The CEO of OpenAI will testify before a Senate judiciary subcommittee on the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). Sam Altman will be asked about how his company and rivals are racing to create a new generation of AI technologies and how these should be regulated. This comes as US lawmakers are looking for ways to rein in the rapidly-growing sector, while allowing innovation to flourish. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have stressed the importance of curbing the technology, which can now generate realistic-looking text and images, along with computer code. Altman has been frank about the potential dangers of AI, having stated in March: "It’d be crazy not to be a little bit afraid, and I empathize with people who are a lot afraid." The hearing is being seen as an indicator of the future regulatory environment of the AI sector.
Legislation to ban imports of Russian uranium is gaining momentum on Capitol Hill as lawmakers seek to cut Russia out of the US nuclear fuel supply chain. Congress recently acted to ban Russian oil and gas imports but blocking uranium imports will be harder as 20% of US nuclear fuel comes from Russia. The United States is the world's largest user of nuclear power, and such dependence is a conundrum for lawmakers who want to combat climate change and decrease US dependence on foreign adversaries. The Senate version of the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act bill has garnered strong bipartisan support, reflecting unease over the fact that Russia ranks as the world’s biggest supplier of enriched uranium. Moscow’s state-owned nuclear power conglomerate, Rosatom, has earned billions from US and European customers, yet reports suggest it has also been working to supply the Russian arms industry with components and technology.
US President Joe Biden is set to discuss the debt ceiling with congressional leaders at the White House as early outlines of a possible deal emerge. The Tuesday meeting comes as the US Treasury prepares to run out of cash to pay bills as early as June 1, heightening the need for a budget agreement between Democrats and Republicans. Among the ideas being discussed is clawing back some $30bn in unused COVID-19 funds and tweaking work requirements for recipients of government aid. White House and congressional staff have held days of closed-doors discussions to try to thrash out the agreement.
Oneok's $19bn deal to purchase pipeline builder Magellan Midstream was met with skepticism from investors, with Oneok's shares closing down 9% following the announcement. The deal is thought to reflect wider shifts occurring in the US energy market, where pipeline builders are thinking about how fossil-fuel dependent businesses might fare during the industry shift. Pierce Norton, CEO of Oneok, said that the scale of the combined firm would better prepare the combined company for the changes to come. Amid limited opportunities for growth in the industry, acquisitions are viewed as the remaining path to growth. Earlier in June, European leaders called for the banning of Russian gas imports on routes where Moscow had cut supplies, which would escalate the energy war.
The effectiveness of international sanctions is being challenged as Russia, China and Iran implement alternative financial systems, which blunts the impact of US policies and allows them to hide questionable behaviour. While the alternative financial system is currently limited, more nations will enter Beijing's orbit as China's economy grows, and the alternatives to the dollar will rise in popularity. It is essential that the US revitalises domestic manufacturing and makes and keeps friends. The US must build a coalition of its own to balance Beijing’s growing anti-American coalition, and to keep the dollar as strong as possible.
Eric Adams, the Democrat New York City mayor, has been excluded from Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign over critiquing his handling of immigration rates and crime. Biden’s squabble with Eric Adams has underscored the division within the Democratic Party over its handling of rising violent crime rates and influx of migrants coming across the US-Mexico border. Mr. Adams has previously been touted as a potential future Democratic Party leader. The 2024 Presidential campaign is due to be hard-fought and Biden has included potential leadership rivals in his 50-person squad of surrogates, which includes Californian Governor Gavin Newsom, and the Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer, as well as the progressive senator Elizabeth Warren.
President Joe Biden has vetoed legislation that would have repealed exemptions for Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam to US tariffs on imported solar panels. The waivers were granted in June 2022 and will be in place for two years, with imports from these countries accounting for around 80% of US solar panel supplies. Biden said the waivers would bridge the gap while domestic US manufacturing ramps up, allowing it to supply sufficient products to achieve domestic climate goals. Domestic manufacturers, however, argue that the tariffs were needed immediately to combat cheaper overseas panels.
The US government's showdown with Republicans over the country's debt ceiling threatens the global economy and raises concerns among policymakers over the US' efforts to counter China. Republicans are seeking spending cuts over a decade whereas Democrats prefer smaller spending cuts in defense and social programs over a shorter period. Senior White House economics adviser Shalanda Young said the debt ceiling situation was a "test of what works in this world" and has raised concerns that the US would default on its US$31.4tn borrowing limit.
The Trump administration’s investigation into alleged links between the 46th president’s presidential campaign in 2016 and the Russian government has ended with a report from Special Counsel John Durham that found the FBI was justified in starting a preliminary investigation into the matter, based on information received from a foreign diplomat. Durham was investigating potential misconduct by US government officials during the investigation. His report gave little new information or significant revelations. Critics say it provides fodder for Trump supporters who have condemned the investigation as a politically motivated witch hunt and evidence of Durham’s own political motivations.
Durham took issue with the FBI’s decision to launch a full counterintelligence probe into the campaign based on information received from an Australian diplomat about George Papadopoulos’s bragging that Russia had acquired and was prepared to release damaging information about the campaign of former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Durham’s report criticised the FBI for not conducting any “collaboration or joint assessments” with friendly domestic or foreign intelligence services regarding intelligence collected.
While the report acknowledges the FBI was justified in opening a preliminary investigation, Durham questions why a counterintelligence probe was launched instead of a limited one. Durham’s report appears at odds with a previous investigation by Michael Horowitz, an inspector general with the Department of Justice, who concluded that the FBI had sufficient cause to justify an investigation into alleged links between Trump’s campaign operatives and the Russians.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that his government is in discussions with the prime ministers of Japan and India after US President Joe Biden postponed his upcoming visit to Australia. Biden had been due to attend a Quad leaders' meeting in Sydney on May 24, but cancelled the trip because of the US debt ceiling crisis. Albanese stated that he and Biden had agreed to work to reschedule the visit as soon as possible.
The US Secret Service is investigating how a drunk intruder was able to enter the home of White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in April without alerting his security detail. The man entered the property at 3am before being confronted by Sullivan and then leaving. Sullivan then informed Secret Service agents. There is currently no suggestion that anyone was harmed. The Secret Service is responsible for safeguarding top US officials and has recently been criticised for its handling of messages related to the 2020 elections.
US President, Joe Biden, has cancelled visits to Papua New Guinea and Australia to return to the US early. The trip has been cut short due to ongoing urgent discussions between White House officials and Congress over how to counter the government's deficit and avoid a potential economic disaster. Without reinforced support, officials estimate that the US government will not have the funds to pay its expenses, should the debt ceiling not be raised, by Jun 1.
Lithium Americas Corp has cleared an obstacle in the development of the Thacker Pass mine project in Nevada, after the US Department of the Interior found nearly all of the site contained lithium. Claims had previously been made that the project would cause unnecessary harm to the environment and be blocked due to the land it was on not containing valuable minerals, although officials found that over 98% of claims held by the Canadian mining company contained lithium mineralisation. The ruling will enable Lithium America to build and develop the project, which it is working on with General Motors.
The United States Department of the Treasury has warned that it could run out of funds to cover the country’s bills by June 1, heightening fears over the threat of a possible US default. Republican lawmakers are looking to cut social program spending, such as food assistance, in order to raise spending limits. Democrats have said that the situation is particularly galling as the same Republican lawmakers raised spending limits with little resistance when their party was in power. A default in US debt would stump the global economy; leading experts to call for a solution.
US President Joe Biden's historic visit to Papua New Guinea and his planned trip to Australia have been cancelled as he flies back to Washington to deal with ongoing debt limit talks. The decision could be seen as a blow to the US' hopes of being more present in the Indo-Pacific amid its competition with China in the region. The president had planned to sign two security agreements with Papua New Guinea in an effort to counter China's reach in the area.
US President Joe Biden has cancelled his trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea as his team attempts to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling crisis. Although the president will still travel to Japan for the G7 summit, he has shortened his visit in order to return to the US on Sunday. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has argued that a default on the country's debt would trigger a global economic downturn. The US government could run out of money as soon as June if no resolution is found.
The CEO of AI firm OpenAI, Sam Altman, has called for the creation of a licensing body for the world's most powerful AI algorithms. Speaking at a hearing of the US Senate this week, Altman said that, as AI became more advanced, people were understandably anxious about its power and how it could change human lives. He recommended that a new agency should ensure compliance with safety standards for use of AI, including its ability to generate misleading and false statements. The proposed agency could license the most powerful AI systems and withdraw that licence where any risks were identified.
A Group of Seven summit is expected to face significant tensions on the issue of nuclear disarmament. Many atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima fear that the summit may be the last time that world leaders will call for disarmament. For those in the West, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reminded them of the important role played by nuclear deterrence. The summit is also expected to discuss ways of curbing nuclear programmes in Iran and North Korea. Barack Obama, the last US President to visit Hiroshima, chose the city as an opportunity to express his hope for a world without nuclear weapons.
The Quad, an informal alliance of democracies consisting of the US, Japan, India and Australia, has been given new momentum under President Biden, who is set to visit Japan this month. The last summit of Quad leaders, held in Tokyo, led to a programme aimed at curbing illegal fishing across the Indo-Pacific. The group initially came together as a “core group” in response to the devastating Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, while its origins as a formal Quadrilateral Security Dialogue go back to a call by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. The Quad essentially fell apart the following year, amid concerns that it would alienate China. However, nationalist governments in Japan and India have renewed interest in the group in recent times. China has dismissed the Quad as a means of undermining its interests, with Beijing warning that it contains the “obsolete Cold War and zero-sum mentality”.
A US nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine is expected to make a port call in South Korea for the first time since 1981. The visit was agreed upon by US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as part of the Washington Declaration to enhance the "regular visibility" of strategic assets in the Korean peninsula.
