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By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writer

UPS is planning to cut up to 30,000 operational jobs this year as the package delivery company continues with its turnaround efforts and reducing the number of Amazon shipments that it handles.

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Chief Financial Officer Brian Dykes said during the company’s conference call on Tuesday that the job cuts will be made through a voluntary buyout offer for full-time drivers and through attrition.

UPS is also looking to close 24 buildings in the first half of the year and is evaluating additional buildings to close later in the year, he added. read more

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union said Tuesday it’s stepping in to make sure Google gives rival AI companies and search engines access to Gemini AI services and data as required by the bloc’s flagship digital rulebook.

The executive arm of the 27-nation bloc said it was opening up so-called “ specification proceedings ” to ensure that Google complies with the sweeping Digital Markets Act, which requires Big Tech companies to give smaller players equal access to hardware and software features.

Brussels said part of the proceedings will specify how Google should give third-party AI companies “equally effective access to the same features” available through its own services.

The EU will also look at whether Google is giving competing search engines fair and reasonable access to Google Search data. This will include whether AI chatbot providers are eligible to access to the data.

The proceedings fall short of an investigation and must wrap up in six months with draft measures that Brussels will impose on Google. read more

By GARY FIELDS, JOSH FUNK and ED WHITE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — An air traffic controller felt a “little overwhelmed” by numerous aircraft around Reagan airport just minutes before an American Airlines jet collided midair last year with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, killing 67 people, an investigator said Tuesday at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing to determine the biggest factors in the crash.

During the hearing’s early stages, some themes emerged: The jet’s pilot had no warning about the helicopter, and airspace was crowded the night of Jan. 29, 2025.

“It will not be an easy day,” NTSB board member Todd Inman said in his opening remarks. “There is no singular person to blame for this. These were systemic issues across multiple organizations.”

 

Everyone aboard the jet, flying from Wichita, Kansas, and the helicopter died when the two aircraft collided and plummeted into the icy Potomac River. It was the deadliest plane crash on U.S. soil since 2001. read more

By KAITLYN HUAMANI and BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — TikTok agreed to settle a landmark social media addiction lawsuit just before the trial kicked off, the plaintiff’s attorneys confirmed.

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The social video platform was one of three companies — along with Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube — facing claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children. A fourth company named in the lawsuit, Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., settled the case last week for an undisclosed sum.

Details of the settlement with TikTok were not disclosed, and the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — After two weeks of intense political and legal scrutiny, the Federal Reserve will seek to make this week’s meeting about interest rates as straightforward and uneventful as possible, though President Donald Trump probably still won’t like the result.

The central bank’s interest rate-setting committee is almost certain to keep its key short-term rate unchanged at about 3.6%, after three straight quarter-point cuts last year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after December’s meeting that they were “well positioned to wait to see how the economy evolves” before making any further moves.

When the Fed lowers its short-term rate, it can over time influence other borrowing costs for things like mortgages, auto loans and business borrowing, though those rates are also affected by market forces.

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EU steps in to make sure Google gives rivals access to AI services and data

Watch: Investigator describes intense air traffic at time of deadly midair collision near DC read more