NPR News: 07-31-2026 10AM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.
How did Wall Street and Big Tech react to the latest quarterly results?
On Wall Street, stocks opened higher this morning, although they have turned negative right now after Amazon reported better than expected quarterly results. NPR's Scott Horsley has more.
Amazon stock got a lift after the company reported strong sales and profits for the most recent quarter, propelled in part by Amazon's cloud computing business.
Why is Amazon investing $220 billion in AI and what are the implications?
The company plans to boost spending on artificial intelligence and other technology to $220 billion this year. Massive investment in AI is pushing up the cost of memory chips, forcing Apple to raise prices. Apple also reported stronger quarterly results than forecasters had expected. The Labor Department says employers' cost for workers grew by 3.4% in the 12 months ending in June, with wages and salaries climbing 3.2%. That's not enough to keep pace with inflation, though, so workers' real buying power has been eroding. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
The AI company Anthropic, a financial supporter of NPR, says it found three cases where its artificial intelligence programs left testing environments, accessed the Internet, and hacked into real companies.
How are AI safety incidents at Anthropic and OpenAI raising cybersecurity concerns?
Competitor OpenAI reported a similar incident last week that raised concerns about AI safety. NPR's John Rewich has more.
In the OpenAI case, the artificial intelligence models found a way to access the internet from what engineers believed was a secure, walled-off digital testing space called a sandbox. Anthropix says in the three cases it discovered, misconfigurations basically left the barn door open for the AI systems to gain access to the internet. Still, the incidents are likely to add to concern about AI's ability to conduct cyber attacks.
What caused the mass border crossings from Morocco into Spanish territory?
Anthropix says the incidents happened during tests of the offensive cyber capabilities of its models. In the wake of the OpenAI case, it launched a review of more than 140,000 test runs and found that the organizations that got hacked in the three cases had not detected the breaches. John Rewich, NPR News.
Spain's prime minister is visiting Spanish territory in North Africa today. This comes as at least 18 deaths have been reported after a drastic increase in border crossings from Morocco. NPR's Miguel Macias has more.
How could a potential WestJet flight attendants strike disrupt summer travel?
What started as a moderate increase in crossings at one particular point of the border, where a breakwater separates Spain and Morocco, turned into a crisis on Thursday as thousands were seen crossing into Spanish territory. Migrants started swimming around the breakwater with no apparent border control enforcement on the Moroccan side. The Spanish government is deploying its military to the region to support local law enforcement. And both countries agreed to work together for the safe return of those who had crossed the border illegally.
Why did Exxon and Chevron report soaring profits and how is that affecting gas prices?
Spain has historically relied on Moroccan authorities to control such mass border crossings. But this latest instance is already sparking calls for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to toughen his stance on migration. Miguel Macías, NPR News, Seville, Spain.
And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. President Trump is taking the first cabinet meeting of his second term on a road trip. They'll be heading to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, for a rustic backdrop as secretaries update him on their progress, after Trump heads to his New Jersey golf club for the weekend. The busy summer travel season could be disrupted this weekend for many Canadian and American travelers. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, the Flight Attendants Union, Canada's second largest airline, filed a 72-hour strike notice.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents WestJet's 4,400 flight attendants, says the recent vote was 99% in favor of a strike. At the heart of the dispute, wages and unpaid work that the union says takes place before and after a flight. WestJet operates more than 600 flights a day. Many travelers are already trying to make alternate arrangements. And WestJet is allowing passengers with flights scheduled between Friday and next Tuesday to make a one-time change or cancel with no fee.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:05
2
How did Wall Street and Big Tech react to the latest quarterly results?
0:05–0:22
3
Why is Amazon investing $220 billion in AI and what are the implications?
0:22–1:08
4
How are AI safety incidents at Anthropic and OpenAI raising cybersecurity concerns?
1:08–1:39
5
What caused the mass border crossings from Morocco into Spanish territory?
1:39–2:10
6
How could a potential WestJet flight attendants strike disrupt summer travel?
2:10–2:39
7
Why did Exxon and Chevron report soaring profits and how is that affecting gas prices?
2:39–5:03