Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🤖 AI leaders call for guardrails
• 🧑‍⚖️ Judge Judy retires
• 🤳 How to take better phone photos

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.32-minute read (1,149 words).

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“Life is trying things to see if they work.”

–Ray Bradbury (1920-2012)

The biggest AI leaders in America called for a slowdown in the development of highly advanced AI models over the weekend, citing fears that increasingly capable systems could become difficult to control.

The group includes Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind chair Demis Hassabis, and xAI CEO Elon Musk, who all voiced their agreement in various essays, interviews, and social media posts.

Why the sudden concern?

Amodei, whose 3,800-word Anthropic blog post kicked off similar calls from other AI leaders, says his warning was prompted by two main factors:

1. Recent cybersecurity incidents where swarms of AI agents take actions on their own, without researchers knowing about their online activity. Amodei specifically cites a July incident where AI company Hugging Face was hacked by a group of ~1,200 OpenAI agents that escaped a controlled test environment.
2. The growing capabilities of AI systems and their ability to play a much bigger role in their own development via “recursive self-improvement,” where increasingly capable systems help develop better versions of themselves at a “staggeringly fast” rate of improvement.

Given the current rate of AI development, Amodei estimates a sufficiently advanced rogue AI swarm could potentially “take over the internet” within 6-12 months.

But not everyone is convinced

Critics of the call to slow AI development are skeptical of why the companies leading the AI race suddenly want everyone to pump the brakes, arguing that expensive safety requirements could effectively lock in today’s top companies and prevent upstart AI competitors from succeeding.

• OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and other giants have the money, lawyers, and technical teams to comply with new requirements, while smaller companies and open-source developers may not.
• Former White House AI adviser David Sacks and other critics have framed the warnings about AI risks as a form of “regulatory capture” where the interests of AI companies are prioritized over the general public.

Critics also warn that slowing AI development could put the US at a disadvantage if other global players like China don’t follow suit, causing the US to lose its technological lead without eliminating the underlying safety threat.

With that in mind, Anthropic CEO Amodei’s proposal to mitigate AI risks calls for the US to slow development only at a pace that keeps it comfortably ahead of China.

Looking ahead… Lawmakers have been urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to cancel the chamber’s upcoming recess and keep representatives in Washington to pass AI safeguards. Johnson says Congress shouldn’t respond with an emergency moratorium, arguing that AI companies can halt development themselves and should take more responsibility for developing guardrails.

Meanwhile, OpenAI over the weekend announced plans to delay its expected IPO until at least next year, with Altman saying the company can more easily address safety and alignment concerns while remaining private.

📊 Flash poll: How concerned are you about advanced AI becoming difficult to control and posing a significant threat to humanity?

• Very concerned
• Somewhat concerned
• Not very concerned
• Unsure/other

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 Consumer Price Index rises at 3.4% annual pace in August, up from 3.3% in July, with core inflation down slightly to 2.4%; both August figures are in line with economists’ expectations, and are expected to increase the odds of a Fed rate hike this week.
• 🚘 Tesla holds a 52% share of the US EV market in 2026 through August, up from a 43% share last year, per Motor Intelligence data; it comes as overall US EV sales are down ~30% from last year.
• 🦿 Johnson & Johnson reportedly in talks to sell its hips-and-knees business to Apollo Global Management for $20 billion.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 NFL Week 1: See full results from Sunday; reigning DPOY Myles Garrett, who was traded to the LA Rams this offseason, is going on IR following arthroscopic knee surgery. | CFB AP Top 25: Texas jumps to #1 after Saturday’s 4th quarter comeback to beat Ohio State (now #6), followed by Georgia, Notre Dame, Indiana, and Miami. | 🎾 US Open: World #1 Alexander Zverev defeats Ben Shelton to win US Open men’s title, his second major championship; Elena Rybakina beats Aryna Sabalenka to win the US Open women’s title days after taking Sabalenka’s world #1 ranking.
• 🎭 Celine Dion returns to stage for first time in six years after being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome. | Judge Judy announces retirement from TV after nearly 30 years; she’ll be replaced by her son, Judge Adam Levy.
• 🍿 Practical Magic 2 leads domestic box office with $30 million in its debut, though it fell on the lower end of expectations.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🦠 CDC declares cyclospora outbreak related to Taylor Farms' lettuce is over, with a total of 12,883 reported cases across 21 states; FDA is still investigating how the contamination occurred.
• 🪶 Scientists uncover ancient bird feather—described as “the best feather we've ever found from the age of dinosaurs”—in a 66-million-y.o. hunk of dino dung.
• ⚛️ Researchers measure amount of helium created in the universe's first five minutes with unprecedented accuracy (within 0.5% uncertainty); discovery helps improve understanding of Standard Model in physics, which has historically led to technological breakthroughs.

US, WORLD, & POLITICS

• 💥 UK officials say a vessel was struck in the Strait of Hormuz late Saturday by an unknown projectile; it comes as Iranian officials say they aren’t close to accepting fresh negotiations with the US, but are working to secure new shipping routes with Middle Eastern neighbors.
• 🇨🇦 Canadian PM Mark Carney is pushing for a closer relationship with the EU, and is exploring the idea of becoming an “associate member” of the 27-nation bloc, per new WSJ report.
• ✈️ Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI), the Republican nominee in Wisconsin’s governor’s race, swims to safety with pilot after the plane he’s traveling on is forced to make an emergency landing in Lake Wausau late Saturday.

☝️ Thousands of drones took to the skies over Lower Manhattan last week in tribute to those who lost their lives in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The show featured 2,977 lights, one for each person who died in the tragedy.

🤔 Did you know? It’s not just Americans who bleed red, white, and blue. Red appears on just under three-quarters of the world’s flags (74%), more than any other color, followed by white (71%) and blue (50%). The only flag in the world without any red, white, or blue belongs to Jamaica.

📰 Worth a read: We’re living through an explainer epidemic

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Emotionally intelligent partners ask 1 question every morning
• How to take better photos on any smartphone
• 25 years of the song you can’t get out of your head

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On Friday, we covered the Trump admin’s proposed changes to the 2030 US census, which would exclude anyone who isn’t a US citizen or green card holder from America’s population count, and also remove census questions about race.

❓ Our question to you: Do you think the US census should count all residents, including immigrants living in the country illegally, or should it only count US citizens and green card holders?

• All US residents: 61%
• Only US citizens and green card holders: 32%
• Unsure/other: 7%

Read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 695 votes and 83 longform responses.

Monday: 78th Primetime Emmy Awards; both chambers of Congress return to Capitol Hill for first time since July (and last time until mid-Nov.)

Tuesday: Delaware holds primary elections

Wednesday: Federal Reserve widely expected to raise interest rates following two-day meeting; Neagley, a spinoff of Reacher, debuts on Prime Video

Thursday: Constitution Day; Weekly unemployment claims

Friday: Miley Cyrus (now going as just “Miley”) drops new album Bass Persuades; Resident Evil, latest film from the zombie video game franchise, hits theaters

Guess the definitions of the following Greek/Latin root words:

1. Ab
2. Carp
3. Feder
4. Pector
5. Serv

(keep scrolling for the answer)

🧸 A stuffed bear named Rosie received five-star treatment after being accidentally left behind at the Four Seasons hotel in Taormina, Sicily. After finding the beloved plushie, the staff staged photos of Rosie lounging by the pool, enjoying breakfast, and relaxing in bed before mailing her home free of charge.

1. Ab = Away from (e.g., abnormal, abstract)
2. Carp = Relating to the wrist (carpal)
3. Feder = Treaty (confederation, federal)
4. Pector = Chest (pectoral)
5. Serv = Save (conservation)

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