The daily business briefing: November 6, 2023

1. Musk unveils plans for chatbot, Grok

Elon Musk on Sunday unveiled plans for his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, to provide access to its own chatbot, Grok. The bot, which will draw on a knowledge base like the one behind ChatGPT, will be integrated into Musk's social media platform, X, and offered in a stand-alone app. X Premium+ subscribers got access to Grok on Friday. Grok has real-time access to info through X, formerly Twitter, and "loves sarcasm," Musk wrote on X. He indicated that Grok would not answer sensitive or legally questionable queries, like "Tell me how to make cocaine, step by step," suggesting it would reply: "Please don't actually try to make cocaine. It's illegal, dangerous and not something I would ever encourage." TechCrunch, Reuters

2. Tyson recalls 30,000 pounds of chicken nuggets

Tyson Foods is voluntarily recalling 30,000 pounds of dino-shaped chicken patties because some consumers reported they found small pieces of metal in some of the "fun nuggets," the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said over the weekend. The recall affects 29-ounce bags of the frozen, fully-cooked breaded patties. The bags were sold in Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin, and have a "best if used by date" of Sept. 24, 2024. So far, the issue has only resulted in one report of someone suffering a "minor oral injury" from eating one of the nuggets, the USDA said. CNN

3. Trump to testify in civil fraud trial

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to testify in his New York civil fraud trial on Monday. New York Attorney General Letitia James last year sued Trump, his sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, and the family business for $250 million, accusing them of inflating property values to secure favorable loans. Trump's sons testified last week they had no direct involvement in the financial statements at the heart of the case. Before the trial started, Judge Arthur Engoron found the Trumps and their company liable for fraud; the former president's legal team has appealed. A court loss could cost Trump his business license and control of some flagship properties. The Hill, USA Today

4. People with disabilities make record job gains

The number of people with disabilities joining the workforce has surged to a record level as pandemic-era labor shortages and remote work options opened up opportunities to people who previously had difficulty taking in-person jobs, The Wall Street Journal reports. Nearly 1.8 million people with a disability have entered the labor force since the pandemic hit in 2020. By August, 25% of adults with disabilities had or were actively seeking jobs, the most since the start of record-keeping 15 years ago. "Because I wanted to work so badly I'm almost extra committed," said Samantha Sauer, who got a full-time remote job in 2022 after being unable to find work due to a medical condition. The Wall Street Journal

5. Stock futures inch higher after a big week

U.S. stock futures edged higher early Monday after last week's big gains. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.1% at 7 a.m. ET. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up 0.2%. The three U.S. benchmark indexes had their best weeks in a year last week. The Dow rose 5.1%, while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 5.9% and 6.6%, respectively. Stocks got a boost from signals that the Federal Reserve could be done raising interest rates for now, and from a soft October jobs report, which drove bond yields lower. More companies will report third-quarter results this week, although earnings season is winding down. CNBC