BUSINESS

If you thought gasoline prices were moving higher this week, you’d be right. But why there were upward pressures on prices may surprise you.It’s true that prices in the United States had fallen about 17% to under $3.80 nationally from their mid-May peaks into the Fourth of July holiday, and the big reason for the decline was that the United States and Iran seemed interested in bringing their conflict to a halt.That stopped when Iranian drones hit a series of tankers trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump Administration promptly retaliated, and President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire, signed on June 17, dead. Related: As Middle East tensions explode, oil and gas prices resetSo, prices moved up. GasBuddy’s price was $3.853 per gallon on July 10, up 3.6% since bottoming on July 5. The price was down 15.6% from its May 20 peak — but still up nearly 37% for the year.AAA’s national average on July 10 was $3.884, up 2.1% from the July 5 low and also up nearly 37% in 2026. The price increases came even as the Trump Administration vaguely threatened gas station operators if they didn’t start cutting prices.Possible new peace talks trim oil gains Crude oil, meanwhile, jumped a combined 7.3% on July 7 and 8 before slipping back to $75.22 per 42-gallon barrel on July 10. The price decline came as White House said July 10 that Iran and the United States will start to talk again about a permanent peace. But the U.S. won’t adhere to a ceasefire. Axios said a new round of talks may start next week, “possibly in Switzerland.”Nonetheless, crude oil was up 4.3% for the week, according to Wall Street Journal data.More Oil & Gas:The Meta Effect, Semis Surge, Wall Street Says, ‘What War?’JPMorgan resets oil price target for rest of 2026Boockvar on Oil, Commodity Stockpiling, SushiAnother war affects oil pricesBut a second issue is now adding to the pressures on oil prices and motor-fuel prices. Ukraine’s recent drone attacks on Russian oil refineries have been so successful that they have triggered a widespread fuel crisis in Russia. Gasoline shortages and rationing in multiple regions have forced motorists to wait for hours to fill their tanks.If there is any fuel available.That’s an astonishing situation given that Russia has 80 billion barrels of proved oil reserves, 9th most in the world.The drone attacks have damaged refineries outside Moscow, Russia’s capital. Two drones set two oil tankers ablaze in the Sea of Azov, a small body of water just north of the Black Sea.

Smoke rises from a Ukraine drone attack on a Moscow, Russia, oil refinery. Getty ImagesAFP via Getty Images

Another drone attack in the last week even hit a refinery in Omsk, in western Siberia. Omsk is 2,240 kilometers east of Moscow. That’s about 1,400 miles, the distance from New York to Dallas, Texas. The situation is so bad that Russia is now importing refined gasoline from India, Jeff Currie, a senior advisor to the Carlyle Group, told CNBC on July 10. Russia’s economy has proved to be vulnerable to refinery attacks, Currie said. Its refineries and the pipelines servicing them were developed during the Soviet era. Each refinery gets its oil from a sole pipeline. So, if a pipeline is broken to refinery, supply can’t be rerouted, Currie added.The result is the shortages not seen in the United States since the 1970s.Related: Starbucks tries something it failed at before

The year 2026 wasn’t supposed to be like this for OpenAI.The company was finally set to go public after years of waiting amid an AI boom that was only going to accelerate as the technology matured, placing the most popular AI company at the forefront of a global revolution.But it hasn’t quite happened that way. OpenAI reportedly delayed its initial public offering to 2027 due to concerns about dwindling market enthusiasm and increased competition from rivals like Anthropic, whose Claude AI assistant has been gaining popularity.But perhaps the most concerning development has been the exodus of C-suite-level talent from the company in recent months. In April, OpenAI saw three top executives leave in one day, Business Insider reported. Kevin Weil, who headed the company’s scientific research efforts after serving as chief product officer; Bill Peebles, who headed its now-defunct video app Sora; and Srinivas Narayanan, its chief technology officer for business-to-business applications, all said goodbye.This week, the company lost another executive when Fidji Simo, its number-two executive, told OpenAI she was also leaving.OpenAI loses top lieutenant after extended medical leaveIn an internal note to staff, viewed by The Wall Street Journal, Simo told colleagues she is leaving OpenAI.According to the note, Simo, who had been away from her full-time role due to an extended medical leave, is stepping away because her medical condition has worsened and her road to recovery will be much longer than originally anticipated. Simo has reportedly been battling a chronic neuroimmune condition called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome since 2019. She will continue as a part-time adviser to the company, but she is officially stepping down as CEO Sam Altman’s right hand. She announced that she was taking medical leave in April after telling staff that her condition had worsened.Simo joined the company last August to take a role that would free up Sam Altman from the day-to-day minutiae of running the nearly trillion-dollar company. Her duties included overseeing the chief financial officer and chief revenue officer, and leading OpenAI’s product and business divisions. Her departure in April “created a leadership vacuum at the time, raising questions among investors and employees about the future direction of the company,” the Journal reported.“This has been one of the hardest decisions of my career, but my body left me no choice —my symptoms became as loud as I am stubborn,” she said in the internal note.While her condition is clearly out of her control, the timing could not be worse for OpenAI. Anthropic has surpassed OpenAI’s valuation for the first time as enterprise customers seem to prefer the former’s product over OpenAI’s at this early stage in the game.

Fidji Simo is stepping down from her role as Sam Altman’s top lieutenant. Bloomberg / Getty Images

OpenAI receives $520 million credit line from Bank of AmericaThis week, Reuters reported that Bank of America has extended a $520 million credit line to OpenAI ahead of its IPO. While this is the first time BofA has extended a loan to the company, the credit line makes the bank one of OpenAI’s largest lenders. A source told Reuters that Bank of America is eyeing advisory roles on the planned IPOs of both OpenAI and Anthropic.OpenAI is targeting a valuation of more than $1 trillion, according to reports, though the company did not disclose the size or terms of its public debut in its confidentially filed IPO application last month. It that report is true, OpenAI would immediately become one of the top-15 most-valuable companies in the world, right behind Berkshire Hathaway.Anthropic also confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO last month, just weeks after it raised $65 billion in a funding round that valued the company at $965 billion. Earlier this year, OpenAI said it raised $110 billion from technology heavy hitters including SoftBank, Amazon, and Nvidia at an $840 billion valuation.Earlier this year, Moby reported that OpenAI generated net revenue of $13.1 billion in 2025 while incurring a net loss of $38.5 billion, though it cited Ed Zitron, the reporter who broke the news, adding the caveat that OpenAI converted from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity last year. That led to a nearly $42 billion loss, due to changes in the fair value of convertible interests and warrant liability.In other words, all early investor IOUs that later converted into equity became debt on the books. That debt spiked, along with OpenAI’s value.Still, OpenAI reportedly only lost $5 billion in 2024.Related: Your wallet is being put in danger by OpenAI

America’s most decorated volleyball champion suggests talent wins matches, but talent plus culture wins Olympic medals.

With prices rising, budgets tightening, and increased job security fears, Americans have become cautious about where they buy their groceries.How people actually feel was captured by the Food Industry Association’s (FMI) June Grocery Shopper Snapshot. Some of the data from the survey of 1,516 grocery shoppers includes:By a margin of 2 to 1, Americans say they are worse off, as opposed to better off, than they were one year ago with respect to their household finances. Only 26% of shoppers say they are living comfortably and can save money. Macroeconomic issues are weighing on shoppers as concerns about inflation (71% very or extremely) and the overall U.S. economy (66%) reached new highs.The job market is a concern for nearly half of grocery shoppers (49%). Gas prices have also forced people to make changes.”Americans’ concerns about gas prices spiked in the past six months, from 43% very or extremely concerned in December to 69% this month.  A similar proportion of grocery shoppers (70%) say their spending on gas has increased in the first half of 2026,” FMI reported.Against that backdrop, some clear winners have emerged in the grocery space, with one group of shoppers picking Costco, while two others opted for Walmart.Costco and Walmart top new grocery surveyCostco was the grocery retailer where the largest share of higher-income Americans reported doing most of their grocery shopping, according to a recent YouGov survey.”Eleven percent of respondents earning at least $150,000 a year said Costco was their primary grocery store. Fourteen percent selected “other,” while Kroger followed at 10% and Walmart Supercenter at 8%,” the survey showed,The warehouse retailer, known for its bulk goods and discounted prices, topped the rankings despite requiring shoppers to pay an annual membership fee.California-based food industry analyst Phil Lempert explained to Fox News Digital why Costco was winning over these customers.”Wealthier households typically are larger households,” he said. “So it fits perfectly with the model of Costco having larger sizes. Also, wealthier people shop more often, and what they want is value. One of the reasons they have more money is that they’re frugal.”Just because a household has money does not mean its members shop at the priciest chains.More Costco:Costco made several changes to get members to its warehouses moreCostco drops a surprising new exclusive snackCostco solves major frustration for members”Even though the hype says that these wealthier shoppers are going to the Erewhons and the Whole Foods of the world, not necessarily,” Lempert said.Taken together, the FMI and YouGov surveys suggest consumers aren’t simply looking for lower prices. They’re concentrating more of their grocery spending at retailers that deliver the strongest overall value, even if shopping there requires paying an annual membership fee.YouGov’s data is drawn from responses collected between June 2025 and June 2026, using a 52-week dataset updated weekly. Data is nationally representative of adults (18+) in the US and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race.

Costco sells bulk items and offers a limited selection.Shutterstock

Shoppers have changed how they buy groceries”The U.S. grocery sector grew in 2025, but growth was not volume-led. Grocery sales increased 1.2%, driven by price increases of 2.2%, while volume declined. The market grew in dollars, but shoppers bought fewer units,” according to McKinsey’s The State of Grocery North America 2026, released on June 17.McKinsey’s reporting showed that shopping habits have changed.”Consumers are no longer shopping one way for all needs but splitting trips across value stock-ups, fresh and prepared-food occasions, convenience-led delivery, wellness-driven baskets, and fill-in missions. National players continue to benefit from scale, value, innovation, and digital capabilities, while regional players remain powerful where they have distinctive fresh, prepared, and in-store propositions,” the consultancy wrote.Consumers, the report noted, are looking at value in a different way.”That represents the central shift in North American grocery: Advantage is moving from individual levers to connected systems. Value now depends on the connection between pricing, key value items, promotions, loyalty, personalization, and private brands,” McKinsey added. Shoppers make value-based choicesAs the person who cooks the most in my household, I remain a Fresh Market shopper, but I do look at what’s on sale when I walk into the store. And, while I have picked a pricier chain, I’m generally opting for something, at least the main protein I buy for the meal I’m cooking, to be discounted.Gas prices have played a role in changing supermarket habits, as noted above, and a March survey from Snipp backed that up.”Over 31% respondents said gas price increases have significantly or extremely impacted their household budget. Only 13% said they felt no impact at all. More telling: 66.4% have already changed their overall spending habits as a direct result with 20.6% making significant changes and 45.8% making moderate ones,” the data showed.This is not a low-income phenomenon. “The breadth of impact across the full income distribution means the pressure is showing up in household budgets everywhere,” according to Snipp.People are spending more while also cutting back.”A counterintuitive but important finding: 37.6% of shoppers report their weekly grocery spend has increased compared to three months ago, yet simultaneously, the majority are actively cutting back. The explanation: grocery prices are rising faster than shoppers can compensate through behavior change, so many are spending more while still trying to spend less,” Snipp added.Related: Costco quietly makes a key credit card change

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.There’s still plenty of time left to enjoy your summer break, but it’s never too early to start checking off those items on your back-to-school shopping list. Whether you’re leaving home for the very first time and heading off to college dorms, or you’re a parent shopping for your children’s school supplies, starting early means scoring the best products with the biggest discounts before they inevitably sell out. From dorm room appliances and noise-canceling headphones to stylish backpacks and first-day-of-school outfits, back-to-school shopping can quickly add up. Walmart is helping shoppers save on these purchases with its School Savings and College Savings shops, which have deep discounts on the products students need. Out of all the purchases you’ll make to prepare for the upcoming school year, the most costly will be a laptop. Not every student needs a personal computer, except for most incoming college freshmen. Still, depending on the number of assignments your high schooler has in store, you might want them to have their own device so they’re not hogging the family laptop. For the best laptops at the lowest prices, we suggest checking out Walmart’s School Tech Deals section, where you can narrow your search to just laptops.Back-to-school laptop deals at Walmart for under $200If affordability is your main concern, Walmart has two bestselling options that are on sale for under $200. Now discounted to $199, the Asus Chromebook CX15 Laptop has a spacious 15.6-inch screen display and a full numerical keyboard, which is extra-handy if you’re a mathematics or accounting major who needs to crunch numbers regularly. We also love that it has a 13-hour battery life, so you won’t need to stop for a charge in between classes. Chromebooks, like this one, run on ChromeOS, Google’s operating system, so they come built-in with the software you’ll need to complete assignments, like Google Docs and Google Sheets.For those who prefer using a computer running on Windows, the HP 14-Inch HD Windows Laptop with a 128-gigabyte (GB) hard drive capacity is on sale for just $189. It has a smaller 14-Inch screen and lacks the numerical keyboard of the Chromebook, but it does offer a free one-year subscription to Microsoft 365. The subscription normally costs $100 annually and provides access to popular productivity apps like Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You’ll also get 1 terabyte of free cloud storage, so you won’t have to worry about too many photos, videos, or documents slowing down your hard drive.Asus Chromebook CX15 Laptop

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Check price at WalmartHP 14-Inch HD Windows Laptop

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Check price at WalmartMore back-to-school laptop deals at WalmartThe most affordable laptops are typically best suited for just the basic tasks, like typing up essays, attending virtual classrooms, and researching articles on the web. After a few years, budget-friendly laptops will require maintenance, like clearing out the old files and web caches, as well as running updates to optimize their performance and prevent lag. This is true for all computers, as they slow down as more space is used up, but if you get something with a larger storage capacity, it will stay speedy for longer. Mid-tier laptops are a better bet if you don’t want to worry about getting bogged down by a slow computer in a year or two, like the HP Stream 14-Inch HD BrightView Laptop, which is currently on sale for $359. The HP AMD Athlon Silver 14-inch Windows Laptop is also a solid choice, and it’s 54% off.HP Stream 14-Inch HD BrightView Laptop

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Check price at WalmartHP AMD Athlon Silver 14-inch Windows Laptop

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Check price at WalmartStudents studying computer science, graphic design, or video editing will require a laptop with more RAM and hard drive space. A computer with the specifications to smoothly perform more advanced tasks comes with a higher price tag. In general, you’ll want a minimum of 16 GB for these tasks, compared to the 4 GB that most basic computers come with. Walmart has multiple Lenovo laptops equipped with 16 GB of RAM that are $100 off. The HP OmniBook 5 16-Inch Laptop has a similar configuration, and it’s discounted by over $200. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 15-Inch Touchscreen Laptop

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Check price at WalmartLenovo V15 G4 AMD Ryzen 15.6-Inch FHD Laptop

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Check price at WalmartHP OmniBook 5 16-Inch Laptop

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Check price at WalmartAnother option is gaming laptops, like the Omen Max 16-Inch Gaming Laptop, which are designed to run and process large files quickly. The Omen Max comes with a steep $3,800 price tag, but it’s currently discounted to $2,500 — that’s savings of $1,300. The Acer Nitro V 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop is also a popular option, but it’s much more affordable while it’s on sale for $919.Omen Max 16-Inch Gaming Laptop

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Check price at WalmartAcer Nitro V 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop

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Check price at WalmartTheStreet Shopping is your guide for shopping insights and advice. We look beyond the price tag to find the best value in home, tech, and wellness gear based on product features and real-world use. Read more about our Editorial Standards and How We Choose Our Shopping Deals.

Looking for today’s NYT Connections hints? Some help and the answers for today’s game are right here to help keep your streak alive.

Slopsquatting represents an emerging supply chain threat made possible by AI hallucinations. As developers increasingly rely on AI coding assistants, they unknowingly grant cybercriminals access to their software from day one. Understanding what slopsquatting isSlopsquatting is a new type of supply chain attack that uses large language model (LLM) hallucinations to inject malicious code into development workflows. The term combines “AI slop” and “typosquatting,” a deceptive practice where attackers register misspelled or lookalike versions of popular domains to prey on users who enter URLs incorrectly.This novel attack vector exploits LLMs’ tendency to generate fictitious software package names, which threat actors can then register and populate with malicious code.During AI-assisted coding, the model may generate fake open-source packages — bundled collections of files, programs and installation tools. This alone is not necessarily harmful. However, if an attacker registers that fake package name, they can inject malware that gets incorporated directly into a developer’s codebase.How AI creates a supply chain riskTraditionally, AI safety risks stem from hallucinations, which can adversely affect users who treat misinformation as valid. However, those same hallucinations have evolved into exploitable security vulnerabilities.Typosquatting is a deceptive practice where a cybercriminal registers a mispelled version of a popular package to trick developers. It has existed for decades, so registries have built protections against it. However, AI has changed the threat model. It recommends fictitious packages that sound plausible rather than making simple misspellings. Once attackers learn which hallucinated packages models tend to invent, they can register malware-filled packages under those names.Since the hallucinated packages are not simply typoed versions of popular libraries, there are no protections against this practice at scale. For example, the registry protects against an attacker publishing “crossenv,” a squat of the popular “cross-env” package. However, it would not identify “mpn install cross-env file” or “cross-env-extended” as threats.Hallucinations are persistent and severeEven if many LLMs recommend the same hallucinated package, widespread compromise is still possible. Malicious packages could remain undetected in production for months or even years, allowing threat actors to passively inject malware across countless environments. One research team analyzed 31,267 vulnerabilities belonging to 14,675 packages across 10 programming languages. They discovered that reported vulnerabilities are increasing at an annual rate of 98%, faster growth than the 25% annual increase in the number of open-source software packages. The team also observed an 85% increase in the average lifespan of vulnerabilities, indicating a decline in security.Real-world dangers of AI hallucinationsMalicious actors can create open-access packages under the same name as commonly hallucinated libraries. Instead of standard code, they are filled with malware. The models believe they are referring to existing packages, so they often repeat the same hallucinated names. Since the hallucinations are not random, attackers could theoretically register packages that trick tens of thousands of developers.These packages appear legitimate. String similarity to real libraries makes them recognizable. One-character typos suggest simple mistakes rather than malicious intent. Even fully fabricated names remain believable when the AI presents them in proper context. Detection is challenging, as developers trust their coding assistants to recommend valid dependencies.Why are LLMs hallucinating packages?LLMs generate the statistically most likely answer rather than prioritizing accuracy. Hallucinations are relatively common as a result. One study found hallucination rates range from 50% to 82%, depending on the model and prompting method. Even GPT-4o, the best-performing model, goes no lower than 23%, even with prompt-based mitigation.Adversarial hallucination attacks could worsen this problem. Threat actors can leverage token-level manipulation or retrieval poisoning to force models to hallucinate in ways they want, increasing the likelihood that models recommend their malicious packages.Which LLMs are prone to slopsquatting?While all LLMs are prone to slopsquatting, some are more vulnerable than others. The likelihood of producing hallucinated packages during code generation depends on the model. Proprietary models are four times less likely to generate hallucinated packages than open-source models.One research group proved this by conducting 30 tests across 30 different systems. Out of the 576,000 code samples and 2.23 million packages it produced, 19.7% were hallucinations. GPT-4.0 Turbo had a hallucination rate of 3.59%, while DeepSeek 1B, the best-performing open-source model, reached 13.63%.This research suggests that organizations relying on open-source AI tools for code generation are roughly four times more exposed to slopsquatting attacks. That doesn’t necessarily mean proprietary tools will always remain safer, though. Once attackers realize this disparity, they may manipulate proprietary LLMs to take advantage of perceived safety.Vibe coding contributes to the problemSoftware developers who use AI tools estimate that over 40 percent of the code they commit includes AI assistance. They expect that percentage will increase considerably within the next few years. Already, 72% of those who have tried AI use it daily.The uptick in vibe coding and AI-assisted coding amplifies the threat surface. As more developers integrate AI tools into their workflows without implementing proper verification processes, the attack surface for slopsquatting continues to expand.For those using AI to assist with coding, double-checking output is essential. Verifying that recommended packages actually exist in official repositories before incorporating them into projects reduces risk.Navigating AI-assisted developmentImplementing automated checks that validate package names against known registries can help catch hallucinated packages before they enter production code. Security teams should also monitor for unusual package installations and maintain up-to-date threat intelligence on known slopsquatting campaigns.Zac Amos is the Features Editor at ReHack.

Bonzo Lend lost approximately $9.05 million after an attacker exploited a verification flaw in a third-party Supra oracle contract on the Hedera network.

Noskova will take home approximately $4.8 million, while Muchova earned $2.4 million after losing her second major final.

Life gets busy. Between my work, hobbies, family time, and spending time with friends, I barely have time to remember to eat.Which is why online grocery shopping is such a convenience. Not just for me, but for many other Americans.But while it might be easy to get on Amazon and order groceries along with pretty much anything else you need, it seems that the online tech giant isn’t as popular for deliveries as it might seem.At least, not when it comes to grocery shopping.The changing landscape of deliveries Grocery shopping has changed rapidly in recent years. You no longer have to go in person to the store to get your favorite bag of chips and something for dinner.In many cases, you can order on an app and get your food delivered to you in such a few hours.And more Americans are taking advantage, according to a study from Coresight Research.The annual report found that home delivery is the most significant way that Americans get groceries, Supermarket News reported. According to the Coresight survey, 56.3% of Americans have purchased groceries online, after a two year decline.The increase in popularity is likely due to more delivery options and convenience, as more supermarkets offer more online shipping and curbside pick up options.And while Amazon has long been pushing its fresh grocery service, it’s not the most popular way to get produce.

While curbside still remains popular, direct deliveries are becoming more common for fresh groceries. Getty Images

Amazon no longer number oneThe Coresight survey found that Walmart is the most used online retailer for grocery delivery, with 59.2% of shoppers using the retailer.Amazon ranked second at 45.1%, while Target, Costco, and Kroger followed, Supermarket News reported.  The increase in delivery has increased fulfilment costs, the report said, with retailers needing to rely more heavily on technology like AI. DETAILSGrocery stores investing in AIThe number of grocery stores using AI rose to a staggering 68% in 2026, according to a survey from FMI the Food Industry Association,  Grocery Dive reported.Walmart has also expanded its use of AI, with key investments in its agentic shopping assistant Sparky.Meanwhile Albertsons is using AI to combat food waste, TheStreet reported.The Coresight study found that more people were also getting deliveries instead of curbside pickup since the research firm started keeping track. Two-thirds of online grocery shoppers using delivery, compared to one-third that pickuped their orders.This is likely due to more subscription services and the rise of rapid fulfilment.More retailWalmart, Albertsons, other retailers accused of inflating gas pricesFeds allege your expensive grocery store eggs were riggedSprouts takes on rival Whole Foods with this key moveThe survey found that 37.9% of U.S. consumers used rapid delivery (which includes same-day delivery or delivery in under two hours) for their online grocery shopping in the last 12 months, according to Progressive Grocer.In other words, what was once a niche perk in a few key cities is rapidly becoming the norm nationwide. Amazon has even broadened its same-day network and launched a 30-minute delivery service to keep up with demand, TheStreet reported.Related: Bank of America argues Amazon retail rival is major AI winner