Flying Out of the U.S. Now Costs 50% More

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

This podcast is brought to you by Atlassian Rovo. Tired of 10 different AI tools creating knowledge gaps? Rovo takes your team from AI novice to AI native by working where you already work, like JIRA and Confluence, so your team stays aligned.

Daniel Bach (0:18)

Airfares for US flights skyrocket as the Iran War takes its toll. Plus, the White House considers whether new AI models pose a national security risk. And tough luck if you're a millennial waiting for a big payout from mom and pop.

Rachel Louise Ensign (0:32)

Americans over 55 control most wealth, and a lot of those folks could have decades left to live. So this idea that there's going to be this massive windfall for younger Americans is something that is just not really happening en masse yet.

Daniel Bach (0:49)

It's Tuesday, May 5th. I'm Daniel Bach for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for Luke Vargas. And here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

The US and Iran are teetering on the edge of a new dangerous phase of the war, with both countries returning to military force to try to break the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has fired at US warships trying to revive commercial shipping in the Strait, testing President Trump's desire to end the war. US officials say Trump has been weighing two competing impulses for days, whether to order a new round of airstrikes to punish Iran for failing to abandon its nuclear ambitions or leaning into a diplomatic solution. Here he is speaking to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt yesterday.

SPEAKER_4 (1:36)

One way or the other we win.

Rachel Louise Ensign (1:38)

We either make the right deal or we win very easily from the military standpoint.

SPEAKER_1 (1:41)

We've already won that.

Daniel Bach (1:43)

Trump later said that he planned to stick with the status quo for now. He's called a press conference for senior Pentagon officials today, leaving it up to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to outline the administration's next steps. That's scheduled for 8 a.m. Eastern. Meanwhile, a rise in fuel prices driven by the Iran War has piled pressure on US airlines to increase fares. According to Kayak, the average price of a domestic airline ticket in the US increased 24 percent between early January and the 20th of April. And prices for international flights departing the US are up 50 percent compared to last year. But the rise in oil prices may not be bad for everyone. Later today, we've got a special bonus episode on how US oil companies are navigating the crude crunch. The latest What's News in Earnings will be in your feed at midday.

And it is another busy earnings day with all eyes on chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, which releases its quarterly report this afternoon. Investors will be watching whether AMD can continue to benefit from tech companies looking to diversify their AI chip suppliers. It comes after data analytics firm Palantir said its quarterly revenue surged 85% year over year to more than $1.6 billion.

The results were driven by strong US military demand and a rapidly growing enterprise business for its data-crunching software. Still on the earnings call, executives tried to play down concerns about AI competition that has led to its stock sinking 13% this year. And shares in Paramount rallied off hours after beating analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue. Streaming and studio growth offset declines in income from TV advertising and affiliates. The company is currently finalizing its blockbuster acquisition of Warner Brothers' discovery.

The White House is considering a new government review process for AI tools deemed to pose cyber security risks. For more on this, we're joined by journal tech reporter Sam Schechner. Sam, what is the aim of this oversight and what would that look like?

Sam Schechner (3:42)

Well, the goal from the White House is to protect consumers and businesses, specifically from cyber attacks and other disruptions that could be caused by AI that's released without proper safeguards.

The way it will work remains to be seen. The White House is considering an executive order that would formalize government oversight and create some standards for the most powerful AI models. We'll have to see what they actually come up with and announce.

Daniel Bach (4:12)

Is this a direct response to Anthropics' Mythos model?

Sam Schechner (4:15)

Well, we know that Anthropics' model has caused shockwaves of concern in the US government and in the private sector, both in the US and overseas. This model from Anthropic is able to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities at a level that AI tools haven't before. The fear is that bad actors could use it to figure out how to hack into all kinds of systems and cause all sorts of disruptions. For that reason, Anthropic has only released it to about 50 organizations involved in protecting critical infrastructure, all in the US and we're talking about big companies like Google and also the US government.