Top Midday Stories: August Consumer Prices Top Expectations; FTC Opens Probe Into Safety of Tech Giants' AI Chatbots

12:14 PM EDT, 09/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- All three major US stock indexes were up in late-morning trading Thursday, as the latest batch of inflation data did nothing to dissuade investor sentiment that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week.

The US seasonally adjusted consumer price index, a measure of inflation, rose by 0.4% in August, above expectations for a 0.3% increase as of 7:30 a.m. ET and following a 0.2% gain in July, according to data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose by 0.3%, as expected and the same as in the previous month. The year-over-year rate for overall CPI rose to 2.9% from 2.7% in July, while the core CPI remained at 3.1%.

The US Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it is issuing orders to Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META) , Microsoft (MSFT)-backed (MSFT) OpenAI and other tech companies, seeking to know what steps they have taken to evaluate the safety of their AI-powered chatbots for children and teens. The FTC also said Snap (SNAP), Character Technologies, Instagram and X.AI were issued orders under its 6(b) authority, which allows "the commission to conduct wide-ranging studies that do not have a specific law enforcement purpose.

Citigroup analysts raised their price target for Micron Technology (MU) to $175 from $150 due to an increase in demand for dynamic random-access memory chips, as well as the tech company's AI exposure.

Kroger (KR) reported fiscal Q2 adjusted earnings Thursday of $1.04 per diluted share, up from $0.93 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus expectation of $0.99. Fiscal Q2 sales were $33.94 billion, up from $33.91 billion a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of $34.1 billion. The supermarket chain lifted the lower range of its fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS guidance to $4.7 from $4.6, and it raised its fiscal identical sales without fuel guidance to a range of 2.7% to 3.4% from 2.25% to 3.25%. Analysts expect adjusted EPS of $4.78.

OpenAI signed a deal with Oracle (ORCL) to purchase $300 billion of its computing power over a period of about five years, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday afternoon, citing people familiar with the matter. Separately, Oracle's Oracle Health unit said Thursday it plans to launch a platform of AI-based applications intended to increase automation, reduce administrative costs, and improve coordination between payers and providers.

Alibaba Group (BABA) said Thursday t has priced a $3.2 billion offering of zero-coupon convertible senior notes due 2032.

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