AI 'Speed Limit', Rising Insurance Costs & Sweeney Ad Backlash - Monday, September 14, 2026

Erica Mandy (0:00)

Today is Monday, September 14th. We'll tell you why some of the biggest names in AI are calling for a slowdown, while President Trump says the US can't afford to hit the brakes. Also, why power plants might not have to follow tougher pollution rules anymore, and where measles outbreaks are still growing. Plus, what's behind more shark sightings off the coast of California? Why health insurance plans could cost more next year? And who's leading the pack ahead of this year's Emmy Awards? Those stories and even more news to know next.

Welcome to The NewsWorthy, all the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this.

Leaders of some of the world's biggest artificial intelligence companies now say it's time to slow down the race to build their most powerful models. That's a pretty big shift because these companies are also making billions by building and selling that technology. But remember, last week, some top researchers sounded the alarm about a potential AI doomsday scenario. Then over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amadei wrote a blog post saying AI could eventually have serious national security consequences. He proposed the US hold talks with China similar to the arms control talks between the US and Soviet Union during the Cold War. He says the goal would be to put a speed limit on how fast AI technology advances. And right away, he promised Anthropic would adopt new safety measures, like having independent third-party evaluators to test its most powerful models. Soon after, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, ex-AIs Elon Musk, and Google DeepMind's Demis Asabas came out saying they all support at least some of what Amadei had to say. They've actually all warned about the risks of AI before, but there's not yet an actual coordinated slowdown in a cutthroat industry that's rapidly developing. And not everyone believes a slowdown is the right approach. President Trump is pushing back on what he calls exaggerated warnings about where AI is headed, and he believes the US should not slow down because, quote, whoever wins AI wins. House Speaker Mike Johnson is also resisting a broad slowdown for now. But he says he'd schedule a vote on AI regulation if the tech industry had a solution in mind. Meanwhile, Democrats aren't waiting for the industry's ideas. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Dems will meet this week to discuss AI, while former President Barack Obama is urging his party to make AI a central issue in the upcoming elections. To be continued.

The Middle East conflict seems to be widening, now putting even more of the world's oil supply at risk. For starters, an Iranian commercial ship was struck near the Strait of Hormuz. It's not clear if the US was behind that strike, since President Trump told reporters he didn't want to say one way or another.

Either way, the big concern is not just the Strait of Hormuz anymore. Iran-backed Houthi fighters have also seized territory at the entrance to another critical shipping route in the Red Sea. And Saudi Arabia has shut down a major oil pipeline after a drone attack. The bottom line, oil is still getting out of the region, but there are fewer and fewer routes to get it to the global markets. Oil prices have topped $100 a barrel, and the longer these disruptions continue, the more pressure there is on fuel prices and the broader economy. Meanwhile, President Trump is now suggesting the US could stay in Iran and keep its oil if that makes economic sense. He compared the idea to the US approach to Venezuela. But yesterday, Trump also said he expects the war to end later this year and that oil and gas prices will fall when it does. There are diplomatic efforts underway to address global shipping concerns, but for now at least, there are no known direct talks between the US and Iran.

The Trump administration is moving to roll back one of the biggest federal efforts to cut climate pollution. As news outlets like Bloomberg and the New York Times report, the EPA is expected to scrap carbon pollution standards for both coal and gas-fired power plants. The rules were put in place under President Biden and would have required certain power plants to make big cuts to their carbon emissions. But the Trump administration says those requirements go too far and that the EPA does not have the legal authority to impose them. When the Biden administration finalized those rules, it estimated that it would prevent up to 1200 premature deaths by 2035 But the coal industry has predicted many plants would have closed instead of spending billions of dollars on new pollution controls. Already this year, the Trump administration got rid of similar climate standards for vehicles and it did away with the landmark ruling that found greenhouse gases threaten human health. But Democrat-led states and environmental groups have sued over other EPA rollbacks and challenges to this power plant move are also expected.