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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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  Bitcoin’s monthslong slide continues, hitting fresh 15-month low of $67,000

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  Average US long-term mortgage rate barely budges, holding near 6%

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Yum Brands said in November it was conducting a formal review of options for Pizza Hut, which has struggled with outdated stores and growing competition.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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• 
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• 
  Bitcoin’s monthslong slide continues, hitting fresh 15-month low of $67,000

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  Average US long-term mortgage rate barely budges, holding near 6%

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  Big Tech and dour data on the US job market hit Wall Street as bitcoin tumbles

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.

Related Articles

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  With $34 million for December, Orange County’s tourist tax sets another record

• 
  Anthropic, OpenAI rivalry spills into new Super Bowl ads as both fight to win over AI users

• 
  Bitcoin’s monthslong slide continues, hitting fresh 15-month low of $67,000

• 
  Average US long-term mortgage rate barely budges, holding near 6%

• 
  Big Tech and dour data on the US job market hit Wall Street as bitcoin tumbles

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

Associated Press

The price of bitcoin continued its monthslong slide Thursday, falling another 11% to $67,000, its lowest level in 15 months.

Related Articles

• 
  With $34 million for December, Orange County’s tourist tax sets another record

• 
  Anthropic, OpenAI rivalry spills into new Super Bowl ads as both fight to win over AI users

• 
  Boar’s Head reopens Virginia deli meat plant tied to deadly listeria outbreak

• 
  Average US long-term mortgage rate barely budges, holding near 6%

• 
  Big Tech and dour data on the US job market hit Wall Street as bitcoin tumbles

The original cryptocurrency, pitched as “digital gold,” has lost 46% of its value since Oct. 6, when it hit a record high of $126,210.50, according to crypto trading platform Coinbase. As of 10:30 a.m. EST Thursday, its price had dipped to $67,245.

After the election of President Donald Trump in November of 2024, Bitcoin prices chugged higher for the better part of a year, in part due to investors’ expectations of a more crypto-friendly administration in Washington. read more