How Anthropic Pulled Ahead of OpenAI to Lead the AI Boom

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

The thing about AI for business, it may not automatically fit the way your business works.

At IBM, we've seen this firsthand. But by embedding AI across HR, IT, and procurement processes, we've reduced costs by millions, slash repetitive tasks, and freed thousands of hours for strategic work. Now we're helping companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business, IBM.

Alex Ossola (0:33)

The Senate approves Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair by the narrowest margin ever.

Plus, drug overdose deaths in the US fell for the third year in a row, as the country emerges from the opioid crisis. Anthropic pulls ahead in the AI race, beating out OpenAI for the first time. But can it stay in the lead?

Kate Clark (0:51)

They grew 80 times more in the first quarter than they anticipated. Which has created a lot of bottlenecks for them. So what they need to do is continue to sign new computing contracts with Google, with Amazon, with whoever.

Alex Ossola (1:04)

It's Wednesday, May 14th. I'm Alex Ossola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

The Senate has confirmed Kevin Warsh as the Federal Reserve's next chair. Senators voted 54 to 45, largely along party lines. The one exception was Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who joined Republicans in voting for Warsh. It was the closest margin for any Fed chair since Senate approval became a requirement for the job in 1977

Democrats have questioned how Warsh plans to maintain the Fed's independence.

Chris Van Hollen (1:44)

President Trump has repeatedly and publicly demanded sharply lower rates. We've seen him harangue the Federal Reserve over and over and over. And Mr. Warsh's views have conveniently moved in exactly that direction.

Now, that doesn't automatically disqualify him, but it does create a very legitimate question. Is this a genuine change in economic judgment, or is it a shift that reflects the preferences of the president who nominated him?

Alex Ossola (2:20)

That was Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, speaking on the Senate floor today.

Warsh, meanwhile, has said he would maintain the Fed's monetary independence. He said he hasn't made any promises on policy decisions to President Trump. Warsh faces challenges in the job. While Trump wants rate cuts, hot inflation is making policymakers skeptical. As for Jerome Powell, his last day as chair is Friday. In other news from the Trump administration, we're exclusively reporting that White House officials are weighing a plan for President Trump to issue 250 pardons because it's the nation's 250th birthday. Both Republicans and Democrats have already been critical of the pardons he's issued. And some in the White House have raised concerns about doing too many more before the midterm elections this fall. The WSJ has learned that Trump could announce the pardons on June 14th, which is both Flag Day and his birthday, or on the 4th of July.

And the federal government is accelerating its crackdown on health care fraud. It's launching a nationwide audit of state Medicaid fraud watchdogs. In a press conference today, Vice President JD. Vance said states must address fraud or run the risk of losing federal funding for Medicaid.

JD Vance (3:29)

For those states that refuse to get serious about fraud, we are going to turn off that anti-fraud money. And if we continue to find problems, we can turn off other resources within their state Medicaid programs as well. Our goal here is not to do that. We don't want to turn off any money. What we want to do is ensure that people are taking fraud seriously.

Alex Ossola (3:52)

CDC data out today show that drug overdose deaths fell in the US in 2025

Overdose deaths have now dropped for three years in a row. Deaths are still slightly above pre-pandemic levels, but there are promising signs that the US might be coming out of the opioid crisis. Journal reporter Jen Calfas says a few things are causing this decline.

Jennifer Calfas (4:12)

The major reason why we're seeing a drop in drug overdose deaths is largely because of a pretty massive drop in deaths involving synthetic opioids, largely fentanyl. That's really been what's driving this decline over these last three years, and also it's really what drove the increase in those deaths in early 2021 to 2023 There are probably a few reasons why we might be making progress on this front. There have been certain policy changes that have increased access to overdose reversing drugs. Telemedicine and mobile clinics have increased access to treatment as well. At the same time, while this nationwide trend is pretty remarkable, the CDC data released today shows that states like Arizona and New Mexico and Colorado are actually seeing increases in their drug overdose deaths.