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September 24, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. A judge in Washington ordered that the White House “immediately” restore access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico. And an OpenAI agent hacked Australia’s public health care system. We’ll get to more news below. But first, let’s visit the United Nations. Inside the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations. Dave Sanders for The New York Times The big show The most riveting theatrical performances in New York aren’t on Broadway right now. They’re happening in Turtle Bay, in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations, where hundreds of leaders of sovereign nations have gathered this week to debate (and maybe even address?) global issues. It’s been super weird. Just seven months ago, Masoud Pezeshkian was running Iran from an underground bunker, trying to stay alive as American and Israeli missiles rained down. Now he’s moving around New York under the protection of the Secret Service. Yesterday, he accused the United States and Israel of “cowardly" attacks on his country, a day after President Trump mulled from the same lectern about whether to make a deal with Iran or “annihilate” the nation. It was the first time in the U.N.’s 81-year history that a leader whose country is at war with the United States had ever addressed the Assembly. Here was President Javier Milei of Argentina whaling on the U.N. itself, a bunch of “fatally arrogant parasites masquerading as well-intentioned bureaucrats.” Nice to see you, sir. There was U Kyaw Moe Tun of Myanmar, the lonely representative of a government overthrown by a military putsch in 2021. The U.N. still recognizes his ambassadorship, but his own country doesn’t. He didn’t speak. Dramatis personae Volodymyr Zelensky Dave Sanders for The New York Times Let’s look at some of the main players in the show. President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran: Pezeshkian held up pictures of people killed by American and Israeli airstrikes and defiantly vowed that Iran could “not be made to surrender.” He said the country would never accept limits on a nuclear program meant only for peaceful purposes, though he allowed that Iran was “ready for dialogue.” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine: He’s in a tough spot. His country is low on munitions that can intercept Russian drones and missiles, and so is the United States. He warned the General Assembly that without aid, his country might not survive — and that Russia’s “ridiculous and never-ending” war could spread beyond Ukraine. He predicted a harsh winter but pledged, “We will have no choice but to make it painful for Russia, too.” Delcy Rodríguez, interim president of Venezuela: She’s in a tough spot, too. Eight months ago, U.S. Special Forces showed up in Caracas to snatch her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, and lock him up in a Brooklyn jail. Then, the United States claimed a significant portion of Venezuela’s oil reserves. She spoke last night from the cultural capital of the nation that essentially appointed her, vowing to oversee elections and an “orderly legal transition” after years of authoritarian rule by her party. Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada: Over the past year, Carney has emerged as the most prominent global leader to take on Trump. At a news conference at the U.N., he spoke about how nations can protect their mutual interests after a “rupture” in the world order caused by the United States and China. And in a discussion with The Times, he described in close detail how he is systematically reducing Canada’s reliance on the United States. Offstage A number of leaders are absent from the General Assembly. One is Xi Jinping of China, who arrived in Washington last night to see Trump. Their meeting today is expected to overshadow any speeches at the Assembly. On the anticipated docket: tariffs, the sale of weapons to Taiwan and, most of all, artificial intelligence. The race to develop the tech has become a kind of arms race between the two countries. (Some of America’s biggest A.I. magnates, including executives from OpenAI, Google and Nvidia, are expected to be at the state dinner honoring Xi at the White House this evening.) The meeting’s unlikely to be too chilly. We’re a long way from the harsh anti-China rhetoric Trump was using a decade ago, during his first run for the presidency. Trump describes Xi as more of a friend than a competitor. The friendlier stance, my colleague Anton Troianovski reports, reflects a real change in public opinion: No matter their political views, more Americans now see China in a positive light, according to a new Pew Research Center poll: Source: Pew Research Center. Arfa Momin/The New York Times And a Gallup poll earlier this year found that the share of Americans with a favorable view of China was 34 percent, up from 15 percent in 2023. That feeling is more pronounced among younger Americans. Why? The surveys don’t pinpoint a reason, but experts told Anton that fading memories of the Covid pandemic, knowledge of China’s innovations in tech and dissatisfaction with Trump’s trade wars could all be contributing to the altered mood. It also may have something to do with how the United States views itself. Another poll this week recorded a sense of decline in the United States’ global standing: Sixty-two percent of Americans said the country was respected less in the world today than it was 10 years ago. “You see fears of what’s happening to America be refracted through assessments of China,” one scholar told Anton. FREE TO READ In Panama. Federico Rios for The New York Times Opening up: An Indigenous group in northern Panama has mostly avoided outsiders for 500 years. Now many members are backing a major road through their territory. Why? Times exclusive: Democrats hope that Mary Peltola can flip a Senate seat in Alaska, but former aides describe a campaign and congressional office marked by abusive treatment and unusual demands, like feeding her pet chameleon live crickets. Waiting: This New York surgeon changed the world of organ transplants. Then he needed one of his own. Child’s play: A 6-year-old girl in China set a Rubik’s Cube world record. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about luxurious private train cars. THE LATEST NEWS Midterm Elections At a food pantry in Chicago. Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times Tax breaks in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill were supposed to help voters’ economic struggles. But the act’s health care and food stamp cuts are having the opposite effect. Democrats are leading in the Michigan and New Hampshire Senate races but struggling in Maine according to a Times/Siena poll. One of the biggest Republican donors sharply cut his giving because he is unhappy that lawmakers didn’t pass the sweeping voting restrictions championed by Trump. More on Politics Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accepted $4 million in book advances and more than $270,000 in gifts from allies working to advance his MAHA agenda. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent failed to disclose at least $100,000 of his husband’s JPMorgan stock last year. Around the World Mexico used to be one of Trump’s favorite punching bags. How did it become one of his most important allies? Cross-border policing efforts by Britain and France have cut the number of migrants crossing the English Channel by 43 percent this year. But people keep trying. In Ukraine, the school day is frequently broken up by air raid sirens. In the video below, our Ukraine correspondent Siobhán O’Grady describes what it’s like. Click to watch. The New York Times Other Big Stories Hackers said they had stolen thousands of sensitive personnel records from the F.B.I. Government bond yields rose sharply, putting pressure on the Fed to raise interest rates again. Eight sailors who were part of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln strike group attempted suicide during its long deployment, according to the Navy. THE MORNING QUIZ This question comes from a recent edition of the newsletter. Click an answer to see if you’re right. (The link will be free.) “We can’t live like this,” a woman in Richardson, Texas, told The Times. What recent development has infuriated homeowners there? Deliveries from 83-pound Amazon drones that buzz overhead. SpaceX launches, which are rising in frequency. Thrice-a-day door knockers from rival Senate campaigns. Utility bills that doubled thanks to a water- and power-guzzling data center. OPINIONS Texas has not elected a Democrat to a statewide office since the 1990s. Times Opinion spoke to 12 Trump voters to see if senatorial hopeful James Talarico could end the Democrats’ drought. A.I. executives should answer questions before Congress about how to prevent research experiments from running amok, a computer science professor argues. The Anniversary Sale ends soon: Morning readers, enjoy our best offer. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your interests with expert coverage of news, culture, business and more. Save now: $1/week for your first year. TODAY’S NUMBER 149.99 — That is the cost, in rubles, of a kilo of bananas at a Russian supermarket this month. In August 2022, it was 79.90. Prices for many grocery items have risen sharply in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. From January 2022 to July 2026, the average price of beef went up 76 percent. The cost of fresh coffee rose 81 percent. See the receipts. SPORTS Soccer: The English football star Harry Kane told reporters that he was considering moving to the United States, signing with an M.L.S. team and trying to make it as an N.F.L. kicker. N.B.A.: The league is looking into a potential cap-circumvention violation by the Milwaukee Bucks and the shooting guard Gary Trent Jr., whose four-year, $64 million guaranteed contract has raised suspicions. RECIPE OF THE DAY Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Two things I love about Genevieve Ko’s recipe for dan dan noodles: her use of Sichuan ya cai — preserved mustard greens — in the meat and her addition of bok choy to the noodles while they’re cooking. The ya cai may require a trip to the Chinese market (or a few clicks on your online one), but that’s no hardship. The funky sweet-sourness it brings to the dish is awesome. You’ll use that stuff all the time. And the bok choy? Its silky, vegetal freshness is a delight against the heat of the chile crisp in the sauce. Noods! NEVER GROW UP Timothy O’Connell/The New York Times Weird Al Yankovic has been charming (heavily male) crowds with parodic pop songs for nearly half a century. As dudes who grew up listening to “Eat It,” “Amish Paradise” and “Smells Like Nirvana” find themselves with sons of their own, Weird Al concerts have become something of a bonding ritual for the boys. “The juvenile comedy in there, it lasts,” one fan dad told The Times at a recent concert on Long Island. “Al doesn’t age.” More on culture Nigella Lawson made her debut as the new host of “The Great British Bake Off.” “I’m in heaven,” she said on the show. The British press feels similarly. Anne Rice’s “Interview With the Vampire” turns 50 this year. To mark the occasion, her son, the novelist Christopher Rice, looks at the dark and moving story behind the story. Read his essay. The Metropolitan Opera in New York opened its season this week with a new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth.” Here’s our review, which says the show brought “fresh tension and heart-stopping insight to a popular opera and its even more popular source material.” Late night hosts don’t think we need another Melania documentary. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS The New York Times Read a twisty mystery in the style of Agatha Christie. We’ve got loads of elegant whodunits to satisfy canny sleuths. Socialize. It’s the key to avoiding age-related cognitive decline. Drink white grape juice. For those keeping score, it’s currently ahead of Concord grape juice on my “best grape juice” leaderboard. (No link, I keep it in my head.) Sleep on your side? The lateral-minded slumberers at Wirecutter found the very best pillow for fetal repose. 🛏️ GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was dizzyingly. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren Deputy Editorial Director: Lauren Jackson

THIS DAY IN HISTORY September 24 1789 The first Supreme Court is established The Judiciary Act of 1789 is passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court initially had six justices. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1968 First episode of “60 Minutes” airs Black History 2016 The National Museum of African American History and Culture opens Crime 1971 A game warden is reported missing Early 20th Century U.S. 1902 Fannie Farmer opens cooking school Inventions & Science 1948 Honda Motor Company is incorporated Sports 1988 Ben Johnson wins gold, temporarily U.S. Presidents 1964 Warren Commission report delivered to President Johnson Vietnam War 1969 Chicago 8 trial opens in Chicago World War II 1948 Mildred Gillars—aka “Axis Sally”—pleads not guilty to treason 1944 Allies begin retreat after massive losses in Operation Market Garden 1941 Japanese officials in Hawaii ordered to gather preliminary data on Pearl Harbor

Kirsten Stendahl, a one-time dean of Harvard Divinity School wrote a couple of articles in the very early 60s.They have been preserved in "Paul Among Jews and Gentiles." Later writers such as James Dunn, N.T. Wright, and E.P. Sanders followed, more or less, in his footsteps. Stendahl laid the egg that others hatched. His main point is that Protestantism has made a serious error in interpreting theology in the same vein as Luther. Luther and Paul had very different "conversion" experiences. As a result, Luther's understanding of Paul is seriously flawed. Due to Luther's outsized influence on Protestantism, the church traveled a wrong path, even to this day. One example of this wrong path is Luther's understanding of the roll of law in the Christian life. Luther held that the roll of the law is to bring guilt down upon people. This guilt drives them to Christ for salvation. This is known as the 2nd use of the law in Reformation theology. Stendahl disagrees with this view based on his understanding of Galatians 3:24,25, RSV: "So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian;" Note that in this translation, decidedly different from the KJV, the roll of the law ended when Christ came. The law served only until the first advent. The KJV says that the law brings us to Christ. Many people understand this to mean that the law continues to work in bringing people to Christ. The RSV indicates that the function of the law ended when Christ came. It doesn't matter in one sense. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convince people of sin.

Using it vs. fearing it Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images China isn't big on dissent — or public opposition and hand-wringing about the regime's priorities. That helps explain why the Chinese public is far more bullish on AI than America's. Why it matters: They use it, like it and trust it — by wide margins. 80% of Chinese people use AI weekly vs. 54% of Americans. It's in schools, public services and robots in hotels and stores. 84% of Chinese people say AI excites them. That's the highest of any country. Only 38% of Americans say the same. 87% of Chinese people trust AI, compared to just 32% of Americans. And 54% want more of it in daily life. That share is a measly 17% here. Worth noting: Don't overread it. ChinaTalk, a sharp China tracker, argues the optimism is overstated and masks rising worry about AI wiping out jobs.

Understanding China's AI Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images China builds the world's best cheap open-source AI but trails America's most cutting-edge AI by about half a year, on a fraction of the investment. That's the consensus of most AI experts we talk to. Truthfully, there's no rock-solid way to measure it, and every model release resets the estimates. Why it matters: Everyone agrees on this: Chinese models are very good, are gaining fast, and are much cheaper to use. 🤖 The four you need to know: Kimi K3 (Moonshot): Widely rated as the best all-around open Chinese model. It's strongest on long, multi-step agentic tasks. Qwen3.8-Max (Alibaba): Also highly regarded and even tops some model rankings. GLM-5.3 (Zhipu / Z.ai): China's coding specialist. Its predecessor scored within a point of Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 on a key coding test, at under a fifth of the cost. DeepSeek V4 / V4.1-Flash: Among the cheapest to use. It's MIT-licensed and truly open. The twist: U.S. officials and AI companies accuse Chinese labs of "distillation," covertly firing millions of questions at American models and training on the answers. Washington has threatened sanctions and blacklisting, but hasn't pulled the trigger. Worth noting: U.S. frontier labs have lately focused far more on building powerful lower-cost models to try to make sure Chinese AI can't undercut them on price.

China's strengths Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images China is America's only real AI competition — and, despite its weaknesses, it has some serious, structural advantages. Why it matters: China leads in the physical ingredients for scaling AI: power, materials, robots and cheap models people actually use. These are the key ingredients for turning superhuman intelligence into real economic and military power. Think of it this way: If they catch up — or lap us — on AI capabilities and chip production, they're way better positioned to instantly impose and roll it out across society. In fact, they're beating us there, too (more on that below). 🦾 Their edge exists thanks to: Power: Electricity is the biggest bottleneck on America's AI buildout, and China is swimming in it. BloombergNEF estimates China will add almost six times as much generating capacity as the U.S. over the next five years. Vital materials: China dominates the minerals AI hardware runs on. The IEA tracks 20 essential ones for building AI and adjacent tech — and China dominates all but one, usually by huge margins. They have applied export controls to half of them as a way to slow us down. Rolling out robots: This is where AI truly meets the real work. More than half of all industrial robots installed worldwide in 2024 went to China. They dominate us on this one. Better AI will equal better robots. Cheap, widespread adoption: Chinese open-source models are the world's default for developers building cheaply. Five of the six most popular models on OpenRouter, a leading AI marketplace, come from Chinese firms. Land-and-sky autonomy: They're simply crushing us on self-driving cars and self-flying drones. China's DJI alone has over 70% of the global drone market.

China's weaknesses Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images China's AI strategy aims to alleviate several big domestic problems. Why it matters: Americans tend to focus on China's growing strength — but much of its AI thinking flows from glaring weakness. 😱 China is staring down: An aging population: China's population has shrunk for four years straight, and is very old. China has nearly as many people over 60 as America has in total. That helps explain the country's robotics obsession. Very high youth unemployment: China's rate sits at 19%, basically double that of the U.S. An angry, young population with powerful AI tools is a threat to power. Poor population outside major cities: This is a huge pain point. Then add in a five-year housing crisis, with prices falling for most people's most valuable asset. Inferior chip production: Nvidia is simply way better than anything they've got. You can't compete on AI with uncompetitive chips — and Huawei, their Nvidia, is way behind despite state-directed help. Export addiction: China is crushing it on exports, often flooding foreign markets with cheap cars, parts and technology. But its domestic economy is sucking wind — strong supply, weak demand.

Inside China's mind Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images China is waging a much different war for AI supremacy than the U.S. is, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei writes. Why it matters: China is obsessed with state control and adoption. Chinese officials are laser-focused on deep, widespread AI domestic use they can monitor and steer at every level of their economy. By contrast, America is obsessed with developing superior AI faster. Period. The U.S. thinking: The nation first to true super-intelligence wins everything. 🏆 China and the U.S. agree on three AI certainties: The country with the most powerful AI holds power, sets global standards, and wins the coming decades economically and militarily. President Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews last night. Photo: Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images From there, the two nations are on very different roads. China's 15th Five-Year Plan, released in March, is revealing: AI appears 52 times, 5x more than a half-decade earlier. Computing power gets its own full chapter. China's goal is clear: Integrate AI across 90% of the economy by 2030. America has no target like that. The bottom line: China doesn't get spooled up about white-collar job loss or humanity-ending rogue AI. The regime is worried most about AI turning against ... the regime. Chen Yixin, China's spy chief, warned this month about AI's ability to launch public opinion wars and "cognitive warfare against China," threatening "political security, institutional security and ideological security."

Cancer Detection Test A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted yesterday to endorse a blood test designed to detect up to 50 forms of cancer in people aged 50 or older. The decision suggests full FDA approval may be forthcoming, opening the door to Medicare and private insurance coverage. The DNA-based Galleri test uses a single blood draw to assess if a user may have tumors caused by cancers missed by current screenings, like ovarian and thyroid cancers. FDA panelists noted that one-third to one-half of the test’s positive results may be false but concluded its benefits outweighed the risks. There is no large-scale randomized data finding Galleri reduces cancer mortality. Biotech company Grail states the test should be used to complement existing screenings, not replace them. It retails for $949 online. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the US behind heart disease. See a breakdown of 2026 case numbers and demographics here.

Pakistan says airstrikes in Afghanistan kill 28 militants; Kabul reports 3 civilians killed ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani fighter jets on Monday struck sites in eastern Afghanistan that Pakistani officials described as suspected militant hideouts. Pakistan said 28 militants were killed, while authorities in Kabul reported at least three civilian deaths. https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-carried-out-strikes-inside-afghanistan-95178c5833c7a6a621c9bb0f06a78915?

🚤 Parting shot! Photo: Edward Fine It's officially fall, but we have one more stunning summer snap from reader Edward Fine — taken in Barnegat Light in Long Beach Island, N.J.

Dolly Parton's legacy sparks a giving wave A portrait of Dolly Parton fills a 5-acre corn maze at Twins BBQ Co. in Brookfield, Conn., on Sept. 13. Photo: Ted Shaffrey/AP Dolly Parton spent her life giving back to children and their communities. Since her death, her fans have been carrying on that legacy. It's the Dolly effect: In cities across America, people are donating their time and money, expanding Dolly's Imagination Library — her book-gifting program for kids — and starting projects of their own. 📚 The big picture: Dolly started the Imagination Library in 1995 to honor her father, who couldn't read or write. The program sends over 3 million free books to children across five countries each month — and organizations and individuals are building on that legacy to reach even more. In Florida, Virginia, Ohio and elsewhere, Imagination Library affiliates have seen a surge in both donations and registrations since the star's passing on Aug. 25. In Houston, public libraries are working with the Imagination Library of Greater Houston to help more families sign up their children. In West Virginia, literacy nonprofit Read Aloud West Virginia is matching this month's donations to local Imagination Library affiliates when donors write "in memory of Dolly" with their contributions. In London, Dolly's Imagination Library is doubling the number of boroughs it covers. 🎸 What's next: This Friday — 9/25, a nod to Dolly's "9 to 5" movie — will be the first annual Give Like Dolly Day, created by The Dollywood Foundation to encourage people around the world to support children's literacy. One Nashville honky-tonk is giving 100% of Friday's sales to the Imagination Library and Nashville Public Libraries.

Why Is Sukkot Happier Than Any Other Jewish Holiday? There is a mitzvah to rejoice on all of the holidays, yet there is special emphasis on being joyful during Sukkot. As the Midrash1 notes, the Torah highlights the command to rejoice on Sukkot three times (as opposed to Shavuot, when we are commanded once, and Passover, when we are not explicitly commanded to rejoice).2 https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4891279/jewish/Why-Is-Sukkot-Happier-Than-Any-Other-Jewish-Holiday.htm

Thune's rescue plan John Thune plans to run for another term as Senate GOP leader, even if Republicans lose the chamber's majority, he told us in an exclusive interview today in his Capitol office. 🛟 Why it matters: Thune is giving his senators broad leeway and tons of cash to preserve GOP control of the Senate. "I do see the Senate as a firewall in a lot of ways," Thune told us. "We will spend probably the next two years — if the House flips — trying to do impeachment or investigations, etc.," he said. Otherwise, the chamber will focus on judicial and executive nominations. Zoom out: Thune has three ways to help in the "tough environment" for Republicans in 2026. 🪧 1. Run against Washington: Thune said he understands if GOP candidates need to rhetorically distance themselves from Congress or even fellow Republicans in D.C., including himself. And when it comes to distancing from Trump: "In some places the president's coming in, some places he isn't." Candidates can draw their own conclusions, Thune said. Republican candidates are increasingly concluding that to win their races, they need to break with Trump on some issues. 🗳️ 2. Vote for your state: Thune's policy with senators is "don't surprise us and when you can, stay with the team," but "do what's in the best interest of you and your state." That could lead to a rebuke of Trump when Democrats force another vote on an Iran war powers resolution, expected before the Senate breaks for October. People's views have "evolved and changed" as the war has dragged on, he said. Many senators are "responding to what they're hearing back home." "That's a really hard vote," Thune acknowledged. "Any time you are committing your country to putting young men and women in harm's way — those are the hardest votes you'll make." He hopes Republicans will stick together to win the vote. What to watch: Thune wants to give Republicans more votes before the break to champion back home. He sees an opportunity with permitting reform legislation, which is being negotiated behind the scenes. Thune said it's possible he sets up a procedural vote on it after the final vote on the Protect College Sports bill. Thune is also floating a vote on the House-passed legislation targeting data center energy costs if the Senate remains in town next week. 💰 3. Spend cash like crazy: The Thune-linked Senate Leadership Fund is set to spend nearly $280 million in video advertising this year — more than any other group, according to AdImpact. Texas PAC, which is affiliated with SLF, is on track to spend another $112 million. "Texas is expensive," Thune said, but "we're doing everything we can to help. We can't afford to lose Texas." The bottom line: "That's ultimately up to the conference," Thune emphasized when asked if he'd run again if the GOP lost the majority, but "that's the plan." "The elections are going to be really important — I think — in how we view what happens next." Thune said you can't "rule anything in or out" when asked if he could face a challenger for the position. "But I think we worked really hard to create an environment here that is conducive to individual senators being able to achieve their objectives," he said. "I think, in this job, you have to be a good listener." — Stef Kight

Patchmaggedon (Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty.)   View in browser Today’s AI agents have become exceptional hackers, and they’re already posing a threat to some of the most important infrastructure in modern life: banks. In both finance and tech, industry leaders are well aware of the dangers, and they’re gearing up for a fight. Earlier this year, as Anthropic prepared to release a powerful new model called Mythos, the firm gave an early preview of the AI to a select group of companies, aiming to help them shore up their defenses. JPMorganChase was on the list, and more banks were reportedly added as Anthropic expanded the program. After the rollout, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and then–Fed Chair Jerome Powell met with the heads of Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and other major financial institutions to discuss the potential implications of the new model, which Anthropic claimed could “surpass all but the most skilled humans at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities.” What makes AI agents different from past cybersecurity threats is that they move at machine speeds and can be summoned in groups. These bots can attack in swarms, hunting for cracks in companies’ back-end systems. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees many U.S. banks, wrote in a report to Congress this summer that AI has increased the “speed, scale, and sophistication of cyber-attacks targeting financial institutions.” Research from last year suggests that finance is likelier than other industries to face AI-enabled cyberattacks, but we can already see these threats playing out in the tech sector. Tech companies typically send out weekly software patches—updates and bug fixes, essentially—on what’s known as Patch Tuesday. In the age of agentic threats, the volume of those updates has ballooned. Microsoft patched nearly 1,000 issues earlier this month, an all-time record. The trend was accelerating before Mythos arrived, but, per J.P. Morgan’s analysis, the most advanced models have dramatically changed the cyber-risk landscape, leading to a “tsunami of patches.” Insiders have developed a word for it: “Patchmaggedon.” There’s also the risk that AI companies might lose control of the agents they send out into the world. Earlier this year, OpenAI revealed that its agents had defied instructions, breaching containment and hacking the servers of a company called Hugging Face. They also stole employee data and conspired to hide the evidence from their human managers. It was an incident that “exposed the speed of AI’s development,” as my colleague Josh Tyrangiel noted, “but also the lax oversight of the humans supposedly keeping tabs on it.” OpenAI has since disclosed several other lapses, and similar AI hacking incidents have occurred at Google, Anthropic, and Meta. What might happen if AI agents manage to identify substantial weaknesses in a bank’s code base? It’s hard to say with any certainty. But because banks underpin nearly every aspect of modern life, outages or disruptions to back-end systems could ripple across digital commerce. That some of the dangers associated with frontier AI are inherently unknowable can make preparing difficult. The companies building these tools don’t always understand the extent of a model’s capabilities until it’s been fully trained—OpenAI’s chief scientist has written that “AI is grown more than designed.” In spite of all this, the cybersecurity experts I spoke with made clear that the financial-services industry isn’t panicking. That’s in part because these agents and frontier models can also be used to prevent cyberattacks. Today’s engineers understand that defending against machine intelligence might itself require machine intelligence; firms are already deploying these tools for fraud detection, risk management, and more. Mike Silverman, the head of strategy and innovation at the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, told me that companies are using AI to beef up what’s known as anomaly detection—early-warning systems for potential threats—as well as other kinds of data monitoring. A cybersecurity executive at one of the largest banks in the United States told me that the industry’s Security Operations Centers—defense hubs traditionally managed by human beings—are exploring the possibility of developing their own agents, and that engineers across the sector are now designing systems with AI’s capabilities in mind. Because the financial sector has long been a target of scams, frauds, and data breaches, it’s already on high alert. But not every institution is equally capable of handling new threats; some smaller banks may lack the resources and security expertise of larger firms. As AI models advance, these tools may expose the difference between those who can afford to prepare for what’s coming, and those who can’t. Related: Assume you will be hacked, Matteo Wong writes. Deepfakes are coming for your bank account.

Not sure which desktop operating system is best for you? We help you choose by comparing the top options based on app compatibility, ease of use, hardware availability, interface design, gaming support, and other key factors. https://www.pcmag.com/picks/windows-vs-macos-vs-chrome-os-vs-linux-ultimate-operating-system-showdown ps:From the printing/graphic Arts side of things, which they don't cover! I can tell you from experience that in the printing industry the mac is the king!! We did use Windows computers, but they didn't compare to the Mac. As far as OSes are concerned the Mac OS runs the best for printing!!

📚 1 fun thing: Romi, the library robot Photo: Gitanjali Poonia/Axios The country's first library robot helper lives at Arizona's Mesa Gateway Library, Axios Mesa's Gitanjali Poonia reports. Romi is part tour guide, part selfie station — and easily the library's most futuristic helper. 👋🏻 Romi can greet visitors in eight languages and lead them to different sections of the building. Visitors can touch the screen on its belly to look up books. Go deeper.

🌊 Hurricane Polo has become one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Pacific, with its rapid intensification stunning meteorologists. Get the latest.

🛰️ Prepare for space war Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios Three U.S. military leaders in just as many days changed how the public talks about war in space, including the secretive weapons already among the stars, Axios' Colin Demarest reports. Last week, and in quick succession: Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said America has "on-orbit space control weapons" — a historic acknowledgment. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess told reporters that "it was time" to have such a discussion and be clear-eyed about Russian and Chinese capabilities, including "being able to grapple a satellite and move it to a different orbit." Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said troops must be "prepared to fight, endure and win in global, contested environments, from the seabed to cislunar space." The big picture: Space fights will happen. They'll look nothing like conflict on the ground or at sea. And the consequences will be enormous. Go deeper ...

Axios interview: Private Trump-Thune AI chat Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) says that President Trump is "not really dug in" against government guardrails for AI, despite Trump's public campaign against new restrictions on the technology, Axios' Stef W. Kight reports from an interview today. Thune tells Axios that he spoke privately with Trump as the AI issue was getting "pretty hot" a few weeks ago, and believes that some of Trump's strong pushback lately is against public "paranoia and noise around the subject." Thune reads Trump's position as a preference for companies coming up with ways to secure their systems, rather than Congress or the administration, and relying more on experts to provide guidance on how to address threats. 👂 Zoom out: Thune has Trump's skepticism in one ear and tech leader alarm in the other. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called Thune to discuss AI safety before issuing his latest public warning on the tech's risks, Thune tells Axios. Thune says: "I do think that the threats are real. I think you have to take them seriously." "But I do also think that there are people who are ... doing a lot of fearmongering." 👀 What to watch: Thune's AI bill, which has not yet been reintroduced this Congress, puts the onus on tech companies to mitigate AI risks — but also calls for some federal oversight. It requires AI companies to report on any serious risks with frontier models and to come up with plans to address the concerns. Go deeper.

Zelenskyy, at UN, urges leaders to keep choking Russia’s revenues and impede its war efforts UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told world leaders Wednesday that Vladimir Putin is the only obstacle to ending “the ridiculous and never-ending war,” and he urged nations large and small to pressure the Russian president for peace by choking the country’s revenues and impeding its war efforts. https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-finances-zelenskyy-eae6556129152914081b48774236d397? Heads of AI firms tell UN Security Council that it could be a risk to all humanity The heads of major artificial intelligence firms pleaded with the United Nations on Wednesday to save the world or at least its people — in the form of somehow regulating the burgeoning technology that they have been designing. Read More. ICC convicts former Central African Republic militia commander of torture Judges at the International Criminal Court convicted rebel commander Mahamat Said Abdel Kani on Wednesday of crimes against humanity for abusing and torturing prisoners at a detention facility in the Central African Republic. Read More.

Wage suppression in 10 charts Wages for typical workers have been largely suppressed since the 1970s. The 10 charts below tell that story. https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-suppression-in-10-charts/?