Business news in brief

By The Associated Press

United Steelworkers endorses Biden

PITTSBURGH | The United Steelworkers Union has endorsed President Joe Biden, giving him support from another large labor union. The announcement Wednesday by the Pittsburgh-based union came less than a week after Biden voiced opposition to the planned sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan.

The USW represents 850,000 workers in metals, mining, rubber and other industries. It said that Biden has a track record of supporting retirement security, affordable health care and laws that support workers. The union said those issues are important to its members.

The AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers, and several other unions previously endorsed Democrat Biden in his race against Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. The Teamsters union has yet to announce its pick.

French regulators fine Google $272M

PARIS | France’s competition watchdog has hit Google with another big fine tied to a long-running dispute over payments to French publishers for their news.

The French Competition Authority said Wednesday that it issued the $272 million penalty because of Google’s failure to comply with some commitments it made in a negotiating framework. The dispute is part of a larger effort by authorities in the European Union and around the world to force Google and other tech companies to compensate news publishers for content.

The U.S. tech giant was forced to negotiate with French publishers after a court in 2020 upheld an order saying payments were required by a 2019 European Union copyright directive.

Government invests $8.5B in chipmaker Intel

CHANDLER, Arizona | President Joe Biden is celebrating an agreement to provide Intel with up to $8.5 billion in direct funding and $11 billion in loans for computer chip plants around the country. Biden talked up the investment in the political battleground state of Arizona and called it a way of “bringing the future back to America.”

The funding will support computer chip plants in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon. It’s a cash infusion the government says should help the U.S. boost its global share of advanced chip production from zero to 20%. The Democratic president often says not enough voters know about his economic policies and they’d support him if they did.

—From AP reports