Feng reports debate over whether Beijing would want super-powerful AI

Matthew Rhys makes Emmys history with double lead-actor wins

NPR’s Emily Feng told Up First on Tuesday there is an active debate within the global AI industry over whether Chinese companies can surpass the United States in AI development. Part of that debate, Feng said, includes whether Beijing would even want to develop a super-powerful AI in the first place. Feng pointed out that it is arguably not in Beijing’s best interest to develop a technology that might threaten humanity.

The current discussion highlights the conflicting assumptions behind Trump’s pro-tech, pro-business approach to AI, Feng added. Just last year, the president let Chinese companies buy a key semiconductor chip, even though there were warnings that the country needed it to meet its AI goals.

On the same day, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon joined forces across their political poles at the “Pro-Human Assembly” in Washington, D.C., urging Congress to act quickly to curb AI’s impact. President Trump pushed back against criticism of AI and data centers, calling the pushback a “sick conspiracy” that would benefit China, an AI competitor.

The Kennedy Center’s board said the arts institution faces bankruptcy and might close as soon as Tuesday. NPR obtained a document outlining the plan ahead of a board meeting set for the day, which falls on the same day as a status hearing set by Judge Christopher Cooper, who is overseeing a lawsuit from Rep. Joyce Beatty seeking to halt the center’s renaming to honor Trump.

NPR’s Anastasia Tsioulcas reported the Kennedy Center says Trump is the only one who can raise enough funds to help with its financial issues, which is the rationale for the board deciding he deserves to have his name on the building. Both artists and audiences have been leaving the arts center over the past year, saying they believe it has become too politicized under Trump. Its live events calendar is a fraction of what it used to be, and donations have also dried up, Tsioulcas reported. She said it appears there is a real and dire financial crisis at the Kennedy Center, and the question now is how to manage it and whether adding the president’s name will help solve it.

The Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to impose new mail-in voting restrictions before the midterm elections. The ruling ensures that the U.S. Postal Service will continue delivering ballots as usual. Voting by mail has already started in states like Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, with more states set to follow soon. Voters who are eligible to vote by mail may have their ballots on the way to them now. Voters who need to request one should check their state’s deadline to do so, as election officials suggest sending completed ballots back as soon as possible.

The Emmys were held on Monday. Widow’s Bay was the hot comedy property; recognition for drama series was more widely shared, with The Pitt, Pluribus, The Diplomat, Task, and Slow Horses all taking home awards. Matthew Rhys became the first actor to ever win lead performance awards in two different categories in the same year, taking lead actor in a limited series for The Beast in Me and lead actor in a comedy series for Widow’s Bay. Rhea Seehorn won an Emmy at last for Pluribus, in which she plays a widowed novelist dealing with the end of humanity as she knows it. Jean Smart won lead comedy actress for the fifth time, meaning she won every year she was eligible for the now-concluded Hacks. Host Mariska Hargitay, the Law & Order: SVU star, was “impressively game,” participating in skits and showing her chops with the delivery of standard awards banter, though the opening number was described as corny and cringe.

Jewish people around the world celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, over the weekend. The two-day holiday began at sunset on Friday and was filled with prayer, reflection, and celebration. A standout moment for many was the powerful blast of the shofar, an animal’s horn played like a trumpet at various points during the Rosh Hashanah service. A shofar can be large or small, and blown by one person or anyone who brings their own. The horn’s sound marks moments of heightened experience and emotion, according to Daniel Picus, an associate professor at Western Washington University who researches religious practices and rituals.

The Trump administration’s Justice Department is investigating Evanston, Ill., accusing the city of racial discrimination. Evanston is the first U.S. city to implement a reparations program to compensate Black residents for historical discrimination; the program has provided more than 300 individuals with $25,000 grants to compensate for past housing segregation. The DOJ is joining a lawsuit filed by a conservative group that alleges the program is racially discriminatory because it only qualifies Black people for assistance.

In 2019, an Evanston councilmember researching the decline of the city’s Black population discovered a link between affordability issues faced by Black families and a 1921 zoning law that confined them to a single neighborhood. The law allowed local banks to deny mortgages, hindering wealth-building for generations. The City Council recognized the harm, apologized, and committed $20 million from the city’s tax on cannabis sales and real estate transfers to pay reparations. Applicants were required to be Black and to demonstrate that they or an ancestor had lived in Evanston from 1919 to 1969, during the height of housing segregation. The Justice Department claims that Evanston is infringing upon the Constitution’s equal protection clause, which prohibits government discrimination based on race.

Prolific costume and fashion designer Bob Mackie died of pneumonia in Palm Springs, Calif., on Monday. He was 87.

Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) returned to the Senate on Monday after a months-long medical absence stemming from a fall.

The Trump administration is repealing limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants, eliminating Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency rules that required existing coal and new natural gas plants to cut carbon dioxide pollution.