NPR News: 09-15-2026 3AM EDT
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Why are AI company leaders urging slower development of powerful AI systems?
Live from MPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. The leaders of three major AI companies are ramping up their calls to slow the development of more powerful AI systems, but experts worry restrictions may accomplish little unless the US can reach an agreement with China and other countries. Here's MPR's Windsor Johnston.
Gary Marcus is an artificial intelligence researcher at New York University. He says the United States and China share an interest in placing limits on AI agents that can operate freely online. He also says building larger AI models matters less than preventing poorly controlled systems from attacking critical infrastructure.
You're gonna find banking industries attack, electrical grids attacked. China shouldn't want that, we shouldn't want that. We can make a deal about unrestrained agents.
What is President Trump's response to tech leaders' AI safety warnings?
The leaders of major AI companies say they support global cooperation on safeguards. Marcus says that could be done without requiring American companies to slow development on their own. Windsor Johnston and PR News.
President Trump calling new warnings from tech leaders about artificial intelligence a hoax, saying Monday on social media that any effort to limit the technology is in his words a sick conspiracy. Trump said Monday that the US is leading China and the only guardrails AI needs is a strong and smart president. Speaking to reporters from a wheelchair outside the Senate chamber Monday, Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell said he was looking forward to casting his first vote since the fall at his home in June.
I wasn't sure how many of you would be here today. So I'm glad to see you. Time to get back to work.
How is Mitch McConnell's health affecting his Senate duties?
McConnell's three month long absence raised questions about his ability to serve in Congress. McConnell said he'll see uh he's still not quite back to one hundred percent, but he has assured Senate Majority Leader John Thune that he will do his best to be present for tough votes. The Republican candidate for Texas's oil and gas regulating body under fire after posting a statement that Republican and Democratic officials condemning as racist here's NPR's uh Houston public media's Andrew Schneider.
Bo French, the GOP candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner, posted a photo Sunday of a group of Asian Americans at a University of Texas football game, saying it illustrated quote, how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners? Asked about it on the Mark Davis show on Monday, French doubled down.
DEI was discriminating against deserving people so that, you know, these liberal bureaucrat uh administrators at U University of Texas and places like that could select their preferred groups of people. Well that that is what is racism.
Republican Senator John Cornyn and Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Houston both denounced French.
Why did Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French spark controversy with his comments on Asian Americans?
Meanwhile, French's Democratic opponent, State Representative John Rosenthal, said Bo French spent Sunday morning sorting our students section by skin color.
This is MPR News. Trump administration has been dealt a setback at the Supreme Court. The court Monday declined to allow the Postal Service to enforce a rule targeting mail ballots. The White House wanted restrictions in place before the November midterm elections. But the justices upheld a federal judge's ruling that block the rule while legal challenges proceed. One of the most essential water sources in the American Southwest, the Rio Grande, is experiencing one of its driest periods ever. Bryce Dicks with Member Station KUN reports.
In Albuquerque, there is no water in the riverbed, a feat that has only happened three times in almost half a century.
What did the Supreme Court decide about the Postal Service's mail‑ballot rule?
Without water, the river's wildlife and vegetation are struggling. Paul Tashin is a conservationist with Audubon Southwest.
It's kind of existential what we're seeing out there. I don't think we're going to see a complete dieback, but we might end up with thirty percent less trees come next year.
The historic dryness is due to a combination of low winter snowpack, persistent drought, and record breaking heat. In a last ditch effort to bring some relief, multiple groups came together this month to dump over six hundred fifty million gallons of water to rewet the Rio Grande.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why are AI company leaders urging slower development of powerful AI systems?
0:00–0:50
2
What is President Trump's response to tech leaders' AI safety warnings?
0:50–1:41
3
How is Mitch McConnell's health affecting his Senate duties?
1:41–2:49
4
Why did Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French spark controversy with his comments on Asian Americans?
2:49–3:38
5
What did the Supreme Court decide about the Postal Service's mail‑ballot rule?
3:38–4:21
6
How is the historic drought affecting the Rio Grande and what relief efforts are underway?
4:21–5:03