By ALI SWENSON

NEW YORK (AP) — Thursday was the final day to select an Affordable Care Act health insurance plan across much of the country, as the expiration of federal subsidies drives up health costs and lawmakers remain locked in a debate over how to address the issue.

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That’s when the open enrollment window ends in most states for plans that start in February. About 10 states that run their own marketplaces have later deadlines, or have extended them to the end of the month to give their residents more time.

The date is a crucial one for millions of small business owners, gig workers, farmers, ranchers and others who don’t get their health insurance from a job and therefore rely on marketplace plans. A record 24 million Americans purchased Affordable Care Act health plans last year.

But this year, their decisions over health coverage have been more difficult than usual as clarity over how much it will cost is hard to come by. And so far, enrollment is lagging behind last year’s numbers — with about 22.8 million Americans having signed up so far, according to federal data.

Last year, for months, it was unclear whether Congress would allow for the end-of-year expiration of COVID-era expanded subsidies that had offset costs for more than 90% of enrollees. Democrats forced a record-long government shutdown over the issue, but still couldn’t get a deal done. So the subsidies expired Jan. 1, leaving the average subsidized enrollee with more than double the monthly premium costs for 2026, according to an analysis from the health care nonprofit KFF.

Still, the question of whether Congress would resurrect the tax credits loomed over Washington. Several enrollees told The Associated Press they have either delayed signing up for coverage or signed up with a plan to cancel as they anxiously watch what’s happening on Capitol Hill.

Last week, the House passed a three-year extension of the subsidies after 17 Republicans joined with Democrats against the wishes of Republican leaders. But the Senate rejected a similar bill last year.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has been leading a bipartisan group of 12 senators trying to devise a compromise and said this week that he expects to have a proposal by the end of the month. The contours of the senators’ bipartisan plan involves a two-year deal that would extend the enhanced subsidies while adding new limits on who can receive them. The proposal would also create the option, in the second year, of a new health savings account that President Donald Trump and Republicans prefer.

Under the deal being discussed, the ACA open enrollment period would be extended to March 1 of this year to allow people more time to figure out their coverage plans after the disruption.

Still, Republicans and Democrats say they have not completed the plan, and the two sides have yet to agree if there should be new limits on whether states can use separate funds for abortion coverage.

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Lisa Mascaro contributed from Washington.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal prosecutors charged 20 people on Thursday, including 15 former college basketball players, in what they called a betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games.

Of the defendants, 15 played basketball for Division 1 NCAA schools as recently as the 2024-25 season.

The other five defendants were described by authorities as fixers.

They include two men who prosecutors say worked in the training and development of basketball players. Another was a trainer and former coach, one was a former NCAA player and two were described as gamblers, influencers and sports handicappers.

The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include wire fraud.

In the 70-page indictment, authorities say the fixers recruited the college basketball players with “bribe payments” usually ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.

The indictment follows a series of NCAA investigations that led to at least 10 players receiving lifetime bans this year for bets that sometimes involved their own teams and their own performances. And the NCAA has said that at least 30 players have been investigated over gambling allegations.

More than 30 people were also charged in last year’s sprawling federal takedown of illegal gambling operations linked to professional basketball.

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Concerns about gambling and college sports have grown since 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on the practice, leading some states to legalize it to varying degrees. The NCAA does not allow athletes or staff to bet on college games, but it briefly allowed student-athletes to bet on professional sports last year before rescinding that decision in November.

More broadly, one betting scandal after another has rocked the sports world, where gambling revenue topped $11 billion for the first three-quarters of last year, according to the American Gaming Association. That’s up more than 13% from the prior year, the group said.

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press Business Writer

BANGKOK (AP) — Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok won’t be able to edit photos to portray real people in revealing clothing in places where that is illegal, according to a statement posted on X.

FILE – Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the Oval Office of the White House, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

The announcement late Wednesday followed a global backlash over sexualized images of women and children, including bans and warnings by some governments.

The pushback included an investigation announced Wednesday by the state of California, the U.S.’s most populous, into the proliferation of nonconsensual sexually explicit material produced using Grok that it said was harassing women and girls.

Initially, media queries about the problem drew only the response, “legacy media lies.”

Musk’s company, xAI, now says it will geoblock content if it violates laws in a particular place.

“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis, underwear and other revealing attire,” it said.

The rule applies to all users, including paid subscribers, who have access to more features.

xAI also has limited image creation or editing to paid subscribers only “to ensure that individuals who attempt to abuse the Grok account to violate the law or our policies can be held accountable.”

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Grok’s “spicy mode” had allowed users to create explicit content, leading to a backlash from governments worldwide.

Malaysia and Indonesia took legal action and blocked access to Grok, while authorities in the Philippines said they were working to do the same, possibly within the week. The U.K. and European Union were investigating potential violations of online safety laws.

France and India have also issued warnings, demanding stricter controls. Brazil called for an investigation into Grok’s misuse.

The British government, which has been one of Grok’s most vociferous critics in recent days, has welcomed the change, while the country’s regulator, Ofcom, said it would carry on with its investigation.

“I shall not rest until all social media platforms meet their legal duties and provide a service that is safe and age-appropriate to all users,” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta urged xAI to ensure there is no further harassment of women and girls from Grok’s editing functions.

“We have zero tolerance for the AI-based creation and dissemination of nonconsensual intimate images or of child sexual abuse material,” he said.

California has passed laws to shield minors from AI-generated sexual imagery of children and require AI chatbot platforms to remind users they aren’t interacting with a human.

But Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom also vetoed a law last year that would have restricted children’s access to AI chatbots.

Pan Pylas in London contributed to this report.

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon said it resolved an outage that disrupted many U.S. customers’ calling and other cellular services for more than 10 hours on Wednesday.

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The New York-based carrier didn’t specify what caused Wednesday’s disruptions, but confirmed that the outage was resolved by 10:20 p.m. ET. Verizon previously said it had deployed its engineering teams to address “an issue impacting wireless voice and data services.”

“Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry,” Verizon wrote in updates shared on social media. A spokesperson later added that the company would give those impacted a $20 account credit through Verizon’s app, which on average “covers multiple days of service,” and directly contact its business customers with compensation.

Outage tracker Downdetector showed that Verizon customers began to report issues with their service around noon E.T. Wednesday. Reports appeared to peak in the early afternoon, but remained elevated later in the day. Downdetector said it had received a total of over 1.5 million reports before 5 p.m. ET.

Impacted users said their phones were in “SOS” mode or had other no signal messages. In cities like New York, alerts warned that the outage may disrupt 911 calls — urging residents to try landlines and devices from other carriers, if available, or visit a local police or fire station in-person in case of an emergency.

Other major hubs impacted by Verizon’s outage included Houston, Philadelphia, Dallas and Miami, per Downdetector. But many consumers across the country said they experienced disruptions.

A handful of outage reports for other carriers also bubbled up on Wednesday — but companies like T-Mobile and AT&T quickly confirmed online that their services were operating normally. Both suggested that their customers may have encountered issues contacting people with Verizon’s service, however.

When cellular outages happen, some phone companies also urge consumers to try to connect to Wi-Fi and use internet calling. If Wi-Fi is still unavailable, there can be a limited number of other options — including sending messages via satellite on newer iPhones.