Shares in the technology sector were among the top winners despite political pressure to rein in artificial intelligence.

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Anthropic and OpenAI to determine whether they deceived consumers about the potential harms of their artificial intelligence. The probe was opened recently and the agency plans to send civil subpoenas to the two companies in the coming weeks, a senior FTC official said. The need for an investigation became apparent over the summer as the agency heard concerns, some of them aired publicly, from AI researchers who say the technology could wipe out humanity, the official said.

A Democratic lawmaker wants more information on the secret agreements between tech companies building data centers and local officials approving them, their latest attempt to increase oversight of the facilities powering artificial intelligence and tap into voters' AI backlash ahead of the midterm elections. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, sent letters to Amazon, Alphabet's Google, Meta Platforms and Oracle on Tuesday seeking information on the nondisclosure agreements those companies signed with government officials related to data-center build-outs, according to copies of the letters viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Apple has launched its mobile payment services in India, entering one of the world's fastest-growing markets for cashless transactions. Users in India can now use Apple Pay on iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches via a partnership with Axis Bank one of the largest private-sector lenders in the country.