AI Agents Hacked a Government Site
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As Trump and Xi prepare to meet in Washington, will the US confront Beijing over its support for Iran? Plus, a judge orders the White House to restore access to banned journalists. And in an apparent first, an AI agent hacks into government files, sparking anger in Australia.
This is a very serious incident, as the prime minister has made clear overnight. It is utterly unacceptable.
It's Thursday, September 24th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The U.S. and China have agreed to extend a bilateral trade truce until January, delaying higher tariffs that had been set to go into effect in November. That announcement came just hours after Chinese leader Xi Jinping landed in Washington for a state visit. That said, expectations for today's meeting are low, with China ultimately deciding against bringing a corporate delegation to the U.S. and a number of thorny issues separating the two sides, including AI regulation, U.S. support for Taiwan, and the war with Iran. We are reporting that in recent months, China has sent around 1,300 shipments of dual-use components to Iran's defense ministry, including parts used in drones and missiles, building on other forms of support for Tehran, including oil purchases and the processing of Iranian financial transactions.
Journal reporter Rory Jones says American officials are walking a tightrope when it comes to discussing China's support for Iran.
We should be very clear that Beijing has said that it opposes attempts to smear China by associating it with the conflict, and Beijing maintains that it supports efforts towards peace. For the record, Iranian officials didn't respond to requests for comment on our reporting. But this leaves Washington in a tricky spot. It's obviously sanctioning Iran and the Treasury has sanctioned some Chinese entities that it believes are helping Iran. But at the same time, the White House has proven reluctant to more seriously confront Beijing over its support for Tehran. Ahead of this week's summit, we report that Trump told officials and aides that maintaining good relations with Xi is a priority for this administration, and that as a result of that, you're going to see senior officials playing down, and they have played down, the significance of the aid that Beijing has provided.
However, there is a sense among some in the administration that that by failing to more aggressively confront Beijing in its support for Iran, that the U.S. has weaker leverage over Iran. And we've seen bipartisan calls for President Trump to take on Xi more directly.
Meanwhile, back at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, says that elections will be held in the country, but she offered no details on when or how a democratic transition would occur. Those comments from Rodriguez, the former deputy of ousted leader Nicolas Maduro, follow three unsuccessful attempts by Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Karina Machado to return to the country in recent days. Machado sat down with our Vera Bergen-Gruen last week in Panama and tried to pitch her return as a contribution to Venezuela's transition, not a challenge to the government.
This is not about me. This is about 30 million Venezuelans that are suffering and demanding the possibility to move ahead into transition to democracy and freedom, to have our children come back home, to rebuild institutions to turn Venezuela into the greatest ally of the United States for long term.
Instead, recent developments appear to have entrenched Washington's partnership with Rodriguez, including the announcement of a major oil deal negotiated with her government.
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