Meta pledged tens of millions of dollars through a new super political action committee to fight state politicians across the country that it sees as insufficiently supportive of the artificial intelligence industry, as the tech giant wades deeper into politics. The new super PAC, the American Technology Excellence Project, was the second unveiled by Meta in the last month. The company previously announced a super PAC called Meta California that is focused on AI policy proposals in California. The company said Tuesday that it would spend “tens of millions” of dollars initially on the two groups, declining to be more specific. “We need state legislators who will champion our tech future, not cede it to global adversaries,” Brian Baker, a Republican strategist who is coleading the new PAC, said in a statement. Meta, Google, Apple, OpenAI, and other tech giants have been investing billions of dollars into developing AI, in a fierce contest to take leadership of the powerful technology and to keep ahead of rivals in China. At a dinner with President Trump this month, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, said his company would spend $600 billion to build data centers to power the technology. Meta’s new super PACs reflect a more aggressive posture from the company in campaigns and elections. Meta previously mainly maintained a relatively small, federal PAC that was limited in how much it could spend, along with backing some nonprofit groups that engaged in political campaigns. With its new moves, Meta is likely to be one of the largest spenders in the 2026 midterm elections. The AI industry has been preparing for political combat in the midterms. Last month, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Greg Brockman, a cofounder of OpenAI, pledged $100 million to a super PAC of their own focused on AI policy. Meta’s new PAC will be led by Baker, who has emerged as a top adviser to Zuckerberg, and Hilltop Public Solutions, a Democratic consulting firm. — NEW YORK TIMES
ENTERTAINMENT
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Disney is raising streaming prices to as much as $19 a month
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Walt Disney Co. is hiking the cost of its flagship Disney+ streaming service without advertising by $3 to $19 a month. The cost of a plan with ads will rise by $2 to $12 monthly, the company said. The new pricing will go into effect Oct. 21. Media companies have been raising prices of their streaming services to wring more profit after years of investment in the businesses. Disney has targeted $1.3 billion in operating income at its streaming unit this fiscal year, up from an earlier forecast of $1 billion. Earlier this year, Disney said it would continue improving the profitability of its online video platforms. The price increases taking effect in October had been planned for several months and are unrelated to the recent suspension and reinstatement of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show, a company spokesperson said. In its most recent earnings statement in August, Disney said it had added 1.8 million new subscribers to its flagship Disney+ service in the fiscal third quarter, bringing the total to 128 million. The company, which is facing slowing subscriber growth for its namesake platform, has been integrating its Disney+ and Hulu streaming services into a single app and including a larger slate of programming, such as ABC News. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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RETAIL
Build-A-Bear continues to rack up market gains, despite tariffs and teetering mall traffic
Tariffs and years of teetering mall traffic have roiled much of the toy industry. But Build-A-Bear investors are continuing to reap sizable gains. Shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop are up more than 60 percent since the start of 2025, trading at just under $72 apiece as of Tuesday afternoon. That compares to just 13 percent for the S&P 500 since the start of the year, and marks dramatic growth from five years ago, when the St. Louis-based retailer’s stock sat under $3. The toy industry overall has been “reasonably soft” in recent years, notes Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData — but certain categories, including craft-oriented products, have done very well following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. And that’s key to Build-A-Bear’s core business model: welcoming consumers into their brick-and-mortar stores to make their own plush animals. That may also set Build-A-Bear apart from the malls its stores are often inside, many of which have struggled to see overall traffic rebound over the years. Build-A-Bear is still not isn’t entirely immune to macroeconomic pressures, but the company’s profit has soared to record after record in recent quarters. Last month, the retailer reported what it said were the best results for a second quarter and first half of a fiscal year in the history of the Build-A-Bear, which opened its first store in 1997. Company executives pointed to strong store performance and other expansion efforts. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUTOMOTIVE
Jaguar faces prolonged shutdown after a cyberattack
Jaguar Land Rover, Britain’s largest carmaker, said its production would remain halted until at least Oct. 1 because of a cyberattack that has disabled many of its systems for weeks. The attack, which targeted the company’s retail and production operations, was one of several cyber and ransomware attacks that have caused disruption to an array of European businesses including hospitals, charities, and, most recently, airports in Brussels, Berlin, Dublin, and London. The attacks have been costly, with organizations sometimes needing months to bring their processes back online. Jaguar Land Rover, which makes luxury cars that include Jaguars, Defenders, and Range Rovers, has not produced a car in the more than three weeks since the attack, which it acknowledged publicly in early September. It had initially told employees, suppliers, and partners that the pause in production would end Wednesday. In a statement on Tuesday, it said that it had extended the pause and was working to ensure it could safely restart production. Neither Jaguar Land Rover nor British government officials have said who is suspected of having carried out the attack. — NEW YORK TIMES
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MEDIA
Hearst wins bidding war for 140-year-old Dallas newspaper
Hearst gained approval for its acquisition of DallasNews Corp., the parent of the Dallas Morning News, winning a two-month bidding war despite offering less money than a company backed by investor Alden Global Capital. DallasNews shareholders on Tuesday authorized the Hearst bid, which values their company at $16.50 per share, or more than three times the closing price before the deal was first announced in early July. Alden-backed MediaNews Group offered $20 a share, a deal rejected by the Dallas newspaper company’s former chairman, Robert Decherd. Adding the Morning News gives Hearst control over newspapers in most of the biggest cities in Texas, expanding a portfolio that already includes the largest dailies in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Decherd, whose holdings of special shares in DallasNews enabled him to block any acquisition, argued that Hearst would be a better steward for the Morning News, which was founded by his great-grandfather in 1885. MediaNews, which many journalists have accused of ruthless cost-cutting, said last week that its $20 bid would be good through Sept. 25 — meaning the offer would still be on the table if DallasNews shareholders rejected the Hearst bid. MediaNews also invited Decherd to help lead an editorial advisory board to “ensure the continued journalistic excellence” of the Morning News. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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