Axios

America's largest banks are working to prevent AI worst-case scenarios. But they're also preparing for the "day after" a catastrophe, Axios has learned. Why it matters: America's financial institutions have joined the largest AI companies in scenario-planning for disaster, a prudent but worrisome signal about the extent of the risk that major corporations see on the horizon. State of play: Banks are experiencing unvetted AI agent activity, primarily driven by customers providing login credentials to agents, which in some cases appear to have taken actions independent of user prompts, Axios rep

The websites you use every day may have been vulnerable to hackers for years because of hidden flaws in their code that AI only recently discovered. Why it matters: The code, called PHP, powers millions of websites, and the vulnerabilities could allow hackers to steal sensitive data or take control of affected servers. If exploited, the bugs could allow attackers to steal sensitive information, like your passwords and data, or take control of vulnerable servers. Driving the news: A potential attack exploiting flaws in PHP emerged on Wednesday, which prompted governments and companies to tempor

Major U.S. banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts, with some agents attempting to take actions that appear to be independent of user instructions, sources tell Axios. Why it matters: AI agents are becoming a nightmare for America's banks, making their way into banking systems faster than financial institutions can respond. The difficulty in distinguishing between a human and an unauthorized bot is forcing banks to block the technology and rapidly rewrite their terms of service. Driving the news: Banks including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America,

Security officials are sounding the alarm over two critical vulnerabilities in a programming language used to run millions of websites, marking one of the most consequential cybersecurity discoveries yet made with AI. Why it matters: The bugs, which researchers found partly with an OpenAI model, proves AI can uncover critical flaws humans missed for decades — raising the stakes for defenders racing to fix vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them at machine speed. What they're saying: Matthew Prince, the CEO of Cloudflare, a global connectivity and internet security company, said the c

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is crisscrossing Europe with a multibillion-dollar checkbook and a grand ambition: Make his company the indispensable backbone of the global AI economy. Why it matters: As fears of an AI bubble rattle Wall Street, Huang is working to spread the boom beyond the U.S. and China — courting governments, bankrolling startups and cultivating massive new markets for Nvidia's chips. The big picture: The godfather of AI is trying to single-handedly build a new market for Nvidia chips, betting that governments and institutions around the world will want their own, highly customize

OpenAI is bringing its AI models and Codex coding tools to Google Cloud, expanding its reach to customers of all three major U.S. cloud providers — including companies that are also among its fiercest AI rivals. Why it matters: The move underscores a growing recognition that winning the enterprise AI race isn't just about building the smartest models. It's also about making those models available wherever businesses already run their software and store their data. For OpenAI, the agreement offers another way to reach corporate customers without requiring them to establish a separate relationsh

The world's most advanced AI models are suddenly capable of blueprinting cyberattacks on critical services like power grids and water systems with alarming success rates, according to new research. Why it matters: Critical infrastructure operators are running out of time. Top-tier frontier models are dangerously adept at mapping out attacks, new research from cybersecurity company Frenos shows, and it's only a matter of time before freely available AI models make such hacks easier to execute. "It's a clock that is moving faster than we've ever seen," Steve Swick, former top security executive

Executives are twice as likely as rank-and-file workers to trust AI over their own judgment, per a survey out Wednesday morning. Why it matters: It's a worrying development. Leaders are hired for their experience and knowledge. Outsourcing that to AI raises the risk of making decisions that don't line up with reality, which then reverberate across companies and beyond. By the numbers: 32.8% of executives said that they trust AI more than their own judgment, according to the survey from Charter, a workplace research and media company. That's twice the rate for workers, or individual contributor

Anthropic's impending IPO will test a jittery Wall Street, but investors say the timing isn't optional. The reason is simple math: The AI giant has grown too big for private fundraising. Why it matters: Top AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are racking up 12-figure spending commitments, straining the financial system's ability to keep up with a buildout that rivals America's railroads or interstate highways. With private borrowing costs spiking, tapping the massive liquidity of the public markets is the best way to fund the next phase of the AI arms race, investors say. State of play: Ant

In the race to fend off AI-enabled cyber threats, security teams are confronting a new problem: The AI models they rely on to investigate attacks can suddenly refuse to help. Why it matters: While AI giants race to build AI tools that can respond quickly to hacking or other malicious online threats, strict guardrails on their most powerful models lock out defenders mid-investigation, leaving them scrambling for alternatives at critical moments. What's happening: OpenCode, an open-source AI coding agent, said it was compromised over the weekend, allowing attackers to obtain API keys belonging t

SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to discuss a potential merger — and Elon Musk thinks "it's a good idea," the CEO of both companies said Tuesday. Why it matters: SpaceX and Tesla have increasingly been collaborating on chips and AI projects — and Musk leads both companies — prompting widespread speculation that they could join forces. Driving the news: Musk said on SpaceX's earnings call that the two companies have formed committees of independent directors to explore the possibility of a deal. "Because I'm a conflicted party, I can't actually be in the discussions," he said, bu

OpenAI has acquired Orchestra Bio, a startup building AI agents to help pharmaceutical companies manage drug development, the ChatGPT maker shared exclusively with Axios. Why it matters: Rival AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic are both pushing into science as they look to expand beyond their core competencies in coding and cybersecurity. State of play: OpenAI will integrate Orchestra's team and technology into Rosalind, its suite of AI models and tools designed for life sciences researchers, the company said. Orchestra's platform allows scientists to delegate tasks like monitoring studies, tracki

The AI boom is sucking up all the capital. The Federal Reserve is raising rates to try to cool inflation. And one sector is bearing the brunt of the pain from both: housing. The big picture: The situation is lose-lose for both homebuilders and homebuyers. Builders are facing more expensive capital and bidding for scarce construction-related resources. Would-be buyers are being quoted some of the highest mortgage rates of this century. New September housing starts data out Tuesday morning puts an exclamation point on what has been a slow-moving disaster for a sector that plays an outsized role

Slowly but surely, the leading AI companies are creating a national self-governing structure to oversee their technology and its societal impact. With the federal government largely hands-off, Anthropic, OpenAI and others are self-regulating their technology and now setting up their own plans to redistribute their wealth. Why it matters: Not since the age of the robber barons have America's industrial titans wielded such sweeping power to shape society — and decide how their private fortunes should serve the public good. In the modern era, Washington has largely exercised those powers through

Silicon Valley moves fast and breaks things, but the U.S. electrical grid moves slowly and requires permits. The explosive growth of AI is colliding with the glacial pace of building out new power infrastructure, prompting a new warning from Goldman Sachs that energy bottlenecks are set to stall the AI race. Why it matters: Amid a wave of anxiety from Wall Street about the debt-fueled AI buildout, Goldman points to power as the biggest risk to trillions in spending in a new report shared exclusively with Axios. Driving the news: Goldman expects global data center power demand to surge 170% bet

Let's call it the Battle of the Bots, Part 1: I decided to put two of the newest personal AI agents, OpenAI's Dots and Meta's Muse, through their paces, with the WNBA Finals providing a natural testing ground. Why it matters: AI companies are racing to create the digital assistant we turn to for everything from shopping to travel planning. But there's still a gap between what these agents can do and what I'm comfortable letting them do. They also need to pass what we'll call "The Human Benchmark": that is, can they do something as fast, or as well, as a human? The answer is ... not quite yet,

Bob Woodward — in an eye-opening excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, "Secrets," that's previewed in the new issue of The New Yorker — reveals that one of his best friends, the late Richard Darman, was also one of his best sources during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. "Darman was willing, even eager at times, to talk about the most sensitive intelligence matters, including N.S.A. intercepts and covert C.I.A. operations," Woodward writes in his book, out Nov. 15. "He was always careful not to talk about matters that would harm national security, I believed, but he would

The AI boom is about to rewrite the rules of global philanthropy, shifting its center of gravity to Silicon Valley, where the IPOs of AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI will create the world's largest charitable organizations. Why it matters: Rather than massive donations earmarked for renaming hospital wings or university graduate programs, expect the new wave of giving to mirror startup culture: flexible capital, ambitious bets and a search for measurable impact. Driving the news: Anthropic announced Sunday that it plans to launch a massive benefit fund with 5% of its shares. Zoom in: The compan

AI is producing reality-bending midterm ads about defaced Bibles, upscale dinners and a board game with a "Death to America" playing card. Why it matters: The warnings about deepfakes are coming true. Election laws haven't kept pace with a world where campaigns can put words in opponents' mouths and create realistic-looking scenes that didn't happen. The Wesleyan Media Project found $137 million had been spent on 220 AI-generated ads through Oct. 11, mostly from Republicans. Four states have laws prohibiting certain uses of AI-generated deepfakes in political ads, while 27 more require some fo

Elon Musk tells biographer Walter Isaacson in a new podcast interview that the fizzled DOGE experiment, which the SpaceX and Tesla CEO once headed, proved there's "no way we were gonna solve the deficit from within the government." "The only way we're going to solve the national debt is with AI and robots," Musk tells the author for a new podcast series, "The Builders with Walter Isaacson," premiering Tuesday. "We're not gonna solve it by trying to save our way there." Why it matters: Musk's comments to Isaacson — author of the definitive 2023 biography, "Elon Musk" — admit that DOGE was a flo