(NEW YORK) — Honda and Acura recalled a combined 750,000 cars this week over an airbag defect, becoming the latest in a series of recalls this year that has touched carmakers from Tesla to Ford.
The near-daily headlines warning of a recall amount to more than an eye-catching coincidence.
Car recalls have surged in recent years, owing largely to the increased complexity of vehicles replete with electronic components that increase the likelihood of a malfunction, according to an ABC News analysis of government data and interviews with experts.
The average number of car recalls each year jumped 46% over a 10-year period ending in 2022, when compared with the average over the preceding 10 years, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data shows.
Over the five years ending in 2022, the U.S. averaged more than 1,000 car recalls each year, or about 27 per day, the data shows. Until 2016, the U.S. had not exceeded 1,000 car recalls in any year going back to at least 2002.
“More complicated vehicles definitely result in more issues,” Ivan Drury, an auto analyst at data firm Edmunds, told ABC News.
“Vehicles have advanced to a degree we’ve never seen before,” Drury added, citing high-tech features such as self-driving capability and back-up cameras. “It’s such a wide swathe of issues that recalls cover that you’re going to see this more and more.”
In December, for instance, Toyota recalled 1.12 million vehicles worldwide because a sensor malfunction could cause the airbag to deploy incorrectly.
The same month, Tesla recalled about 2 million cars over a safety issue tied to its autopilot system. The company announced an additional recall last week of 2.2 million vehicles over the font size on its warning lights.
“Let’s just think about 20 years ago, we were just getting into airbags becoming standard,” Brian Moody, executive editor at Autotrader, told ABC News. “A lot of these complex pieces of equipment and technology today have to work together to get a better experience for the consumer.”
Tom McParland, operator of the vehicle-buying service Automatch Consulting, echoed the view.
“As you add more components to vehicles, as vehicles get more tech heavy, you’re going to have more failure points,” McParland said.
The spike in car recalls should not necessarily worry consumers, since defects range widely in severity. The uptick in recall announcements, they added, illustrates a regulatory system essentially working as intended.
“A lot of these recalls don’t fall under a stop-sale order or tell you to stop driving your car,” Drury said. “The stuff that’s more minor might not catch your attention but you do want to get it fixed.”
Repairs undertaken in response to a recall are free of charge to the car owner, the experts said. When purchasing a used car, prospective buyers can check online whether the car received repairs in response to a possible recall.
Due to the complexity and speed of auto production nowadays, recalls offer a necessary opportunity for fixes to problems that go undiscovered before a car hits the road, Moody said.
“In the end, it’s good for consumers that we have a recall system,” he added.
(WASHINGTON) — Senators grilled chief executives from three top pharmaceutical companies over prescription drug prices during an hourslong committee hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill.
Members of both major political parties bemoaned drug prices they consider too high, but liberals and conservatives revealed differences in their views of the role played by the pharmaceutical companies.
The three CEOs — Robert M. Davis of Merck, Joaquin Duato of Johnson & Johnson and Christopher Boerner of Bristol Myers Squibb — said drug prices account for the considerable cost of research and development, as well as the ready availability of treatments in the United States.
Here are the four biggest takeaways from the CEOs’ testimony before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions:
Liberals confronted the pharmaceutical CEOs over prices, executive compensation
The testiest moments of the hearing came when liberal lawmakers challenged the pharmaceutical executives over what the senators said they viewed as high prices, invoking anecdotes of patients forced to choose between purchasing medicine or paying for essentials such as rent or food.
The senators pointed to millions of dollars in executive compensation and billions in stock buybacks and dividends as areas where the companies could trim costs and put the savings toward price reduction.
In one heated exchange, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy from Connecticut challenged Duato, accusing Johnson & Johnson of prioritizing shareholder returns over drug development.
In 2022, Murphy said, the company spent a combined $17 billion on stock buybacks and dividends compared to $14 billion on research and development.
“Can you understand that one of my constituents in Connecticut would look at those numbers and think that you care more about padding the pockets of folks who work for you and invest in you than in research and development?” Murphy said.
In response, Duato said, “Our priority is investing in R&D.”
“We have to pay dividends because it’s the only way the company can remain operational and sustainable,” Duato added. “Otherwise, if we’re not operational and sustainable, we are not able to fulfill our mission of developing medicines for patients and making them affordable.”
Senators grilled the CEOs on why the same drugs cost more in the U.S. than in other countries
Liberal lawmakers repeatedly criticized the relatively high cost of drugs in the U.S. compared to other wealthy countries such as Canada, France and Japan.
In 2022, prices for brand-name drugs in the U.S. were at least three times higher than those in 33 other wealthy nations, according to a report this month commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services.
For instance, Bristol Myers Squibb charges patients $7,100 per year for blood-clot drug Eliquis in the U.S., while the same product can be purchased for $900 in Canada and just $650 in France, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, said.
“Does Bristol Myers Squibb make a profit selling Eliquis for $900 in Canada,” Sanders asked Boerner, the company’s CEO.
“Yes, we make a profit,” Boerner said.
“Will you commit to reducing the list price in the U.S. to the price in Canada?” Sanders asked.
In response, Boerner said, “We cannot make that commitment.” He cited the relative accessibility of drugs in the U.S. compared to Canada.
“In Canada, medicines are generally made less available and it takes oftentimes considerably longer for them to be made available,” Boerner added.
Republicans shared the concern about prices but defended drugmakers
Republican senators on the committee echoed the concern about high drug prices but largely avoided faulting the pharmaceutical companies and their executives.
“Let’s just be clear, everybody in this panel cares about the high cost of prescription drugs and wants to work on real solutions to address this,” Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said. “I don’t want the committee to delve into a CEO whack-a-mole that ends up with no serious legislation as a result.”
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican, defended the profits delivered by pharmaceutical companies in recent years, lauding their breakthrough drugs and philanthropy. Paul criticized, meanwhile, the line of questioning taken up by Democrats, who make up the majority on the committee.
“Unfortunately, this committee isn’t here to celebrate American success, instead the majority wants to drag us here to conduct a show trial to harangue companies,” Paul said.
Pharmaceutical CEOs pointed to high research and development costs, middlemen
For their part, the chief executives acknowledged the elevated price of drugs in the U.S.
However, the CEOs placed the blame on cost-intensive research and development, as well as industry middlemen known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs.
“Right now, we have nearly 20,000 researchers seeking breakthrough treatments,” said Davis, of Merck. The company has invested almost $160 billion in research and development since 2010, including $30 billion in 2023, Davis said.
All three CEOs aimed their ire at PBMs, third-party administrators hired by large employers and other institutions to set prices in negotiations with drugmakers.
PBMs undermine pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to ease the costs borne by patients, said Duato, of Johnson & Johnson.
“Congress should stop middlemen from taking for themselves the assistance that pharmaceutical companies intend for patients,” Duato said.
Google Headquarters is seen in Mountain View, California, United States on May 15, 2023. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Google announced Thursday that it is joining a coalition of companies dedicated to helping increase transparency around artificial intelligence and digital content.
As examples of AI-generated content continue to make headlines — from fake sexually explicit AI images of Taylor Swift, to a deceptive AI-generated voice clone of President Joe Biden — the need for clarity around what we are seeing online seems more urgent.
“The danger of deepfakes isn’t the deception it’s the doubt because once you doubt everything, then you don’t believe anything,” said Dana Rao, Adobe’s general counsel and chief trust officer, in an interview with ABC News. “And so that’s why we always like provenance.”
“We want to make sure that, ideally, we have solutions that tell us the origin of content and that tell us whether it’s been altered or changed,” added Laurie Richardson, vice president of trust and safety at Google.
Since its creation in 2021, the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) has been working toward creating an open technical standard providing publishers, creators and consumers the ability to trace the origin of different types of media.
The C2PA says its developed those solutions and now, with Google backing the effort, there’s belief widespread adoption might be around the corner.
Content credentials — often described as a “nutrition label” for digital content — are tamper-resistant and allow the metadata to be attached to digital content, showing how and when the content was created and modified.
“It’s like an evidence bag,” C2PA Chair Andrew Jenks told ABC News. “When a police officer goes to a crime scene and picks up a piece of evidence and puts it in a bag, he signs and seals that bag. When it arrives to in the courtroom, you can look back at the record and see every place the evidence has been”
This “nutrition label,” if adopted by social media platforms and publishers, could be displayed on every piece of content hosted online allowing users to access the history of any piece of content.
Google will now be a member on the C2PA steering committee, joining Adobe, Microsoft, Intel, Truepic and other companies helping set the technical direction and focus of the group.
Richardson said there isn’t anything specific to share in terms of how Google will implement the technology across its products, but she’s hopeful that they will have more to share in the coming months. With upcoming elections around the world, there is an “urgency” in making sure that Google is helping shape an “ecosystem wide solution, said Richardson.
The standard, however, does seem to be gaining momentum quickly. Just this week, Open AI announced that images generated in ChatGPT, and its API now include metadata using C2PA specifications.
This means that anyone, including social platforms and content distributors, are able to see that an image was generated using an Open AI Product.
Meta also announced it is developing a set of tools that can identify invisible markers at scale — like the digital signature developed by the C2PA.
“This is a moment we’re talking about the dangers and the risks of deep fakes and AI, and we should, but this is also proof, there’s a lot of work going on towards solutions and more towards invention and towards getting together in this space,” Clement Wolf, head of information quality & AI strategy, trust & safety at Google, told ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — Many Americans have put off buying a new sport utility vehicle or truck because of steep prices and high interest rates.
Now, however, may be the right time to upgrade that older model, industry watchers say.
“2024 is probably the best year since the pandemic to buy a new car,” Mark Schirmer, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, told ABC News. “2021 and 2022 were really difficult years. Dealers are talking about discounts again … this was not happening 18 months ago. The shelves are full and there are more selections now.”
The pandemic supply crunch has largely been resolved, Schirmer noted, and deals on new vehicles are getting better — leading to higher customer satisfaction with the car-buying process.
Interest rates are still historically high — the average APY was 9.2% in December — but they’ve fallen from last fall’s peak, Schirmer said. Prior to the pandemic, interest rates for new vehicles ranged from 4% to 5%.
“As interest rates come down and discounts increase, some people who have been pushed out of the market may come back,” Schirmer said. “What we’re seeing now is a more normal market.”
Of course, it may be tough to score a discount on the hottest and latest models. The brands that have excess inventory on lots and are more likely to lower prices are Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, according to Schirmer.
John Lawler, Ford’s chief financial officer, said in November that the automaker was closely monitoring prices and would likely offer deep incentives to woo shoppers.
Consumers are also asking: Will the days of 0% financing on new models return?
“Never say never,” according to Nishit Madlani, a managing director at S&P Global Ratings, who added that he expects the level of incentives to rise in 2025.
“With inventory going up, we’ve shifted to a buyer’s market,” he said.
Madlani blamed elevated vehicle prices on fleet sales and Americans’ preference for gargantuan trucks and SUVs.
“The market is 80% trucks now and 20% sedans … people are willing to pay up for larger vehicles,” he said. “Auto sales have been resilient.”
Jessica Caldwell, head of insights for Edmunds, said drivers expect — and demand — more amenities in their vehicles, which can quickly increase the MSRP. The average transaction price of a new vehicle was nearly $49,000 in December, according to Edmunds data.
Moreover, hybrids and vehicles with big, V8 engines are also seeing huge interest from consumers and are selling at or above their sticker price.
Many Americans who are strapped for cash still cannot afford to finance luxury priced vehicles, she said.
“Prices are getting softer … but we’re seeing demand at the lower end of the market, at the price points people can afford,” Caldwell explained.
Low interest rates are available to consumers, she pointed out, but getting one often requires paying off the loan in less than four years.
“People can’t afford to pay a car off in 48 months,” she said, adding that “very few Americans buy cars in cash.”
Madlani, though optimistic about new vehicle sales, said a reversal in the economy and stubbornly high rates could cause consumers to become delinquent on their auto loans.
“We’re already seeing a higher level of younger people defaulting on loans,” he said.
The best deals right now may be on electric vehicles, with an influx of models and slower pace of adoption among drivers. The number of incentives on EVs is higher than the industry average and consumers can save up to 9% on the vehicle’s price, according to Cox Automotive data.
“The EV market is extremely competitive and there will be very intense pricing pressure for all players,” Madlani said.
Added Caldwell: “A lot of Americans are still not interested in making the switch to an electric vehicle. There needs to be more price slashing on EVs to get Americans to buy them.”
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. economy shattered expectations in recent weeks, extending a run of overachievement that has quieted some of the most skeptical economists.
Americans, however, remain sour. Less than 3 in 10 adults rate current economic conditions as “excellent” or “good,” a Pew survey last month found.
The dynamic holds significant implications for a potential general election rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The economy is the top issue for voters, an ABC News/Ipsos poll in November found.
The disconnect between triumphant economic performance and glum sentiment traces in part to elevated prices at the grocery store or in the housing market, as well as a partisan reluctance among some to acknowledge success under Biden, experts told ABC News.
But, they added, the enthusiasm gap may also owe to the divergent economic performance between states, and even between localities within those states. This uneven reality betrays the rosy nationwide picture, especially when it comes to the challenge posed by high expenses, experts said.
“It really does depend on where you’re living,” Lee Bowes, CEO of job-placement firm America Works, which provides training and resources for low-income people nationwide, told ABC News. “A place like Fresno, by California standards, is a less expensive place to live. San Francisco is a complete disaster.”
At the national level, the economy performs well on just about every measure of economic health. Inflation is falling, job growth is surging and gross domestic product is proving much more resilient than expected in the aftermath of near-historic interest rate hikes.
Since the middle of last year, the pace of wage growth has even exceeded that of inflation, leaving earners with more money to spend, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.
An ABC News analysis of state-level economic data, however, shows a sizable gap between the best-performing states and localities, and the worst-performing ones.
Seven states grapple with a convergence of three negative trends: lower-than-average growth, above-average unemployment and above-average gas prices. Some of those states are among the nation’s most populous, including California, New York and New Jersey.
Within those states, some cities face much more difficulty than others. In New York City, for example, the unemployment rate stands at 5.4%, far exceeding the nationwide rate of 3.7%.
Meanwhile, expenses in the borough of Manhattan are 122% higher than the average city, according to the Cost of Living Index from the Council for Community and Economic Research. Only 3 in 100 home listings in New York City are affordable for a typical household, a Redfin report found.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, prices are way up,” Mark Jaffe, CEO of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, told ABC News, citing a steep rise in prices compared to where they stood pre-pandemic. “It’s a huge problem.”
By contrast, eight states boast better-than-average unemployment, GDP growth and gas prices. An additional state, North Dakota, stands tied for the nation’s lowest unemployment rate and holds one of its lowest average gas prices.
North Dakota’s largest city, Fargo, carries the second-lowest unemployment rate of any metropolitan area in the U.S., Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Further, the city has lower-than-average cost of living and higher-than-average median income.
“Many would not think Fargo is having the growth that it is,” Shannon Full, president and CEO of the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce, told ABC News.
The city plays host to a growing tech sector, focused especially on agricultural products such as autonomous farming equipment, Full added.
“That’s one of our best kept secrets,” she said.
Full characterized sentiment among businesses and consumers as “cautious optimism,” citing the opportunity afforded by a combination of strong job growth and affordable cost of living.
To be sure, attitudes about the economy have improved in recent months, data shows. Consumer sentiment soared in January but remains well below pre-pandemic levels, a University of Michigan survey found.
When asked whether they prefer Biden or Trump on the issue of handling the economy, voters chose Trump by a margin of more than 20 percentage points, according to an NBC News poll released on Sunday.
In a statement to ABC News, Biden campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster touted the current state of the economy, saying it puts the campaign in a position to win reelection.
“President Biden is proud to run on a record of falling inflation, historically low unemployment, and rising consumer confidence — a winning economic record Donald Trump could only dream of,” Schuster said.
The Biden campaign did not respond directly to ABC News’ question about the disconnect between economic performance and consumer sentiment.
Dennis Hoffman, an economics professor at the University of Arizona, said overall negative sentiment about the economy derives in part from conservative voters who refuse to offer a positive assessment because the current president belongs to the opposition party.
“This group will say the economy is terrible, then they hang up the phone, order off of Amazon and go out to dinner,” Hoffman told ABC News. “They go on with their lives and they’re fine.”
Still, Hoffman added, the variation in economic conditions across states and localities could also help explain the gap between economic sentiment and performance.
“It’s a possible explanation,” Hoffman said. “Some states are more dynamic than others.”
How is your state’s economy doing?
Each statewide statistic is followed by one of the following:
+ = better than where the metric stands nationwide
— = worse than where the metric stands nationwide
* = matches where the metric stands nationwide
Nationwide
Unemployment: 3.7%
GDP growth: 4.9%
Gas prices: $3.15
Home prices: $402,646
Median income: $74,580
Alabama
Unemployment: 2.6% +
GDP growth: 4.1% —
Gas prices: $2.89 +
Home prices: $271,300 +
Median income: $59,110 —
Alaska
Unemployment: 4.5% —
GDP growth: 4.1% —
Gas prices: $3.49 —
Home prices: $370,700 +
Median income: $89,740 +
Arizona
Unemployment: 4.3% —
GDP growth: 4.9% *
Gas prices: $3.24 —
Home prices: $430,000 —
Median income: $73,450 —
Arkansas
Unemployment: 3.4% +
GDP growth: 0.7% —
Gas prices: $3.24 +
Home prices: $241,300 +
Median income: $73,450 +
California
Unemployment: 5.1% —
GDP growth: 4.8% —
Gas prices: $4.58 —
Home prices: $756,800 —
Median income: $85,300 +
Colorado
Unemployment: 3.4% +
GDP growth: 5.8% +
Gas prices: $2.75 +
Home prices: $548,200 —
Median income: $89,930 +
Connecticut
Unemployment: 3.8% —
GDP growth: 4.7% —
Gas prices: $3.21 —
Home prices: $380,400 +
Median income: $90,730 +
Delaware
Unemployment: 4.2% —
GDP growth: 3.3% —
Gas prices: $3.15 —
Home prices: $337,600 +
Median income: $80,750 +
Florida
Unemployment: 3.0% +
GDP growth: 6.1% +
Gas prices: $3.21 —
Home prices: $403,800 —
Median income: $65,370 —
Georgia
Unemployment: 3.4% +
GDP growth: 4.5% —
Gas prices: $3.02 +
Home prices: $355,800 +
Median income: $67,730 —
Hawaii
Unemployment: 2.9% +
GDP growth: 3.7% —
Gas prices: $4.67 —
Home prices: $757,800 —
Median income: $91,010 +
Idaho
Unemployment: 3.3% +
GDP growth: 7.0% +
Gas prices: $2.90 +
Home prices: $460,900 —
Median income: $72,580 —
Illinois
Unemployment: 4.8% —
GDP growth: 4.1% —
Gas prices: $3.20 —
Home prices: $257,100 +
Median income: $78,020 +
Indiana
Unemployment: 3.6% +
GDP growth: 4.8% —
Gas prices: $2.96 +
Home prices: $240,000 +
Median income: $70,030 —
Iowa
Unemployment: 3.2% +
GDP growth: 4.1% —
Gas prices: $2.83 +
Home prices: $221,400 +
Median income: $76,200 +
Kansas
Unemployment: 2.8% +
GDP growth: 9.7% +
Gas prices: $2.76 +
Home prices: $253,800 +
Median income: $73,040 —
Kentucky
Unemployment: 4.3% —
GDP growth: 4.9% *
Gas prices: $2.84 +
Home prices: $243,100 +
Median income: $55,880 —
Louisiana
Unemployment: 3.7% *
GDP growth: 6.6% +
Gas prices: $2.85 +
Home prices: $241,100 +
Median income: $58,330 —
Maine
Unemployment: 3.2% +
GDP growth: 4.9% *
Gas prices: $3.20 —
Home prices: $363,600 +
Median income: $75,160 +
Maryland
Unemployment: 1.9% +
GDP growth: 2.7% —
Gas prices: $3.20 —
Home prices: $395,400 +
Median income: $108,200 +
Massachusetts
Unemployment: 3.2% +
GDP growth: 4.8% —
Gas prices: $3.15 *
Home prices: $577,400 —
Median income: $93,550 +
Michigan
Unemployment: 4.3% —
GDP growth: 2.9% —
Gas prices: $2.99 +
Home prices: $229,600 +
Median income: $68,990 —
Minnesota
Unemployment: 2.9% +
GDP growth: 4.1% —
Gas prices: $2.89 +
Home prices: $321,500 +
Median income: $90,390 +
Mississippi
Unemployment: 3.3% +
GDP growth: 0.8% —
Gas prices: $2.75 +
Home prices: $228,800 +
Median income: $48,610 —
Missouri
Unemployment: 3.3% +
GDP growth: 4.0% —
Gas prices: $2.80 +
Home prices: $240,000 +
Median income: $71,520 —
Montana
Unemployment: 3.2% +
GDP growth: 4.2% —
Gas prices: $2.90 +
Home prices: $515,100 —
Median income: $72,980 —
Nebraska
Unemployment: 2.3% +
GDP growth: 7.5% +
Gas prices: $2.83 +
Home prices: $271,600 +
Median income: $78,360 +
Nevada
Unemployment: 5.4% —
GDP growth: 6.3% +
Gas prices: $3.85 —
Home prices: $434,800 —
Median income: $72,300 —
New Hampshire
Unemployment: 2.5% +
GDP growth: 4.5% —
Gas prices: $3.09 +
Home prices: $440,300 —
Median income: $84,970 +
New Jersey
Unemployment: 4.8% —
GDP growth: 4.8% —
Gas prices: $3.14 +
Home prices: $484,500 —
Median income: $92,340 +
New Mexico
Unemployment: 4.0% —
GDP growth: 5.7% +
Gas prices: $2.84 +
Home prices: $329,200 +
Median income: $56,420 —
New York
Unemployment: 4.5% —
GDP growth: 3.5% —
Gas prices: $3.28 —
Home prices: $499,200 —
Median income: $75,910 +
North Carolina
Unemployment: 3.5% +
GDP growth: 4.6% —
Gas prices: $2.99 +
Home prices: $358,500 +
Median income: $65,070 —
North Dakota
Unemployment: 1.9% +
GDP growth: 2.9% —
Gas prices: $2.82 +
Home prices: $235,200 +
Median income: $78,720 +
Ohio
Unemployment: 3.7% *
GDP growth: 4.6% —
Gas prices: $3.00 +
Home prices: $221,800 +
Median income: $67,520 —
Oklahoma
Unemployment: 3.4% +
GDP growth: 6.0% +
Gas prices: $2.68 +
Home prices: $230,700 +
Median income: $63,440 —
Oregon
Unemployment: 3.7% *
GDP growth: 4.8% —
Gas prices: $3.60 —
Home prices: $491,100 —
Median income: $86,780 +
Pennsylvania
Unemployment: 3.5% +
GDP growth: 5.6% +
Gas prices: $3.38 —
Home prices: $270,700 +
Median income: $72,210 —
Rhode Island
Unemployment: 3.2% +
GDP growth: 3.9% —
Gas prices: $3.09 +
Home prices: $452,200 —
Median income: $80,650 +
South Carolina
Unemployment: 3.0% +
GDP growth: 5.7% +
Gas prices: $2.90 +
Home prices: $363,600 +
Median income: $61,770 —
South Dakota
Unemployment: 2.0% +
GDP growth: 5.2% +
Gas prices: $2.82 +
Home prices: $299,300 +
Median income: $67,180 —
Tennessee
Unemployment: 3.5% +
GDP growth: 5.2% +
Gas prices: $2.84 +
Home prices: $371,800 +
Median income: $65,380 —
Texas
Unemployment: 4.0% —
GDP growth: 7.7% +
Gas prices: $2.84 +
Home prices: $343,600 +
Median income: $74,640 +
Utah
Unemployment: 2.8% +
GDP growth: 6.1% +
Gas prices: $2.83 +
Home prices: $537,800 —
Median income: $95,800 +
Vermont
Unemployment: 2.2% +
GDP growth: 3.9% —
Gas prices: $3.22 —
Home prices: $376,600 +
Median income: $72,190 —
Virginia
Unemployment: 3.0% +
GDP growth: 4.2% —
Gas prices: $3.05 +
Home prices: $408,000 —
Median income: $85,170 +
Washington
Unemployment: 4.2% —
GDP growth: 5.1% +
Gas prices: $3.92 —
Home prices: $588,000 —
Median income: $89,430 +
West Virginia
Unemployment: 4.3% —
GDP growth: 3.7% —
Gas prices: $3.01 +
Home prices: $282,000 +
Median income: $52,460 —
Wisconsin
Unemployment: 3.3% +
GDP growth: 5.0% +
Gas prices: $2.81 +
Home prices: $275,400 +
Median income: $73,330 —
Wyoming
Unemployment: 3.0% +
GDP growth: 5.7% +
Gas prices: $2.68 +
Home prices: $392,100 +
Median income: $73,090 —
Sources:
Unemployment: Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate by state in December 2023, per U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
GDP growth: Real gross domestic product growth in the third quarter of 2023, at an annual rate, per U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Gas prices: Average price per gallon of gas on Feb. 7, 2024, per AAA.
Home prices: Median home prices in December 2023, per Redfin.
Median income: Inflation-adjusted median household income by state for 2022, per St. Louis Federal Reserve.
(NEW YORK) — Homeland Security Investigations is cracking down on counterfeit goods before Super Bowl LVIII, a top HSI official told ABC News.
“We’re looking at folks, criminal organizations who are taking advantage of large-scale sporting events,” Jim Mancuso, head of the Homeland Security Investigations National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination (IPR) Center said. “And they’re trying to make a quick buck and they’re selling counterfeit merchandise.”
He said the IPR Center works with brands, associations and academia to better crack down on counterfeit merchandise.
Homeland Security Investigations runs “Operation Team Player,” which is focused specifically on fake sports merchandise.
Over the past year, HSI has seized $28.1 million in counterfeit goods, according to the agency. That includes 94,000 pieces of counterfeit sports merchandise.
“The Super Bowl is a great opportunity for the IPR center and team player to really educate the consumers to say, listen, there are scams out there,” Mancuso said. He doesn’t want Americans to spend their hard earned money on “substandard, inferior products.”
China is the number one exporter of fake goods, Mancuso said.
“The number one location for counterfeit merchandise, not just sporting equipment, but all types of merchandise, the number one location is China,” he said. “Hong Kong is the number two. And that’s where we’re seeing these these items come in from.”
Entering bank or credit card information into websites that sell fake goods could also expose consumers to fraud.
“So as a consumer, if I’m on a shady website, it’s not an authentic website from a true brick and mortar store [or ] it’s a known website that’s reputable, then I’m taking my chances,” he said. “If I’m giving my credit card details, I’ve now just exposed all that personal identifiable information.”
The counterfeiting enterprise is a trillion-dollar business, Mancuso said.
“What that’s doing is that’s robbing American innovation, creativity and all the proprietary stuff that makes the United States great in terms of what we give the world,” he said. “It’s being ripped off, sold at low cost, inferior quality products, and sometimes they can pose an inherent health and safety risk to the American people.”
Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — ESPN, Warner Discovery and Fox Sports announced Tuesday that they will partner to create a massive new streaming network dedicated to sports.
ESPN is owned by the Walt Disney Company, the parent company of ABC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Meta will begin labeling images created by OpenAI, Midjourney and other artificial intelligence products, Nick Clegg, the company’s president of global affairs, announced in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday.
The labels, set to roll out in the coming months, will identify AI-generated images posted on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, Clegg said. Images created by a Meta’s own tool will also be labeled, Clegg added.
“I hope this is a big step forward in trying to make sure that people know what they’re looking at, and they know where what they’re looking at comes from,” Clegg told GMA. “As the difference between human and synthetic content gets blurred, people want to know where the boundary lies.”
The labels, however, will not be a “perfect solution,” Clegg acknowledged, citing the scale and complexity of AI-generated content on the platforms.
Meta cannot currently identify AI-generated audio and video produced using outside tech platforms, Clegg said in a blog post on Tuesday. To address this issue, Meta will add a feature that allows users to voluntarily label audio or video as AI-generated when they upload it to a platform, Clegg said.
The risks posed by AI-generated content have stoked wide concern in recent weeks.
Fake, sexually explicit AI-generated images of pop star Taylor Swift went viral on social media late last month, garnering millions of views. In response, the White House called on Congress and tech firms to take action.
“While social media companies make their own independent decisions about content management, we believe they have an important role to play in enforcing their own rules to prevent the spread of misinformation, and non-consensual, intimate imagery of real people,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers.
Another incident last month drew attention to election risks posed by AI. A fake robocall impersonating President Joe Biden’s voice discouraged individuals from voting in the New Hampshire Primary.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, tech companies should take action to assure users that they will be able to identify whether or not online content is authentic, Clegg said.
“In an election year like this, it’s incumbent upon us as an industry to make sure we do as much as the technology allows to provide as much visibility to people so they can distinguish between what’s synthetic and what’s not synthetic,” Clegg added.
In September, a bipartisan group of senators proposed a bill that would ban the use of deceptive AI content falsely portraying candidates for federal office in political ads.
When asked whether Meta supports the bill, Clegg said he backs legislation regulating AI but did not specifically comment on the Senate measure.
“I think it’s right that you have certain guardrails in place to make sure that there’s proper transparency about how these big AI models are built, to make sure that they’re properly stress tested so they’re as safe as they can be,” Clegg said. “Yes, I think there’s definitely a role for governments.”
Meta plans to label AI-generated images through next year because “a number of important elections are taking place around the world,” Clegg said in the blog post. The extended period of time will afford Meta an opportunity to evaluate its efforts.
“What we learn will inform industry best practices and our own approach going forward,” Clegg said.
Bissell recalls multi reach hand and floor vacuum cleaners due to fire hazard. (Consumer Product Safety Commission)
(NEW YORK) — Bissell, a floor cleaning product company, recalled over 150,000 of its Multi Reach Hand and Floor Vacuum Cleaners due to a potential fire hazard, according to an announcement on the United States Product Safety Commission and a separate announcement on the company’s website.
According to the USPSC’s release posted on Thursday, the vacuum’s battery pack has the potential to “overheat and smoke, posing a fire hazard.”
The announcement said 142,000 units were recalled in the United States. Additionally, about 14,600 units were sold in Canada.
According to the announcement, Bissell had been notified of “17 reports of the recalled vacuum cleaners smoking and emitting a burning odor.”
“Six of the reports included the battery pack catching fire, three of which resulted in minor property damage and two resulting in minor burn injuries,” the release stated.
“Consumer safety is our top priority, and we are working in full cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to voluntarily recall our Multi Reach™ Hand and Floor Vacuum Cleaners,” a statement read from a Bissell spokesperson provided to “Good Morning America.”
“We are asking all consumers to stop using the vacuum immediately, and to visit www.BISSELL.com/recall in which they can learn more about impacted models and steps to receive a free replacement,” concluded the statement.
The products were sold in-store at major retailers including Lowe’s, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Target, Walmart and Best Buy and online at www.bissell.com, www.amazon.com and www.hsn.com.
The retailers did not immediately respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
The release asks consumers to cease use of the vacuums and contact the company “for instructions on how to deplete the charge on the battery and receive a free replacement vacuum.”
Rather than disposing of the recalled lithium batteries in the trash, the release stated to dispose the batteries “in accordance with any local and state laws.”
“These potentially hazardous batteries must be handled differently than other batteries,” states the release, adding “Do not deposit this recalled battery in used battery recycling boxes found at various retail and home improvement stores.”
The specific model numbers impacted by the recall are 1985, 19851 (also called Multi Auto), 19859, 1985T, 2151, 21512, 21513, 21517, 21518, 21519, 2151A, 2151T, 2151W and 2151V.
The release notes consumers can locate their model number on the product rating label behind the dirt tank.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, apologizes to families who have been harmed due to unsafe social media during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Jan. 31, 2024, in Washington. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Chief executive officers of some of the biggest social media companies, from Facebook to Snapchat, were questioned Wednesday in a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill .
Filling the seats behind them were parents, caregivers and loved ones of young people who they say were harmed due to social media use.
In an emotional moment during the hearing, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, turned to them and delivered an apology.
“It’s terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered,” Zuckerberg said while standing and speaking directly to the families, many of whom held up large photos of their loved ones. “And this is why we invest so much and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer.”
In addition to Zuckerberg, the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, which was intended to increase support for federal legislation to safeguard children online, also included testimony from X’s Linda Yaccarino, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew, Snap’s Evan Spiegel and Discord’s Jason Citron.
Each of the five CEOs addressed the families in the room, giving their condolences to people whose children and loved ones died due to factors including suicide and drug overdoses.
“I’m so sorry that we have not been able to prevent these tragedies,” Spiegel said to families whose children died after allegedly purchasing drugs on Snapchat, an issue over which Snap is facing a class action lawsuit.
Here are four questions answered about the hearing and online safety, as parents and caregivers try to navigate both:
1. Why was the hearing held at this time?
The hearing took place as legislators try to drum up support for federal regulation of social media companies around online safety, arguing the companies have not done enough on their own to protect kids.
The hearing also comes as experts continue to ring alarms about the impact of social media on young people.
According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, daily cyber tips of child sexual abuse material online have gone up tenfold in the past 10 years, reaching 100,000 daily reports in 2023. The FBI has said that last year alone, it received over 13,000 reports of online “sextortion.”
Last year, the American Psychological Association issued first-of-its-kind recommendations intended to help teenagers use social media safely, including setting time limits, encouraging family discussions about social media and parental monitoring.
The U.S. Surgeon General last year issued an advisory warning of an urgent public health issue regarding social media usage and youth mental health.
Most social media platforms currently have a minimum user age of 13.
In his opening remarks at Wednesday’s hearing, Zuckerberg pushed back on the link between social media and young people’s negative mental health.
“With so much of our lives spent on mobile devices and social media, it’s important to look into the effects on teen mental health and well-being. I take this very seriously,” Zuckerberg said. “Mental health is a complex issue and the existing body of scientific work has not shown a causal link between using social media and young people having worse mental health outcomes.”
2. Did social media CEOs and legislators reach any consensus?
In short answer, no.
Spiegel, the head of Snapchat, offered his support again on Wednesday for The Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA bill, which aims to remove “harmful ads and posts, such as addiction, eating disorders, and suicide from showing up on children’s accounts,” according to supporters of the bill.
Yaccarino said X was also supportive of KOSA, but Chew, Citron and Zuckerberg didn’t commit to backing the bill in its current form.
Yaccarino said she also supported the SHIELD Act, which would allow criminal prosecution of people who share others’ private images online without consent, and the Stop CSAM Act, a bill to crack down on the proliferation of child sex abuse material. Asked if he supported the CSAM measure, Chew said the spirit of the bill is “in line with what we want to do” and that the company would comply if it became law.
Zuckerberg said he agrees with the “goals” in some of the handful of bills that address online safety, but not the specifics, and touted Meta’s own legislative proposal instead.
Both Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin of Illinois and ranking member Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said the time for Congress to act is now.
Durbin noted Congress’ role in the failure to push federal legislation forward, saying, “The tech industry alone is not to blame for the situation we’re in, those of us in Congress need to look in the mirror.”
Graham said Republicans are “ready to answer the call.”
3. How did parents at the hearing react to the CEOs’ testimony?
Sam Chapman, the father of Sammy, a 16-year-old who died in 2021 after overdosing on a fentanyl-laced pill he allegedly obtained from a person he met on Snapchat, told ABC News he felt Zuckerberg’s apology was “halfhearted.”
“I felt like it was a halfhearted apology … and he didn’t really apologize directly, it was sort of around the corner,” Chapman told ABC News’ Kyra Phillips following Wednesday’s hearing.
South Carolina state Rep. Brandon Guffey, who blames Instagram for the death of his teenage son due to suicide, called Zuckerberg a “liar” after the hearing.
“Your actions speak louder than words,” he told ABC News’ Selina Wang, referencing Zuckerberg’s apology to the families.
Another victim at the hearing, Leah Juliett, said when they were 15, they had no recourse after photos showing their naked body were “disseminated like trading cards” on Facebook Messenger and then uploaded to Facebook.
Juliett described to ABC News what it was like to be in the same room as Zuckerberg Wednesday, saying, “The man who initially exploited my body is currently incarcerated, but the man who allowed my abuse to spread on Facebook was in that hearing room with me moments ago. His name is Mark Zuckerberg.”
4. What can parents and caregivers do to help keep kids safe on social media?
Diana Graber, a digital literacy expert and author of the book Raising Humans in a Digital World, told ABC News that parents do not have to wait for legislators and social media companies to act.
“We are empowered with so many tools to keep our kids safe,” Graber said. “And we can’t sit back and expect technology companies to do that, because that’s not why they’re in business.”
Graber, also the founder of Cyber Civics, a digital literacy curriculum, said her top tip for parents is to at “ground zero” with their child when it comes to social media.
“You want to be with them every step of the way, introducing them to technology that’s developmentally appropriate. Do it with them, be curious with them and be excited with them,” Graber said. “When they turn 13 and they join Instagram or whatever platform, they’re used to having you in their world, and you can be shocked together or curious together.”
She continued, “Then, if and when something bad happens … it’s normal and natural for them to talk to you about it, because you’ve done it with them forever.”
When a child signs up for a social media platform, Graber said the child’s parents or caregivers should sign up too so they can learn and explore the platform together.
Just like with other aspects of family life, Graber said parents should have emergency plans with their kids when it comes to social media too.
“If something bad happens, every kid should know what to do,” Graber said, noting that social media apps have settings that allow users to block people and to report unsettling or unwanted interactions. “Go through your settings and take advantage of what the social media companies will allow you to control.”
She continued, “Really teaching that to teenagers is wonderful because they want that agency, and walking them through the steps of doing that is letting them control their online experience.”
