Marketplace All-in-One

The White House may roll back steel and aluminum tariffs, according to the Financial Times. Sure, President Donald Trump has announced or enacted tariffs just to reverse course many times. But the difference is steel and aluminum are crucial materials in the production of, well, just about everything. In this episode: How might such a rollback affect your wallet? Plus, market conditions make for a stronger manufacturing sector in 2026, restaurants expand menu offerings that cater to GLP-1 users, and we explain how the Fed actually changes interest rates.

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Markets seesawed over the past few weeks over fears that artificial intelligence will soon disrupt several industries, including software and financial services. As large language models reshape how brands reach consumers, traditional ad shops could also face pressure to reinvent themselves or get left behind. We'll dig in. But first, inflation cooled this winter, but will it warm up in the spring? We'll discuss how tariffs and energy costs could play a role.

We learned on Friday that inflation dropped to 2.4% — the lowest it’s been in almost five years. But certain prices are still rising much faster than that overall measure, including utilities. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association projects that people will have to spend over $1,000, on average, to heat their homes this winter. Plus, the IRS lost more than 25% of its staff to cuts. Is it ready for this tax season?

From the BBC World Service: The Chinese tech company ByteDance says it'll curb its AI video app, Seedance, which is being used to create viral life-like clips of Hollywood stars; Disney and other entertainment giants have threatened legal action over it. Then, the UK government says it will review its regulation of AI to better protect children online. And later, Starbucks is hoping AI will help turn around the company's fortunes.

Caterpillar, which manufactures heavy duty equipment like asphalt pavers, diesel engine locomotives, and industrial gas turbines, has been around for 101 years. And now, the company seems to be one of the big winners of the AI infrastructure build out.

Big tech companies are working as fast as possible to get their data centers up to power artificial intelligence. Some are building their own natural gas plants to provide electricity for those data centers. Enter Caterpillar, maker of electric generators. Marketplace’s Dan Ackerman has been reporting on this.