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By MATTHEW PERRONE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Telehealth company Hims & Hers said Thursday it will launch a cheaper, off-brand version of the weight-loss pill Wegovy, just weeks after drugmaker Novo Nordisk launched its highly anticipated reformulation of the blockbuster medication.

The announcement from Hims is the latest example of the company’s efforts to capitalize on the booming popularity of GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy, which have revolutionized weight loss treatment in the U.S.

For years, Hims has sold compounded versions of the weight-loss drugs, which were initially only available as injections. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy is the first of the medications to become available in a pill format.

The Danish drugmaker responded to the news Thursday by vowing to sue Hims, calling the new product “an unapproved, inauthentic, and untested knockoff” of semaglutide, the chemical name for Wegovy.

“Novo Nordisk will take legal and regulatory action to protect patients, our intellectual property and the integrity of the U.S. gold-standard drug approval framework,” the company said in a statement. read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press

Pizza Hut plans to close 250 U.S. restaurants in the first half of this year as its parent company considers a sale of the chain.

Yum Brands said Wednesday it’s targeting underperforming Pizza Hut restaurants in its system. Pizza Hut has more than 6,000 locations in the U.S.

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Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum Brands said in November it was conducting a formal review of options for Pizza Hut, which has struggled with outdated stores and growing competition. The chain’s U.S. same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, fell 5% last year, Yum said. read more

Tourist-tax collections in Orange County continued a record run in December, the ninth straight month in which receipts were the highest ever for the month, according to figures released this morning by Comptroller Phil Diamond.

Receipts totaled $34.3 million for December, up about 8.1% or $2.56 million better than December 2024.

“Orange County enjoyed its own ‘Santa Claus Rally’ with TDT collections,” Diamond quipped in the announcement, employing a term sometimes used by Wall Street analysts to describe a common post-Christmas surge in stock prices.

Through the fiscal year’s first quarter, which ended Dec. 31, collections are about $10 million ahead of last year’s record pace.

The Tourist Development Tax, or TDT for short, is a 6% surcharge added to the cost of a hotel room or other short-term lodging option in Orange County, including home-sharing rentals like AirBnb and VRBO. TDT is often viewed as a measure of the tourism industry’s health.

Beginning in April 2025, monthly TDT collections consistently have topped the number for the same month from the previous year. read more

By MATT O’BRIEN, AP Technology Writer

The two artificial intelligence startups behind rival chatbots ChatGPT and Claude are bracing for an existential showdown this year as both need to prove they can grow a business that will make more money than they’re losing.

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The fiercest competition between the two AI developers, along with bigger companies like Google, is a race to win over corporate leaders looking to adopt AI tools to boost workplace productivity. The rivalry is also spilling into other realms, including the Super Bowl.

Anthropic is airing a pair of TV commercials during Sunday’s game that ridicule OpenAI for the digital advertising it’s beginning to place on free and cheaper versions of ChatGPT. While Anthropic has centered its revenue model on selling Claude to other businesses, OpenAI has opened the doors to ads as a way of making money from the hundreds of millions of consumers who get ChatGPT for free. read more

By JONEL ALECCIA

The Boar’s Head deli meat plant tied to a deadly food-poisoning outbreak in 2024 is back in business, company officials said.

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The Jarratt, Virginia, site resumed limited operations on Monday, nearly 17 months after it was shut down following the listeria outbreak that killed 10 people and sickened dozens.

Boar’s Head, a 120-year-old company based in Sarasota, Florida, permanently stopped making liverwurst and recalled 7 million pounds (more than 3 million kilograms) of deli products in the wake of the illnesses.

But Natalie Dyenson, the company’s chief food safety officer, told The Associated Press that the facility has been completely revamped and tested to ensure no contamination remains. read more