NPR News: 09-15-2026 2PM EDT

0:00Lie from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. An artificial intelligence researcher from Google's Deep Mind is the latest to sound the alarm. His NPR's Bobby Allen tells us a growing chorus of AI professionals are calling for a slower pace of development. Belal Shagtai witnessed Google's Deep Mind firsthand. And he says in a public resignation letter, quote, I too am extremely concerned by the default trajectory of this technology. I earnestly believe that AI has the potential to kill us all. Shagtai is the latest researcher to voice fears that AI could eventually escape human control. Anthropics CEO Dario Amadeh, open AI chief executive Sam Altman and Elon Musk have all endorsed an AI slowdown. President Trump and some smaller AI companies argue the fears are overblown and motivated by a desire to keep AI upstarts from overtaking the leading companies. Bobby Allen and P.R. News. Left-wing socialist Bernie Sanders and right-wing strategist Steve Bannon formed an unusual alliance

1:01to campaign for insured human dominance over artificial intelligence. Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont and Bannon, president Trump's former advisor are among a diverse slate of speakers at the pro-humans assembly in Washington, DC today. Republican representative Thomas Massive Kentucky has moved to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over the war in Iran. The House will have to act on the proposal by Thursday if they are still in town. His MP is Eric Daniel. It was an unexpected start to the legislative day. Impeaching Peter Brian Hegseth, Secretary of Defense for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. Congressman Massive Long-Athorn in the side of the administration is on his way out of office after being primaryed by a Trump-backed opponent. Massive alleges that Hegseth has waged the war in Iran illegally, in part because the conflict has not been authorized by Congress. Republicans in theory have enough votes to defeat the proposal, though it could be a complicated vote for House members in swing districts. Seen as an approval of an unpopular war that's driving up cost of living. The party also has some attendance problems. A record number, a retiring, many missed votes Monday night, leaving Democrats at the

2:04time with more voting members, Eric McDaniel and Pairnou's Washington. The US Supreme Court's rejecting President Trump's attempt to restrict mail in voting ahead of November's midterm elections, more from NPR San Zilla Wong. A plan the US Postal Service came up with to respond to an executive order by President Trump is still blocked. That plan included new mail and ballot requirements that states would have had to follow in order to get their ballots delivered by USPS, but a federal judge in Boston found those requirements are likely illegal because USPS has no authority to impose them on states. And this new Supreme Court order rejects the Trump administration's request to pause the judge's ruling. NPR's Hans Zilla Wong reporting, President Trump fired back saying the Supreme Court justices who opposed him are not the people he interviewed. US stocks trading lower with the down, now down more than 400 points you're listening to NPR News. President Trump's name will not go back up on the Kennedy Center's building under a federal

3:07court ruling today. US District Judge Christopher Cooper also says the board cannot rename the physical grounds of the Arts Center after President Trump. The board had said the president played a key role in securing massive renovation funding. It argued that Trump's name on the facade was crucial to its efforts to restore the Kennedy Center's finances. The Senate will come out on Broadway next fall when a 50th anniversary production of the musical Annie is set to open. Based on the popular comic strip, the show ran on Broadway for six years originally and has been revived twice. Here's Jeff London. In 1977, Andrea McCartle as Little Orphan Annie stepped on stage at the Alvin Theatre on Broadway and belted this anthem. And Annie ran tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, picking up seven Tony Awards and being

4:12produced all around the country in the world and turned into films for Hollywood and TV. The 50th anniversary production will be directed by Sam Pinkleton, best known for his work on the Campy Comedy O'Merry and the Broadway Revival of the Rocky Horror Show. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington. Up first from NPR News is your way to slow down a fast moving world and make sense of it, which is just what tech leaders say they need right now. One of the big stories this week is that tech leaders say they want to slow down AI development. Also, the latest fighting in the Middle East could push oil prices even higher. Start your day with what you need to know on up first. Listen, on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.