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Axios

Axios

Newspaper | United States | Centre
www.axios.com/

Smart brevity news covering politics, business, technology, and more. Get essential news efficiently.

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Discussions from Axios

Geopolitics

What are the potential effects of the U.S. government demanding the removal of foreign delegations on international relations?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the Iranian delegation attending the U.N. General Assembly to leave the United States immediately after peace talks to end the nearly nine-month war crumbled, according to a new report. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were in New York last week for the United Nations’s yearly […]

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Technology

How should we balance AI innovation with safety measures to prevent potential risks?

Nvidia is deploying a new tool that it says can be used to prevent and contain rogue and potentially dangerous AI agents. Why it matters: The world's largest chip company has resisted calls to slow AI development over safety fears — arguing now that technological guardrails can keep rogue AI agents under control. Driving the news: Nvidia debuted the Nvidia Open Agent Safety Platform, which includes its OpenShell open source software system and its Sentry agent monitoring system. The system "traces all actions" by agents running on Nvidia Vera CPUs, promising to "quarantine agents that attempt to move outside their boundaries in milliseconds."AI's "full promise can only be realized when people have confidence that AI is being built to be safe and deployed with wisdom and responsibility," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang wrote on X. "Safety is how trust is earned." State of play: OpenAI, Anthropic and security researchers are investigating tens of thousands of incidents in which their frontier models took steps that outside evaluators would consider problematic, sources told Axios' Madison Mills last week. The episodes include bypassing guardrails, creating message boards, escaping sandboxes, website hijacking, self-prompting or seeking to bypass monitors."Some of the agents even misreported what they did," Nvidia noted in a blog post Monday announcing its new platform. The intrigue: We're moving into a new era in which AI will be monitoring AI. And that will create more demand for chips — including the type that Nvidia sells — plus the data centers that use them and the power that's needed to run them."If security agents or validation models are running alongside production agents, that creates another inference workload that did not previously exist," writes Brad Gastwirth, global head of research and market intel, at Circular Technology. Zoom out: The Nvidia tool rollout comes amid a feverish debate over whether rogue AI could destroy humanity. Anthropic researcher Jacob Co

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Geopolitics

How should countries respond to claims of terrorism in international conflicts?

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is speaking before the UN General Assembly Wednesday in his first speech at the world body since the US and Israel launched the conflict with his country. His address comes a day after US President Donald Trump told the UNGA he could "annihilate the Islamic Republic" and "drive them into hell". France 24 correspondent from New York, Jessica Le Masurier, tells us more

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Politics

What are the key factors that should influence funding decisions for political campaigns?

The Senate GOP campaign arm is making an extraordinary late ask — $8.9 million, to be exact — for three red states: Alaska, Iowa and Ohio, according to a memo sent Thursday and obtained by Axios. Why it matters: The request is yet another sign of the headwinds facing Republicans. In a good year, they wouldn't be begging for millions to defend states President Trump carried by double digits in 2024. "We need $8.9 million in additional hard dollars to close the media gap and sustain that progress through Election Day," a memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee states. Zoom in: The memo lays out specific fundraising goals for each race, sending donors to joint fundraising accounts and campaigns. $1.2 million in Alaska, where Democratic nominee former Rep. Mary Peltola leads Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) in the RealClearPolitics polling average by two percentage points. $4.2 million in Iowa, where Democratic nominee Josh Turek and GOP nominee Rep. Ashley Hinson are separated by less than a percentage point in the RCP polling average. $3.5 million in Ohio, where former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) has built a four-percentage-point lead over Sen. Jon Husted (R) in the RCP polling average. Between the lines: The memo directs donors to candidates' campaigns or joint fundraising committees, which have higher donor limits. The committee has been taking advantage of a Supreme Court ruling to get more advertising at lower prices by coordinating with campaigns.NRSC Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) touted this strategy in a closed-door lunch on Wednesday, showing in a chart how it has allowed them to keep up with Democrats' stronger campaign fundraising, according to slides seen by Axios."The environment remains tough, but these races have improved as the Republican ecosystem has engaged," says the NRSC memo. Zoom out: Cook Political Report this week moved the Senate races in Georgia, Kansas and South Carolina in their ratings toward Democrats. Sabato's Crystal Ball moved Kansas, Michig

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Technology

How should lawmakers work together to create rules for AI that everyone can agree on?

Senate Majority Leader John Thune says President Trump is "not really dug in" against guardrails for AI, despite Trump's public campaign against restricting the technology. Why it matters: Thune told Axios he spoke privately with Trump as the AI issue was getting "pretty hot" a few weeks ago and believes some of Trump's strong pushback 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. That approach relies more on experts to provide guidance.Trump has called recent fears around AI safety a "hoax.""I do think that the threats are real," Thune told Axios in an interview on Wednesday at his Capitol office. 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 sounding his latest public alarm on the risks of AI, Thune told Axios.The two also talked about Thune's AI bill. What to watch: "I think you have to have at least some sort of a plan and some guardrails around it, which is what I think our bill does," Thune said, referencing the bill he has introduced with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in past years. "But I do also think that there are people who are. doing a lot of fear mongering," Thune added.Thune's bill, which has not yet been reintroduced this Congress, puts the onus on tech companies to mitigate AI risks. It also requires AI companies to report on any serious risks with frontier models and to come up with plans to address the concerns.Thune said Klobuchar is trying to get more Democratic co-sponsors on board — including Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) — before re-introducing the bill. The details: Democrats have two main sticking points, according to Thune: Pre-deployment testing is something companies can opt into in the bill language. Democrats want it mandated.Cantwell is asking fo

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Politics

What does a cross-party endorsement mean for future cooperation in politics?

Retiring Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) is throwing his weight behind Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), a rare show of bipartisan support between sitting lawmakers. Golden, who has increasingly bucked his party in recent weeks, wrote in an op-ed Monday that he “strongly” backs Lawler, who cosponsored his bill supporting Maine lobstermen, which passed in the House […]

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Geopolitics

What are the potential benefits and challenges of the $2.45 billion Gaza recovery plan?

Sept 23 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace will unveil a six-month, $2.45 billion recovery plan for Gaza at a meeting of its members on Wednesday, Axios reported. The 66-project proposal includes estimated spending for temporary housing, rubble removal, hospital repairs, economic recovery and the deployment of a multinational security force, the report added, citing a copy of the plan. The White House and US Department of State did not immediately respond to requests for comment

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Economy

What are the possible effects of a diesel export ban on the economy and the environment?

President Trump said during a Tuesday press interview alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he has also called for a ban on U.S. diesel exports, joining other conservative voices who back the policy. Why it matters: Trump's endorsement marks a shift for an administration that has resisted calls to restrict fuel exports, as record diesel prices squeeze farmers and truckers and fuel Republican concerns ahead of the midterms. Economists and energy analysts the move could lower diesel prices for Americans in the short term but would likely raise prices globally including eventually in the U.S. Thought bubble, via Axios' Ben Geman: The politics of $6.50 diesel are quickly overwhelming a broad consensus among oil market analysts that an export ban could ultimately backfire. Zoom in: When asked if he supported a diesel ban endorsed by other Republicans, Trump said that he had called for that too. "I've said let's not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel, and it could have a little bit of an effect on regular automobile gasoline because when you do that, you know it's a sort of a flow, it's a balance. But no, I've called for it. I've called for it within my people."Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment on how the administration would implement such a ban. Catch up quick: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) recently proposed blocking diesel exports, hoping to lower prices domestically, and other farm-state Republicans quickly signed on too. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), who faces a competitive re-election race, called for a diesel ban Monday while slamming the war in Iran.Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said last week that he was "open" to an export ban. Zoom in: A ban would keep diesel that otherwise would be exported in the U.S., potentially increasing domestic supplies and lowering prices in the short term. But analysts warn it could drive up global diesel prices and eventually feed higher

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