don’t Need a Budget” and the “Healthy Rich” newsletter on Substack. “Things have become so easy to get, including things we don’t value very much. We don’t need all this stuff in our lives.”

That stuff, adds Kasia Stolarz, a certified financial planner in Halifax, Nova Scotia, often “doesn’t make us as happy as we thought it would.”

While personal finance experts generally agree that consuming less is something to be celebrated, they also warn about taking this latest take on conscious spending too far. Here are five ways to save with the underconsumption trend without letting it negatively impact your lifestyle: read more