Reuters World News - Slowing AI, Reform UK donations and Sweden's election

Episode Date: September 14, 2026

Tech giants want to pump the brakes on AI, but U.S. President Donald Trump shrugs off fears and says a slowdown means China wins. Two crypto investors pour nearly $100 million into Reform UK - the biggest donation in British political history. Hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in the Strait of Hormuz fade as talks are postponed. And Sweden's center-left opposition looks set to win the election. Podcasts, breaking news, and video analysis from the source. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download the Reuters app here.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Watch the latest On Assignment: ⁠Under siege in the West Bank⁠ Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit the ⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Monday, September 14th. Today, Trump pushes back on fears AI could pose a threat to humanity and says the US must beat China. Two crypto investors make history with huge donations to the right-wing Reform UK. And the streaming giants fight it out at TV's biggest night. It's the Emmys. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.

U.S. President Donald Trump is dismissing fears that artificial intelligence could pose an existential threat to humanity. After some of the biggest names in the industry called for a slowdown in AI development. We're leading China in AI. We're more sophisticated country in the world. And frankly, I want to keep it that way. Because whoever wins, AI wins. And we can put guardrails. We can do this and that.

But I think you have a lot of negative forces in bringing it up. That shouldn't be bringing it up. And they're bringing up things that won't happen. Trump's comments come after a remarkable shift in Silicon Valley. Anthropics Dario Amode called for a slowdown in the race to build more powerful systems, citing growing safety concerns. Open AIs Sam Altman and Elon Musk's ex-AI both backed the proposal. The move follows warnings from anthropic researchers that advanced AI could pose an extinction-level

threat to humanity in the not-too-distant future. Altman has even put plans for an Open AI IPO on hold, saying safety must come first. Here's Reuters Deepa Sita Raman on how concerned. concerns over AI have gained traction. It really kind of accelerated when you had an anthropic employee named Jacob Coxon come out and post a multi-part dread on X, basically saying that he didn't think either company was sufficiently safe enough or responsible enough to develop this powerful technology. And then it all culminates in this decision from Dario Amadeh that says, yeah, I also advocate.

slowing down. I also think we should have more oversight. And I would invite external evaluators to come in and be like employees and they can watch our safety progress. They can watch our systems. And then they can write whatever they want about it. You know, they can, they can disclose all the information they need to. And the fact that Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, felt comfortable enough to promote Dario's essay and say, yeah, we would also, you know, I'm in support of this. I'm in support of a lot of the proposals laid out here. I mean, that's unusual. These are two guys that don't trust each other at all and they don't really like each other.

But the fact that they came together, at least in public for this moment, means both CEOs recognize that the noise around safety and the questions and the concerns. about transparency and oversight have gotten so loud that they can't ignore it. But Deepa says the details aren't yet clear. It is hard to know what exactly slow down means. Is it, you know, that they're promising not to develop future technologies or is it that they won't release that technology to the world? What is the time frame? What is safe enough even look like?

I mean, there are all these really open, trenchant questions that are going to be important to figure out and define that we don't have definitions for just yet. In China, a state-backed newspaper has hit back at Anthropics call to slow AI development, calling it hypocritical, short-sighted, and a Cold War playbook. Let's take a look at how markets are reacting to the AI fears with Mike Dolphi. Host of our sister markets podcast Morning Bit. So we enter Monday with two very big issues on our plates. One is the escalation, fresh escalation in the Iran War that's now sent oil prices back up above $108 a barrel this morning. But perhaps the much bigger issue is this story about potential end of humanity from AI, which is snowballed over the weekend.

and the two biggest AI labs, Open AI and Anthropic, now calling for a go slow AI. And there is real questions in the market as to whether a go slow AI, if that were to come to pass, does affect this gigantic build-out in AI infrastructure, a question rather than an answer, but Donald Trump and Xi Jinping both saying

that these fears are overblown and it should continue at pace. Thanks, Mike. Don't forget, you can listen to Morning Bird, wherever you get your podcasts. A key meeting aimed at getting shipping flowing once more through the Strait of Ramos has been postponed, putting oil markets on edge again. Oman says planned talks between Iran and Gulf Arab states have been delayed,

dimming hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough. Adding to the jitters, Saudi Arabia is keeping a major oil pipeline shut after drone attacks, while fresh strikes on ships in the region are raising new concerns about the security of key shipping routes. Two crypto investors are gifting Britain's anti-immigration party, Reform UK, nearly $100 million in donations. That amount, which may seem like not such a big deal to our American listeners, is huge by UK standards. And it comes at a sensitive time for the party, which is facing allegations over foreign donations, allegations it denies. So who are the Crypto Men, Christopher Harbourn and Ben Delo, who want Reform UK in power? Reuters political correspondent Alistair Smout explains.

Both Delo and Harbourn have previously donated to reform within this year. In Delo's case, he said that recent questions, reform UK's funding had actually clarified in his mind the need to make them like not have to worry about finances so much whereas Harbourn has also been a sort of consistent supporter of reform UK and prominent Eurosceptic Nigel Farage's political platforms. Reform UK have been clear that these donations are not sort of in exchange for any sort of perks or privileges should reform get into government. Reform UK has said that if it comes to power,

it would propose a law to boost crypto adoption. Britain's governing Labour Party argues donations this large could give wealthy individuals too much political influence. The Labour government's already brought forward legislation to be more restrictive on donations. Certainly donations coming from abroad or people who live abroad or recently moved back to the UK. Now, both Delo and Harbourn are British,

and reform say that they have moved back to the UK and both under the current electoral rules, but also any future rules that might be applied retrospectively, they meet all the criteria for this donation to be above board. then come the Sweden for a new regering. Swedish opposition leader Magdalena Adershon addresses supporters, with her centre-left block holding a razor-thin lead over the right-wing government in elections.

Given the closeness of the race, the winner may not be called for days. There's a lot at stake, with the result deciding whether Sweden continues down its right-wing path and toughens its stance on immigration. and crime, or shifts course after four years of conservative rule under Prime Minister of Christchishon. The Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C., could close its doors as early as Tuesday. That's according to the Washington Post, which reports that trustees installed by President

Trump say the centre is on the verge of bankruptcy, warning it won't be able to pay its bills within weeks. Those trustees say putting the president's name on the facade may be the future. only way to avoid collapse. The Kennedy Center did not respond to a request for comment. And finally, the Emmy Awards get underway tonight, offering a rare night of celebration for Hollywood as the industry grapples with job cuts, disruption from artificial intelligence, and uncertainty over major media mergers. A few TV veterans are looking at some big wins. Gene Smart could make Emmy history with a possible fifth straight best comedy actress win for hacks.

And 84-year-old Harrison Ford is nominated for an Emmy, which he has yet to win, for his role in Apple Plus show shrinking. Drama favourite, The Pit, is looking to repeat last year's success, with Noah Weil of 90s ER fame hoping for a second consecutive Best Actor Trophy. For more on any of the stories from today, as well as more analysis, and news shaping our world, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. There's a link in the description to download it and start getting pure news straight from the source.

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