Consumer confidence in the economy fell to its lowest point in 12 years as worries over gas prices, inflation, and the overall cost of living continue to rise, per a new Conference Board survey.

Consumers mainly cited the ever-growing number at the fuel pump when asked about the main driver (sorry) of economic fears, with the high cost of goods and services as a close second.

Americans’ concerns aren’t without reason. In September alone:

The job market also added to the unease: An economist interviewed by The Wall Street Journal said many “feel jobs are more scarce,” as the share of Americans expecting fewer jobs over the next six months climbed to 28.4%, while just 14% think more jobs will become available.

Not to add to the fears, but… it can always go lower. Consumer confidence has dropped by 40 or more points from current levels in the past, almost always during economic recessions.

Americans are still opening their wallets. At a time when most say prices are too high and they feel much worse about where the economy is heading:

However, there are some signs people are pulling back: On average, purchases of homes and cars fell slightly in the last six months, while planned spending on hotels, movies, flights, and amusement parks also dipped.

/ Why does this matter? The large drop in consumer confidence may lead more Americans to delay big purchases and cut back on “fun” spending. If that pullback spreads, it could lead to slower hiring, fewer hours, and weaker holiday sales, turning what is essentially just consumer anxiety into a bigger economic slowdown.

On the Watchlist: Consumer Financial Stress · ↗ Escalating

The Federal Trade Commission said it opened an investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic, and other major AI companies over the possible dangers their technology poses to consumers.

The investigation comes after an increasingly frequent string of incidents (beginning with the July Hugging Face attack) where AI agents reportedly escaped testing environments, hacked outside systems, and began concealing some of their activity. See a timeline here.

Regulators now want to know if companies understood the risks before releasing or promoting their advanced models to the public:

Can an old dog learn new tricks? That’s the question the FTC wants to answer. The agency’s chairman, Andrew Ferguson, said last week that consumer protection laws have been trying to confront “new questions generated by new technology” and that they’re struggling to adapt to the rapid evolution of AI. That may mean that stricter regulations are on the horizon.

But AI giants just want to regulate themselves: The probe comes just a day after President Trump hosted executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, and others at the White House, where they agreed to voluntarily police their AI systems.

/ Why is this important? At a time when AI has increasingly been going rogue, the investigation could lead to stronger protections around the AI tools people are already using at work, school, and home.

While that may slow the release of some new AI features, it could also reduce the risk of systems making costly mistakes, exposing personal data, or taking actions users never intended.

Track the latest updates on cybersecurity, AI adoption, digital privacy, and more with our Technology index.

🍔 McDonald’s is using AI to see how much you’ll pay for a Big Mac. McDonald’s announced it’s using an AI-powered system that analyzes millions of transactions and estimates what customers around each restaurant are willing to pay, then recommends prices for individual menu items. In one example, Reuters found two McDonald’s locations just two miles apart charging $5.69 and $6.89 for the same Big Mac, although it could not confirm AI caused the difference.

🏗 A massive new steel plant is coming to Iowa. The $15 billion project is expected to become the largest steel mill in the country. The plant, being built by Minnesota-based Mesabi Metallics, is expected to produce 10 million tons of steel a year once fully operational around 2030, using iron ore from a new $2.5 billion mine in Minnesota. The steel would be produced entirely in the US and is expected to lower costs for consumers.

⛽️ Trump administration rolls back fuel-economy rules. The change lowers the projected 2031 standard from 50.4 mpg to 34.9 mpg, giving automakers more room to sell the gas-powered cars and trucks Americans are still buying. Supporters say it could shave about $1,300 off the price of a new vehicle, but critics warn the rollback will mean more fuel use and pollution.

New AI tools launch every day. A few will change how you work. The rest will be forgotten by next month.

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Now you know what part of your colleague’s paycheck is going to. According to a new Deloitte survey, almost 17% of employees said they are paying for AI tools with their own hard-earned cash.

Deloitte surveyed 25,000 UK workers across 22 industries about how they use generative AI on the job, in what it calls the largest single-country study of its kind (read here). The results might make you a bit knackered:

Their bosses don’t know that… as nearly a third of respondents said they use the tech without their employer’s knowledge, while roughly 65% said they have received no formal training on how to use AI safely or effectively.

What are they using it for? Mostly boring stuff. Among those surveyed, 43% use it to search for information, another 43% use it to draft emails, and 31% use it to create summaries. However, Deloitte says most of that saved time simply gets poured back into doing more work for the same employer.

/ Why should you care? The trend could create a new workplace divide between employees who can afford better AI tools and those who can’t. It may also push companies to start formally paying for AI subscriptions and set clearer rules for approved tools.

Follow new developments on AI adoption, AI automation, AI spending, and more with our Technology index.

For the first time ever, scientists have detected radio waves coming directly from a planet beyond our solar system. And before you ask, no, it’s not aliens.

The research hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet, so the signals are not technically considered evidence of extraterrestrial communication (at least by the scientific community).

Instead, researchers think the radio waves were generated by an exceptionally strong magnetic field around Beta Pictoris b, a gas giant roughly 63 light-years away from Earth.

What makes it so powerful? Scientists aren’t entirely sure. The leading theory is that the planet’s young age (only about 25 million years old) means its interior is still hot and energetic enough to generate an unusually strong magnetic field, which is roughly 300 times stronger than Jupiter’s.

That makes it a suitable candidate to support life: While Beta Pictoris b itself is a rocky gas giant, its abnormally strong magnetic field gives it unparalleled protection from radiation and solar winds. See which other planets scientists think are the best for (potentially) hosting human life here.

/ Why is this important? The signals could improve how scientists search for planets that might actually support life, helping researchers focus expensive telescope time on planets that not only sit in the right temperature zone, but also have the magnetic protection needed to preserve their atmospheres.

See what's changed, recent data, what we're watching next, and every other major story that affects you on our Watchlist.

> New gene-edited bananas designed to resist browning just cleared a major UK regulatory hurdle and could help prevent some of the roughly 20% of banana yields currently lost to browning.

> Researchers found that humans’ reaction time was 41 milliseconds faster while exhaling than while inhaling, suggesting the link between the brain and lungs is deeper than once thought.

> The Trump administration released an AI chatbot to help Americans handle most government tasks (like passport renewal or Medicare enrollment) through a single conversational website. Try it out here.

> Paleontologists have discovered an “anatomically bizarre” dinosaur with 3-foot claws and 77 tightly packed teeth that looked terrifying… but was most likely vegetarian.

> MIT engineers have built a paper-thin robot powered by living muscle cells, allowing it to swim, turn, and navigate a watery maze simply by following flashes of light.