AI is helping gas stations collude to raise California fuel prices, lawsuit says

AI-powered software has allowed gas station operators across California to illegally collude and drive up prices at the pump, according to a federal lawsuit.

The proposed class action lawsuit, filed Monday, accuses gas station giants including Marathon and Circle K of violating California’s antitrust law through Kalibrate, a fuel-pricing software system used across the world. The plaintiffs describe Kalibrate as the “central nervous system for a conspiracy to extinguish retail price competition among gas stations.”

According to the lawsuit, Kalibrate helps “coordinate high prices” and even discourages its users from pricing their gas lower than competitors, saying that doing so would trigger a “downward spiral.”

“Kalibrate promises that if gas stations surrender their pricing decisions and competitively sensitive cost and volume data to Kalibrate Fuel Pricing, the software will enable them to avoid competing with other area stations and to charge higher prices to consumers,” the lawsuit said.

Websites suggest conspiracies fed accused Montreal gunman’s ‘buffet extremism’

Online activity suggests accused Montreal shooter Seth Hatfield watched videos about weapons, the outdoors and a tangle of conspiracy theories and grievances.

However, experts warn against drawing conclusions about the gunman. They also urge people to stop sharing online images of Monday's shooting outside a Montreal hotel.

Police said two officers were shot — Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, 34, was killed along with a bystander, Michel Mizrahi, 68, and the shooter died in the crossfire.

The coroner identified the dead suspect as 25-year-old Seth Hatfield from Lethbridge, Alta.

Charlie Brown’s longtime pen pal is finally revealed in new Apple TV ‘Peanuts’ movie

Charlie Brown began writing to a pen pal not long after the comic strip “Peanuts” debuted in newspapers back in 1950. No one has gotten a look at whoever was on the other end of his letters — until now.

AI is an energy and water hog, here’s what you can do to counter that

As the world tries to curb human-caused climate change and not run dry of water, every online query is increasing our environmental footprint and exacerbating the problem.

Hockey Night in Canada: A cultural tradition forever changed

When the puck drops this fall on the National Hockey League’s 2026-27 season, for the first time in nearly three-quarters of a century there will be no games available on CBC. Hockey Night in Canada, as Canadian sports fans have known it for generations, has ceased to be.

What is the 2026 song of the summer? AP offers some predictions

NEW YORK (AP) — What is 2026's song of the summer?

There's no easy answer. Algorithmic division is certainly a factor in why there isn't an obvious pick this year. Where have the songs like “Despacito” in 2017 or “Old Town Road” in 2019 gone? Last year, some even wondered if Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” — a ballad, not a banger — qualified, a departure from the usual up-tempo, feel-good hits.

Whatever your summer mood or flavor, The Associated Press has found a song to soundtrack the season, collected in a Spotify playlist.

Biggest song of the year and therefore the default song of the summer: “Choosin’ Texas,” Ella Langley

Top developers are pivoting from chatbots to physical AI

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Computer scientist Louis Castricato was in his eighth year studying large language models — the artificial intelligence technology behind chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude — when he started to feel like he was hitting a dead end.

“We basically have passed the point of doing real fundamental LLM research," Castricato said. “Now it’s just applications.”

The researcher quit his doctoral studies at Brown University and started a new company, called Overworld. Its ambition is in its name: AI that can understand and navigate a world, not just words.

There's still plenty of money to be made from AI chatbots — investors are counting on it as they commit trillions of dollars to leading developers like Anthropic and OpenAI. But a growing number of AI entrepreneurs are dedicating themselves to what they see as the next frontier: “world models” that teach AI systems, and sometimes robots, how to react in a physical environment.

One Extraordinary Photo: What it takes for inclement weather to become the news of the match

PHILDELPHIA (AP) — Derik Hamilton is a freelance photographer for The Associated Press. He has worked with AP for 15 years covering sports events in the Philadelphia area.

Why this photo?

I shot this to photo to highlight the extent of extremely heavy downpours that dellayed Monday's France-Iraq match. Weather delays are rare in World Cup play and this photo shows the intensity of the rain and a different side to the world's “beautiful game.”

How I made this photo

Supreme Court kills suit claiming Cisco’s technology helped China persecute Falun Gong members

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted tech giant Cisco’s bid to shut down a lawsuit claiming that the company’s technology was used to persecute members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in China.

The justices ruled that American courts are the wrong forum for the suits, rejecting arguments made by the plaintiffs that the suits should go forward under the 18th-century Alien Tort Statute (ATS) and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), first enacted in 1991.

The decision was the latest to rule against plaintiffs seeking to use U.S. courts as a venue to seek justice over the acts of foreign governments, especially those that took place abroad.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in her majority opinion that the justices “close the door” that the court slightly opened in 2004 when it suggested that some human-rights claims might be viable under the ATS. “In truth, this class is a null set,” Barrett wrote, while acknowledging such cases “frequently involve heinous and inhumane acts.”

Philippines temporarily blocks gaming app used by suspect in deadly school shooting

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine authorities said Tuesday they will temporarily block an online gaming app that one of two students blamed for a deadly school shooting has avidly used, to assess whether it played a role in fostering such violence.

Three students were killed and 20 others were wounded when the two suspects, aged 14 and 15 and armed with a handgun each, opened fire Monday at the San Jose National High School in central Tacloban city.

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said its decision to block Gorebox was prompted by an ongoing police investigation which showed that one suspect was an avid user of the app, adding that this will allow authorities to determine “whether the platform played any role in the actions of the suspects.”

The decision would be enforced starting Tuesday, undersecretary Aboy Paraiso of the cybercrime center said in a statement.

40 mayors worldwide endorse a pact to shape data center development

Forty mayors from around the world have signed onto a pact announced Tuesday to try to shape how urban data centers are built and operated.

It's their vision for how urban data center development can be done sustainably — and not at the expense of their cities' natural resources, energy prices or climate targets. C40 Cities, an alliance of nearly 100 cities seeking to impact climate change, launched it during London Climate Action Week.

Many new data centers are coming to rural areas for cheap land. Experts at C40 say metropolitan areas are under tremendous pressure too, with about 1,700 data centers located in their network of cities so far. Development of data centers is expected to grow by over 40% in 50 of those cities.

C40 got involved because the mayors of Phoenix and Melbourne, Australia, came together over worries about data centers using a lot of their cities' electricity and water, and competing with housing developers for available land.

AI companies should release environmental impact, commit to clean energy, says UN chief

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday called on artificial intelligence companies to release information about the carbon pollution they create, along with the water and land used to power their operations.

While urging action in an address at London Climate Action Week, Guterres proposed the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, arguing AI companies should measure and disclose the impact of their increasingly in-demand technology — impact which has been cited by opponents as reasons to curb the rapid growth of data centers. These companies have faced mounting pressure, both from governments and locally in areas with data centers that support AI, for increased transparency and more standardized reporting across the industry.

Guterres said AI companies should also commit to powering their facilities with electricity produced with renewable technologies, such as wind and solar, by 2030.

“No more hidden costs,” Guterres said at Europe’s largest independent climate conference. “No more shifting the burden onto those least able to bear it. It is time to come clean.”

AI chatbots hit the dating scene, becoming the lovelorn’s modern-day Cyrano

Marie Lansley recently started a new job in a new city while searching for a new partner. In her dating pursuits, the freshly minted San Franciscan said she’s been “trying everything”— including some help from artificial intelligence.

AI chatbots have become — for her and many others — de facto dating coaches and relationship experts.

Lansley, 36, consults AI chatbots for help in starting conversations, something she said she finds difficult on dating apps despite being comfortable doing so in person. Although she’s optimistic about the possibilities, she acknowledges the incongruency between the art of romance and the precision of technology.

“I am open to AI finding me the love of my life, but I’m also not fully convinced that it can,” Lansley said. “AI is great at making dating more efficient. But the chemistry — that’s always going to be analog.”

AI safety advocates say bill a good ‘first step’ on regulation, but more needed

The federal government’s proposed online safety legislation is a good start on regulating artificial intelligence chatbots — but more work will be needed to protect Canadians from their potential harms, a pair of advocates say.

Bill C-34, introduced earlier this month in the House of Commons, would regulate the companies behind AI chatbots by imposing on them a duty to act “responsibly.”

It includes measures to lower the risk of chatbots communicating harmful content and would put in place crisis intervention protocols for cases involving self-harm, suicide or violence.

Wyatt Tessari L’Allié, founder of Artificial Intelligence Governance and Safety Canada, said the bill’s effectiveness depends on how the details are worked out.

Stopping AI ‘slop shots’ in modern politics

Welcome to the new frontier of AI campaign advertising. It is real, even if the content it produces is not.

How Canada can continue to lead on news policy

As a proud Dane, I have long admired the warm relations and respect between my country and our close, like-minded friends in Canada.

At the end of the Second World War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill wanted to stop the Red Army’s westward advance. The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was sent to do the job. Canadian troops encountered the Red Army in Wismar, located on Germany’s Baltic coast. The Canadians effectively blocked a Soviet advance into the Kingdom of Denmark — while that was long ago, it will never be forgotten.

We share a 3,000 km border, which has not been without controversy, but the issue has always been based on good humour and friendship. From 1973 to 2022, we “fought” over Hans Island, which is located between Ellesmere Island and Greenland and measures just 1.2 square kilometres. We were, however, able to resolve the dispute not with weapons, but with whiskey.

For many years, I was CEO of JP/Politiken Media Group, one of the largest media companies in the Nordics. As the employer of 3,000 people, I had a responsibility to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Danish news media ecosystem. Now, as CEO of WAN-IFRA (World Association of News Publishers), that responsibility is global, and it is one I take very seriously.

What prediction market trading is and why it’s gaining popularity

Financial services company Wealthsimple announced Thursday that it will start offering a new form of investment based on real-world events.

The product is called prediction market trading and it's gaining increasing popularity around the world.

Here's a breakdown of how it works, what's driving its growth and what investors should beware of.

What are prediction markets?

Vehicle repair assistance startup creates practical, community-minded solution to real problem: Manitoba Innovates CEO

A mechanic fixed James Penner’s automobile last month in Ontario, but a Manitoba-made app connected him to the service.

When Penner’s vehicle needed a jump start after work, the Brampton, Ont., resident called his insurance provider’s roadside service program. They told him it would take more than two hours for help to arrive. It was late, so while he waited, Penner went online to search for alternatives.

That’s when he found Road Ally, a roadside assistance app that connects users to nearby mechanics.

Penner downloaded the app, requested help and received a quote for the job. A mechanic called to confirm an estimated time of arrival, Penner paid for the job via the app and the mechanic arrived shortly thereafter.

Sea Bears’ hype guy Kosyuga is the man behind the light-up shades

He jumps through the crowd with light-up sunglasses, displaying the message “Go Sea Bears Go” while his suit reacts to the fans’ cheers and the team’s advances.

Anton Kosyuga — the man behind the shades — has been prancing around Winnipeg’s sports centres since 2022.

“Everything was a complete accident. [I] never expected to be in the sports industry in general,” Kosyuga said.

Growing up, Kosyuga was never an athlete himself, but always on the sidelines cheering on his friends, front and centre.

AI threatens relationship between writers, readers

If an author is not who they say they are, if their work does not spring from human experience and creativity, then how can there be any authentic relationship between the writer and reader?