Union Pacific Corp. could reach an agreement to acquire Norfolk Southern Corp. and create a transcontinental rail behemoth as soon as early next week, people familiar with the matter said.

The deal, which would be the largest deal ever in the rail industry, is likely to include both cash and stock, according to the people, who asked not to be ...Read more

Brawny SUVs like the Jeep Wrangler, Toyota Land Cruiser and Ford Bronco were once among a handful of vehicles that came ready to tackle mud, rocks and sand as soon as they left the factory.

Now, carmakers are increasingly adding many of the same stock off-roading features to all types of models: mild-mannered crossovers, three-row family ...Read more

Elon Musk may be bringing his robotaxis to the Bay Area soon to compete head to head with the other leaders in the driverless vehicle market.

Tesla plans to launch an invite-only service in the Bay Area as soon as this weekend, according to a Business Insider report citing an internal company memo.

The move comes about a month after Tesla ...Read more

The federal government has upped its scrutiny of Medicare fraud in recent years, but no investigation appears bigger than its probe of UnitedHealth Group.

It’s the biggest because UnitedHealth is the nation’s largest provider of Medicare Advantage benefits, a privatized form of Medicare. And United’s Medicare business is the target of not...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The theatrical box office market is down. It's harder than ever to get people out of their homes and into the cinema. The business model for movies in streaming is still a work in progress.

Given all these challenges, who would want to buy a movie studio now?

Many people, it turns out. Earlier this month, the entertainment ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Two summers ago, the Santa Monica, California-based company behind the popular video game "Call of Duty" sent a letter to a 24-year-old man in Antioch, Tennessee, who went by the online handle "Lerggy."

Known in real life as Ryan Rothholz, court filings say, he is the creator of "Lergware," hacking software that enabled "Call of...Read more

The artificial intelligence camp loves big numbers. The sum raised by OpenAI in its latest funding round: $40 billion. Expected investments on AI by Meta, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft this year: $320 billion. Market value of Nvidia Corp., the supplier of chips for AI firms: $4.2 trillion.

Those figures are all taken by AI adherents as ...Read more

For the first time in 15 years, there’s a new Toyota 4Runner. And while the 2025 edition may be new, it remains what it’s always been: a steel box standing on its toes with the long-term survival instincts of Cher.

Having hibernated without a significant change since the debut of the Apple iPad, the 2025 Toyota 4Runner no longer seems as if...Read more

As the truck market has continued to grow and develop, consumers have continued to demand more and more of manufacturers. In recent years, Ford released the Maverick, a small compact pickup aimed at drivers with honey-do lists, and took a big gamble by using a previously failed nameplate. In typical Ford fashion, they have capitalized on the ...Read more

CHARLEVOIX, Michigan — After not touching the steering wheel on Full Self-Driving for an hour and a half up I-75, I exited the freeway at Gaylord. Turning on to the M-32 twisties, I took back the controls — my left thumb searching for the turn signal — from Autopilot. ZOT! The sedan rocketed past 60 mph in less than three seconds, its ...Read more

The robot invasion is coming to Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Coco Robotics, a startup born on the UCLA campus, is about to carpet-bomb the city with hundreds of additional adorable delivery bots recently enhanced with some of the same AI that powers ChatGPT.

The company has been testing bots around the city for years, and it is at last confident...Read more

“E! News,” the nightly pop culture program that helped define cable network E! Entertainment Television, is going away.

The Comcast-owned network informed “E! News” staff Thursday the program will tape its final episode on Sept. 25. The channel’s news operation will continue to provide coverage online where it has a robust presence.

...Read more

A whopping 87% of Californians are concerned that climate change could increase their home insurance rates, according to a new study released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California. Some 60% said they were very concerned, a remarkable increase from the 47% who said the same last year.

The statistic was among the most striking ...Read more

David Ellison stepped within reach of his hard-fought prize, Paramount Global, after winning regulators' blessing for his Skydance Media's $8-billion takeover of the storied media company.

President Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr approved the Skydance-Paramount merger Thursday after months of turmoil and...Read more

Tesla shares tumbled Thursday after its latest earning results knocked the wind out of investors' confidence in Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker.

The company has been facing intense competition, cooling consumer interest and a reduction of the government incentives that made buying EVs more affordable.

Musk, the chief executive, broadcast ...Read more

UnitedHealth Group, one of the biggest health care companies in the world, confirmed Thursday that it’s cooperating with federal investigators probing the company’s large Medicare business.

While the Wall Street Journal had previously reported on the probe quoting unnamed sources, this was the first public acknowledgement by the Minnesota-...Read more

In a clear reversal, UnitedHealth Group said Thursday it is cooperating with a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into its Medicare business.

The disclosure was an about-face from the company’s response in May when the Wall Street Journal first reported the DOJ had opened a criminal investigation into the company. At the time, ...Read more

In a marked shift in U.S. policy toward Venezuela, the Trump administration has quietly approved a new license allowing oil giant Chevron to restart its operations in the South American nation, according to sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

The decision this week represents a departure from earlier hard-line measures and ...Read more

Alaska Air Group reported Wednesday much lower profits in the second quarter compared with the same time period last year, but it remained optimistic amid the impact of tariffs and cautious consumer spending.

In the second quarter, which runs April to June, Alaska reported $172 million in profit, or $1.42 per share. In the same period last year...Read more

Sports and music fans, flocking to a once-questionable corner of downtown, were the springboard for an L.A.-born multibillion-dollar empire of venues and events for screaming enthusiasts around the globe.

AEG, the company behind Crypto.com Arena and the L.A. Live district, has turned its know-how about hosting and promoting big shows into a ...Read more