00:01Investors are bracing for potential market volatility as voters decide which party will
00:06control Congress. A Democratic takeover could bring tougher oversight of AI companies,
00:12data centers, and corporate spending, while a Republican victory could deliver a short-term
00:17relief rally by preserving the current policy environment. But history offers a more bullish
00:22outlook. Stocks have typically performed well in the months following midterm elections,
00:27regardless of which party wins. With the market already up significantly this year,
00:32investors are questioning whether that traditional post-election rally can continue.
00:38OpenAI is working to make ChatGPT more useful in everyday life, with new research focused on how
00:44AI can handle tasks traditionally managed by people. The company says its latest model,
00:50GPT-6 Astra scored 80 percent on its tests of everyday tasks, compared with 49.3 percent for
00:58an earlier model. Those tasks include everything from apartment hunting and shopping to meal planning
01:04and managing community volunteers. OpenAI surveyed roughly 4,000 people to identify the kinds of
01:11responsibilities they would want an AI assistant to take on. The bigger ambition is to move ChatGPT
01:17beyond answering questions and toward becoming a personal agent that can actually get things done.
01:24Oil prices climbed Tuesday after reports that the United States struck Iran, reigniting fears of an
01:31escalation in the conflict. Brent crude rose roughly 1.75 percent to $106.60 a barrel, while U.S. West
01:40Texas
01:40Intermediate gained about 1.7 percent to $98.10. The reported strikes came just a day after oil prices
01:49plunged more than 7 percent on signals that Washington and Tehran could be open to diplomacy. The strike
01:55happened near the Strait of Hormuz, the critical shipping route for global oil supplies. Any further
02:01escalation could threaten energy shipments and send prices even higher. California voters are deciding
02:08whether to impose a one-time 5 percent tax on the wealth of residents worth more than $1 billion,
02:15potentially raising tens of billions of dollars. But there's a catch. A competing ballot measure,
02:20Proposition 42, would prohibit the state from taxing financial assets and other forms of wealth.
02:27If Proposition 42 receives more votes than the billionaire tax proposal, it could effectively kill the tax,
02:33even if the tax itself wins a majority. The fight has triggered a massive spending battle,
02:39with some of Silicon Valley's wealthiest figures pouring millions into efforts to defeat the proposal.
02:44The outcome could reshape California's tax policy and determine whether the nation's first
02:50billionaire wealth tax becomes reality.
