Planet Money : NPR

Key Points:

• Two gas stations outside Atlanta engaged in an intense price war, dropping gas prices from $2.54 to as low as 97 cents per gallon, causing traffic jams and police intervention; one driver saved significantly, paying only $15 to fill her truck instead of the usual $90.
• Facebook is now limiting free posts with hyperlinks to two per month on Facebook pages, charging $49.99/month for eight links and $499/month for unlimited links, aiming to keep users engaged on the platform and monetize attention more aggressively.
• The Wall Street Journal reports that many proposed data centers are speculative, with only 23% considered "high confidence," yet utilities plan electricity infrastructure based on these requests, potentially raising consumer electricity costs even if the centers are never built.
• The U.S. Department of Energy authorized tapping the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve to release about a third of its heating oil supply to try to lower prices ahead of midterms, though experts doubt this will significantly impact prices.
• Oracle's massive $300 billion AI-related deal with OpenAI has led to heavy debt accumulation ($169 billion), posing economic risks if the AI boom slows, especially as AI computing efficiency improves rapidly and hardware obsolescence accelerates, making Oracle's investments potentially precarious.