Why Everyone’s Suddenly Worried About an AI Apocalypse

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Alex Ossola (0:33)

Conflict escalates in the Middle East as Trump's advisors raise the possibility of a years-long war.

Plus, US bond yields again are hitting multi-year highs, and an Anthropic researcher says AI could kill us all. How would that work exactly?

Sam Schechner (0:49)

At some level, what people are most scared of is that we don't even really understand all the different ways that it could happen.

Alex Ossola (0:56)

It's Thursday, September 10th. 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.

We begin tonight's show in the Middle East, where conflict is heating up. Yemeni and Saudi officials said that Iran-backed Houthi militants have seized the strategic port city of Moqa on Yemen's west coast. That further expands their control near the Bab al-Mendeb choke point for energy exports through the Red Sea, and deepens the threat to Saudi oil exports which are still struggling to make it out through the Strait of Hormuz. On that side of the Arabian Peninsula, Iran is trying to break a stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz by escalating the conflict with the US. Iranian forces have launched missiles at American warships at least three times in the past week, taking direct aim at the US. Navy in a way that it hasn't done since the start of the war. And the Journal has learned that Iran has renewed capabilities to launch attacks like these, Iran has resumed its production of ballistic missiles using stockpiled components and working in underground facilities, according to officials from the US and Middle East. The intelligence erodes what the US and Israel have touted as a major achievement of the war. With the conflict showing few signs of abating, top White House advisors have privately raised with President Trump the possibility that the Iran War could drag on, even through the remainder of his term, which ends in January 2029

For more, WSJ national security reporter, Alex Ward joins me now. Alex, Trump has said that he wanted a quick end to this conflict. Why does that possibility seem to be fading?

Alex Ward (2:34)

Because Iran isn't giving up in the way Trump expected. When the war began, he first called on the Iranian people to overthrow the regime, but it didn't happen. And then he expected that a massive bombing campaign would convince the remnants of the regime to effectively give up. They haven't done that. And we're now in the seventh month of this war that the administration initially said would last six weeks. And they've changed their strategy to now an economic siege that for those who do sieges, they take a long time and they require a lot of resources.

Alex Ossola (3:03)

So the military has already estimated the cost of the conflict to be in the tens of billions of dollars range. What would an extended conflict cost both in terms of military power but also to global supply chains that have been disrupted by the Iran War already?

Alex Ward (3:17)

If you don't like current gas prices, you're not going to like prolonged Iran War. The US munitions stockpile, it's already at some critical levels based on the officials we've talked to, although the administration denies those concerns.

You've heard of the long deployment of the aircraft carriers. You could imagine more of those. And that requires more assets to the Middle East, whether that's ships, warplanes, personnel, and of course just the general danger to troops.

Alex Ossola (3:40)

What does the White House say about the possibility of a prolonged conflict?

Alex Ward (3:44)

They say that the US has already won. The president says Iran is desperate for a deal, but not the deal he wants. But internally, we know that they know it's not true. Trump has been very open about what he's defined as victory here, and it's to convince the regime to dismantle its nuclear program and never rebuild one. And that hasn't happened.

Alex Ossola (4:01)

That was WSJ National Security Reporter Alex Ward. Thank you, Alex.

Alex Ward (4:05)

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Alex Ossola (4:06)

Oil prices kept moving higher today because of the war with international oil, Brent crude, climbing above $107 a barrel. And the average price of a gallon of gas in the US was about $4.28, while diesel approached $6 a gallon. Analysts expect those prices to keep rising.