A swarm of rogue OpenAI agents that hijacked a German website in the spring reportedly also used more than 10 other websites for unsanctioned communications earlier this year, including a link-shortening tool at the University of Toronto.

The university disabled the link shortener’s use as a message board after learning that OpenAI agents may have used it, the university said in a statement to CBC News on Friday.

“OpenAI subsequently contacted the university about the possible activity by AI agents, which occurred in June,” the statement said.

While the university said there was no security breach and no impact on its digital properties, reports of more rogue AI incidents come amid global concerns that OpenAI and other artificial intelligence companies are losing control of their own technology.

Reuters, which first reported the University of Toronto activity, used data from six sets of independent investigators to show that the agents’ rogue activity was more widespread than previously disclosed — and, according to the investigators, probably wider still.

“It’s almost certain that there’s more going on here that we just don’t know about,” said Andrew Yoon, a researcher with the California nonprofit CivAI. He told Reuters he tallied 18 previously undisclosed sites used by the agents between May and July. Investigators disagreed on the exact number of discovered sites, but all concurred it was more than 10.

On Sept. 4, researchers reported that a swarm of OpenAI agents hijacked a German-language wiki site and turned it into an improvised messaging platform for cheating on tests. The researchers told Reuters the agents left similar messages on the other sites, including U of T.

OpenAI has not publicly explained how or why its agents used third-party sites as improvised message boards, but the researchers who first identified the activity said it was likely because OpenAI had tasked the agents with answering a series of demanding research questions while permitting them only to scan the web for answers, not post anything.

Despite those restrictions, the agents still found ways to talk to one another by taking advantage of quirks that allowed users to make edits using non-standard commands, similar to how…

FIFA’s marketplace for resale World Cup tickets no longer has seats listed for Toronto matches after a new price cap came into effect last week.

The Ontario legislation bans people and platforms from reselling seats to events in the province for more than face value.

FIFA says its resale platform is being reconfigured to comply with the legislation that became law Friday.

It says listings for Toronto’s World Cup games haven’t been deleted but are in limbo and are expected to be relisted once the system changes are complete.

FIFA’s marketplace still has listings for World Cup games in every other host city but Toronto.

Resale platform StubHub also continues to sell seats above face value to World Cup matches in Toronto.

On Tuesday afternoon, the company had many tickets to Canada’s first game — a faceoff against Bosnia-Herzegovina — listed for a few thousands dollars. A handful in the lower bowl were also priced at $72,705 apiece.

Last week, the company said it had yet to comply with the new Ontario legislation because of insufficient guidance.

StubHub spokesperson Jack Sterne told The Canadian Press on Tuesday that issues still linger even after the company had a “productive conversation” with Stephen Crawford, minister of public and business service delivery, recently.

“While there are still many outstanding questions, we appreciate their willingness to meet and are updating our systems to comply with Bill 97 going forward,” Sterne said in an email, referring to the price cap law.

He did not say what the outstanding issues were.

Price cap legislation put forward earlier this year

Giulia Paikin, a spokesperson for Crawford, confirmed Tuesday the province was working with StubHub to help the company become compliant.

Businesses that do not comply will face penalties starting at $3,000. The tab can reach up to $250,000 for continued non-compliance.

The Ford government put forward the legislation earlier this year after fans became outraged when resale tickets for the most recent World Series and Taylor Swift’s Eras tour were being priced by resellers at several times the face value.

The government said the resale cap would “protect fans and consumers from exploitative, professional resellers who artificially drive up ticket prices.”

Others worried it would entice eventgoers into making purchases in informal markets, which are more prone to scams, and drive up the original price of tickets.

Homebuyers who gambled that buying a home before it was built could get them an early foothold in an expensive market are discovering what happens when values drop.

A growing number of Canadians — especially in condominium markets such as Toronto’s — are learning the hard way that when property values fall, developers and lenders aren’t willing to absorb the loss without a fight.

Vitor Almeida is facing that reality firsthand. A carpenter with experience as a real estate agent, he agreed more than five years ago to buy a pre-construction condo in Vaughan, Ont., for $675,000. He put down about 20 per cent, but financing isn’t fully confirmed until the unit is nearly complete and the deal is set to close.

Years later, an appraisal valued the condo at $590,000. That meant Almeida could not get a mortgage provider to lend him the money to close the purchase because the condo was no longer worth what he agreed to pay. 

“The market was so good back in 2020, we would have never thought. If I did know that this could have happened, I wouldn’t have bought the condo,” said Almeida.

Buyers need to make up the difference

The average condominium selling price in the Greater Toronto Area was down more than five per cent in late 2025, compared with a year earlier.

Compared with a peak in 2022, apartment prices in Toronto have dropped by around 25 per cent.

For a buyer like Almeida, options are limited if he can’t come up with the money to bridge the gap between the appraised value and the agreed-upon price. The builder can keep their deposit and any fees the buyer paid, and they could be on the hook for additional costs.

“They’re telling me that they’re gonna sell it for less, obviously, and they’re going to come after me for their losses,” Almeida said.

Not a lot of options, say experts

Short of a time machine, there may be no easy escape for buyers caught in a plunging pre-construction market.

Mortgage broker Ron Butler said he doesn’t believe buyers in this situation can avoid the consequences.

“There’s no question that the developer will chase you through the courts and they will win because you signed a valid contract,” he said.

Nearly 90 employees of Craig’s Cookies have voted to unionize across five shops in Toronto as the Canadian chain expands nationally. 

After a two-week organizing drive that began in early December, upwards of 85 employees voted last week to unionize with Unite HERE Local 75, which represents workers in the food service and hospitality industries. 

The employees work at five Craig’s Cookies shops across Toronto: its East York, Church-Wellesley, Leslieville, Parkdale and Union Station locations.

“The most immediate factor — sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back for these workers — was the decision to remove paid breaks,” said Daniel Janvier, a researcher at Unite HERE Local 75 who helped with the organizing drive. 

According to Janvier, workers are also concerned that their wages have not kept pace with inflation and are no longer competitive in relation to the broader food service industry. 

“The company is growing. It’s incredibly successful. It’s successful because of these workers,” he added. “These workers know what they put into the company is why they have such expansive growth through the city — through the country, even.”

A spokesperson for Craig’s Cookies told CBC News that the company respects the results of the vote and the workers’ decision to unionize, and that it will work with the union in good faith. 

“Craig’s Cookies has always been committed to competitive compensation, which includes extensive benefits and fair treatment to team members,” the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson did not add anything further when asked for a response to the union’s allegation that the company had ended paid breaks. 

Craig’s Cookies is owned by Craig Pike, who launched the chain as a home baking business in 2013. While it largely operated under a pop-up model during its first few years, the first brick-and-mortar Craig’s Cookies location opened in Toronto in 2018. 

Since then, it has expanded to 22 shops nationwide. The majority are in Ontario, with others located in Calgary and Pike’s hometown of St. John’s. A 23rd shop is expected to open in Halifax in the new year. 

‘Pretty unique’ for Canadian food services industry

For a maturing business that is expanding — but might not yet have a sophisticated HR system in place — consolidating multiple shops under one collective agreement can be an appealing option, according to one expert.

“Once you get to that scale, it’s hard to operate as a kind of mom-and-pop operation and workers’ [demands] grow,” said Rafael Gomez, director of the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto.

“If you don’t have a sophisticated HR system in place, a union model is attractive to workers.”

Craig’s Cookies partly…

Some grocery stores owned by Sobeys Inc. are the latest Toronto stores to test body-worn cameras.

In a statement, the retailer confirmed it’s piloting the project after the bodycams were spotted on FreshCo cashiers in a store located at Sherbourne and Isabella streets. 

The cameras are being used to combat harassment and assault directed toward employees and to prevent shoplifting and other crimes, Sobeys spokesperson Caitlin Gray said.

But James Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, said he thinks they could have the opposite effect. 

“I think it makes any employee … more vulnerable rather than safer because potential thieves may see the bodycam and just want to grab it off them,” he told CBC Toronto.

Sobeys has seen a significant decrease in violence and aggression toward employees and customers since the cameras were introduced to select locations, Gray said in a statement. The retailer also said the bodycams only record when activated during an incident and are not used to monitor employees. 

Sobeys has not yet responded to questions about when the pilot officially began.

The move is part of a larger trend, with Loblaw Companies Ltd. also confirming to CBC Toronto it’s been running a bodycam pilot in some of its stores for the past two years.

But Turk still feels the cameras put the employees wearing them at unnecessary risk. “They can have the same kind of surveillance using fixed cameras aimed at the right locations,” he said.

Customers need to be informed of bodycam use, experts say

Privacy experts have also raised some concerns about the practice.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario does not oversee private sector organizations, including grocery stores, but did provide a statement to CBC Toronto expressing concern that body-worn cameras might collect “more information than necessary.”

The public should also be informed about the use of the cameras and whether the footage is being retained and for how long, the statement said.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada also provided a statement that says any organization subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act should take steps to ensure that the public is informed that video surveillance is taking place.

Organizations must also ensure recordings that are no longer required be destroyed, erased, or made anonymous, the federal office said.

Stores participating in the Sobeys pilot are adhering to all applicable privacy laws, including posted signage, Gray said in response.

A British Columbia billionaire seeking to acquire dozens of former Hudson’s Bay leases held a job fair in Toronto this weekend to attract people to work at the properties— despite not yet leasing the retail spaces in the city.

Ruby Liu signed deals with Hudson’s Bay in May to buy up to 28 leases across Canada belonging to the defunct retailer and its sister banner Saks. So far, only three leases have been transferred. 

Liu hosted the job fair at the Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday, drawing workers, vendors and former Hudson’s Bay employees, who were hopeful and uncertain about the future of the store. 

“If she pulls this off, she will be a Canadian hero,” said Sandi Kveton, who worked at Hudson’s Bay for 27 years. 

“We’re hopeful that she can get the leases. She’s still fighting in court, so we really don’t know if we have jobs or not.”

The three spaces in B.C. were transferred to Liu last month after receiving court approval. The Bay has yet to seek that assent for up to 25 more in properties held by other landlords, who are overwhelmingly opposed to Liu moving in because they say she’s yet to provide detailed business plans.

An Ontario judge adjourned a court hearing last Tuesday initiated by a creditor of Hudson’s Bay seeking to terminate Liu’s purchase agreement. The judge urged Liu, who is now parting ways with two law firms, to hire a lawyer to represent her and her plans to buy the leases.

Speaking through her CEO and translator, Linda Qin, Liu expressed optimism about the outcome of the hearing.

“She’s very confident that we are going to get the stores,” said Qin on Saturday. “We want to prepare for the store openings.”

“It’s very obvious that Ruby Liu is a qualified bidder.”

Plan faces pushback 

A Toronto lawyer said the different Bay creditors are still unsure if this is in the best interest of their financial situation. 

“It’s a disagreement about whether or not the information that’s been provided so far offers enough comfort as it relates to whether or not this is in the best interest of the different creditor groups,” said Sherena Hussain, lawyer and founder of Academic Collaboration Consulting.

“In many cases, they’re looking to recover cents on the dollar.”

Liu has budgeted $84 million to transform former Bay spaces into Asian-style department stores offering shopping, dining, and entertainment. She plans to use the properties to open a department store named after herself.

From May 11 to 17, world leaders in blockchain will gather in Toronto for Canada Crypto Week, a series of events highlighting the evolution of digital finance and the Web3 economy.

In focus this year are deep dives into pressing topics like regulation, tokenization, decentralized finance (DeFi), the future of Web3 infrastructure and how artificial intelligence (AI) will transform the crypto landscape.

Also on the agenda is Canada’s growing role in the global crypto conversation.

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The Investing News Network will attending and providing coverage of two of Canada Crypto Week’s flagship events: the Blockchain Futurist Conference, a one day event hosted at the historic Old Toronto Stock Exchange on May 13, and Consensus 2025, held from May 14 to 16 at the Metro Toronto Convention Center.

These events will feature keynote speakers, regulatory panels and technology presentations from industry leaders at the forefront of innovation. Be sure to follow our updates this week as they unfold.

When the flagship Hudson’s Bay store in Toronto opened Friday morning, customers burst through the doors on a mission to find one thing: deals.

Some jogged through the 675,700-square-foot store on Yonge Street in hopes of getting first pick of the company’s famed stripes merchandise. Others made a beeline for the jewelry department, where they found themselves jockeying for the attention of salespeople scrambling to keep up with requests for items behind their counters, which were all marked down by 70 per cent.

“Don’t get distracted by the makeup. It’s only 10 per cent off,” shouted Jane Mazel to a friend as they speedwalked through the beauty department, intent on finding bigger markdowns on the appliances and cookware floor.

The scene was one of the latest signs of the fall of Canada’s oldest company. It filed for creditor protection last month, citing trouble paying its bills because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, an intensifying trade war and depressed downtown traffic.

To cope, it put itself up for sale and began liquidating all but six of its 96 Bay, Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off Fifth stores last month. While there are still a few days left to make a bid to save the business, the 355-year-old company is so pessimistic it will find a saviour, it decided to pre-emptively liquidate the last six locations.

In addition to the flagship, those stores include Yorkdale mall in Toronto and Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill, Ont., as well as downtown Montreal, Carrefour Laval mall and Pointe-Claire in Quebec.

The “everything must go” style sell-off at those sites launched with discounts as high as 70 per cent and reminders that “all sales are final.”

‘Death of the department store’ 

Jeff Valiquette, who frequents the store on lunch breaks, had heard significant markdowns were coming and was in the jewelry department within a minute of it opening.

He was so zoned into his task — picking up gifts for his upcoming anniversary, a high school graduation for one daughter and a birthday for another — that he barely noticed the competition around him.

While he was “very happy” with the bag of bling he walked off with, the shopping trip was tinged with sadness.

“I come here for everything. A lot of the furnishings in our house are from either the Bay or Simpsons (a defunct department store Hudson’s Bay bought in 1978) and my kitchen table that I bought when we were married 26 years ago is from the Bay. We’re still using it today,” he said.

“It’s the death of the department store in Canada.”

Before entering the store, Jeffrey MacDonald rattled off earlier losses.

On his list were Towers, which went under in 1991, the same year as the Bay converted its final Simpsons stores to its own banner. Also lost are Sears, Eaton’s, Consumers Distributing and the Canadian iteration of Marks & Spencer.

“It would be nice if some of our country’s really rich stepped up, whether it’s Galen Weston or even Drake,” MacDonald said, referencing the Loblaw board chair and…