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By EILEEN NG and EDNA TARIGAN, Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI, as concerns grew among global authorities that it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images.

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The moves reflect growing scrutiny of generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text and concern that existing safeguards are failing to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children. read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks of credit card companies are dropping Monday after President Donald Trump threatened moves that could eat into their profits. The rest of Wall Street, meanwhile, was showing only modest signals of concern after tensions ramped to a much higher degree between the White House and the Federal Reserve.

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The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% from its all-time high as U.S. stocks drifted through mixed trading, while prices for gold and other investments that tend to do well when investors are nervous rose. The value of the U.S. dollar also dipped against other currencies amid some concern that the Fed may have less independence in setting interest rates to keep inflation under control. read more

SpaceX is set to launch its third mission of the year from the Space Coast on Monday afternoon while preparing for the early return later this week of Crew-11 from the International Space Station.

A Falcon 9 is set to fly on the Starlink 6-97 mission with 29 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 targeting 1:59 p.m. during a launch window that runs from 12:42-4:42 p.m.

This will be the 25th flight of the first-stage booster, which will aim for a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed in the Atlantic.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecast an 85% chance for good conditions at the launch site, but noted a low to moderate chance for weather problems at the booster recovery site. A 24-hour delay would see a 90% chance for good conditions at the opening of the four-hour launch window Tuesday, but slide to 70% near the end of the window.

It would mark the third launch so far this year, which so far have all been from SpaceX from SLC-40 on Starlink missions. Its next two planned flights from Florida will follow suit targeting launches on Wednesday during a window that runs from 1:01-5:01 p.m. and then Sunday during a window from midnight to 3:17 a.m., both flying up another 29 Starlink satellites. read more

By TED SHAFFREY, JENNIFER PELTZ and DAVID R. MARTIN

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

“Nurses on strike! … Fair contract now!” they shouted on a picket line outside NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital’s campus in Upper Manhattan. Others picketed at multiple hospitals in the Mount Sinai and Montefiore systems.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to their union, the New York State Nurses Association. The hospitals remained open, hiring droves of temporary nurses to try to fill the labor gap.

The strike involves private, nonprofit hospitals, not city-run ones. But the strike, which the union casts as lifesaving essential workers fighting hospital executives who make millions of dollars a year, could be a significant early test of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new administration.

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)