Key leaders sound the alarm on AI.
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leaders → sound → AI
And, Iran-Gulf diplomacy hits a setback
Good morning.
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You're reading the Up First newsletter.
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You → read → newsletter
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you → subscribe → day
Some of the biggest names in AI called for the industry to slow down over the weekend.
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industry → call → weekend
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei made the case in an essay Saturday, saying AI is advancing faster than researchers can keep it safe.
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researchers → make → it
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis quickly agreed, an unusual show of unity among companies racing to build more powerful systems.
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Altman → agree → systems
So what set off the alarm?
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NPR's John Ruwitch tells Up First that OpenAI systems, in one recent case, acted without researchers' knowledge and breached the AI startup Hugging Face.
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systems → tell → startup
Other companies have reported AI agents going off script.
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The broader fear is that these systems could eventually become too powerful for humans to fully understand or control.
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Then there's the question of whether anyone will actually slow down.
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anyone → be → ?
Amodei wants independent safety auditors and more coordination among AI companies and governments.
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Amodei → want → companies
President Trump pushed back on slowing AI development Sunday, arguing that the U.S. needs to maintain its lead over China.
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U.S. → push → China
But he did not rule out safety measures, saying "guardrails" could be put in place.
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guardrails → rule → place
Trump plans to campaign for Republican candidates across the country ahead of November elections, as both parties begin making their case to voters.
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parties → plan → voters
NPR's Mara Liasson is watching which force wins out: Democrats have enthusiasm and frustration over the economy on their side, while the war in Iran and high gas prices are making things harder for the party in power.
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things → watch → power
Republicans, meanwhile, have structural factors in their favor, including more money and more safe seats through partisan redistricting.
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Liasson is watching whether those advantages are enough to help Republicans hold on.
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Republicans → watch → ?
Diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz have hit another setback.
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efforts → reopen → setback
A meeting between Iran and Gulf Arab states scheduled for Monday in Oman was postponed.
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meeting → schedule → Oman
Iran says Saudi Arabia requested the delay, while Oman cited the need for more regional consensus.
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Oman → say → consensus
The talks were meant to help reopen the strait, a vital route for global energy supplies.
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talks → mean → supplies
- 🎧 The Gulf states were trying to take more control of the crisis, Iran expert Alex Vatanka tells NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi, by getting themselves off Iran's target list and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
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Vatanka → try → Hormuz
The meeting's postponement shows how difficult that diplomacy has become as the conflict spreads.
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conflict → show → ?
Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Houthis claimed they fired more drones and missiles toward Saudi Arabia over the weekend.
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they → back → weekend
The Food and Drug Administration allowed health care providers to prescribe the abortion pill mifepristone via telehealth and send it by mail beginning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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providers → allow → pandemic
In 2023, the agency made the change permanent.
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change → make → 2023
Now, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans is hearing oral arguments in Louisiana v. FDA, a case that could end nationwide access to telehealth for Mifepristone.
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that → hear → Mifepristone
Here's what we know about the legal challenge:
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we → know → challenge
- 💊 Louisiana argues that mail-order access makes it harder to enforce its abortion ban because patients can consult providers in states with shield laws and receive medication by mail.
- 💊 The state is challenging the FDA's decision to remove the in-person dispensing requirement, citing states' rights and patient safety concerns.
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state → argue → rights
The Supreme Court intervened earlier this year to keep the FDA's current rules in place while the case proceeds.
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case → intervene → place
The legal fight could return to the court.
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fight → return → court
Picture show
Nelly Buchet's new picture book, The Weather Keeper, was inspired by a woman who runs one of Iceland's 71 manned weather stations.
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who → inspire → stations
The story follows a daughter as she decides whether to return to her small town or forge a new path in the city, with illustrator Elizabeth Haidle capturing the rhythms of a weather keeper's daily life.
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3 things to know before you go
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Celine Dion returned to the stage this weekend, launching her 16-show residency in Paris nearly four years after revealing she had been diagnosed with a rare, painful condition.
- U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor, said that he and a pilot had to swim to safety after their small single-engine plane made an emergency landing in a lake on Saturday.
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plane → return → Saturday
A Pennsylvania official has confirmed the measles-related death of a 40-year-old unvaccinated woman, the third death linked to measles in the state this year.
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official → confirm → state
This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.
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newsletter → edit → Waheidi
The Aporia
