WSJ What’s News - AI Agents Hacked a Government Site

Episode Date: September 24, 2026

A.M. Edition for Sept. 24. In an apparent first, an OpenAI agent hacked an Australian government website gaining unauthorized access to government files. Plus a global bond selloff continues, with treasury yields extending to multiyear highs. And, a federal judge ordered President Trump to temporarily restore access to news outlets banned from the White House grounds. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As Trump and Xi prepare to meet in Washington, will the U.S. can confront Beijing over its support for Iran. Plus, a judge orders the White House to restore access to banned journalists, and in an apparent first, an AI agent hacks into government files, sparking anger in Australia. This is a very serious incident, as the Prime Minister has made clear overnight. it is utterly unacceptable. It's Thursday, September 24th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News,

the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The U.S. and China have agreed to extend a bilateral trade truce until January, delaying higher tariffs that had been set to go into effect in November. That announcement came just hours after Chinese leader Xi Jinping landed in Washington for a state visit. That said, expectations for today's meeting are low, with China ultimately deciding against bringing a corporate delegation to the U.S. and a number of thorny issues separating the two sides, including AI regulation, U.S. support for Taiwan, and the war with Iran. We are reporting that in recent months, China has sent around 1,300 shipments of dual-use

components to Iran's defense ministry, including parts used in drones and missiles, building on other forms of support for Tehran, including oil purchases and the processing of Iranian financial transactions. Journal reporter Rory Jones says American officials are walking a tight rope when it comes to discussing China's support for Iran. We should be very clear that Beijing has said that it opposes attempts to smear China by associating it with the conflict, and Beijing maintains that it supports efforts towards peace. For the record, Iranian officials, didn't respond to requests for comment on our reporting. But this leaves Washington in a tricky spot. It's obviously sanctioning Iran and the Treasury has sanctioned some Chinese entities

that it believes are helping Iran. But at the same time, the White House has proven reluctant to more seriously confront Beijing over its support for Tehran. Ahead of this week's summit, we report that Trump told officials and aides that maintaining good relations with Xi is a priority for this administration. And that as a result of that, you're going to see senior officials playing down, and they have played down, the significance of the aid that Beijing has provided. However, there is a sense among some in the administration that by failing to more aggressively confront Beijing in its support for Iran, that the US has weaker leverage over Iran. and we've seen bipartisan calls for President Trump to take on Xi more directly.

Meanwhile, back at the UN General Assembly in New York, Venezuela's interim president, Delci Rodriguez, says that elections will be held in the country, but she offered no details on when or how a democratic transition would occur. Those comments from Rodriguez, the former deputy of ousted leader Nicolas Maduro, follow three unsuccessful attempts by Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Karina Machado to return to the country in recent days. Machado sat down with our Verro-Bergen-Gruin last week in Panama and tried to pitch her return as a contribution to Venezuela's transition,

not a challenge to the government. This is not about me. This is about 30 million Venezuelans that are suffering and demanding the possibility to move ahead into transition to democracy and freedom, to have our children come back home, to rebuild institutions, to turn Venezuela into the greatest ally of the United States for long term.

Instead, recent developments appear to have entrenched Washington's partnership with Rodriguez, including the announcement of a major oil deal negotiated with her government. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address the UN today. And general reporter Anad says that in contrast to past U.S. visits, this one would look different. These are the first elections since the October 7th, Hamas, sled attacks and then suing war in Gaza. The current polls show Netanyahu failing to, you know, achieve a ruling majority. So he hopes to kind of receive a boost in the polls where he's been lagging from this highly

publicized and photographed event, which is actually probably going to air during the prime time Israeli nightly news. Anat says that isolated on the world stage and facing elections next month that could end his political career, Netanyahu's meeting schedule is sparse and he's expected to direct his remarks to an Israeli audience. He is going to be flying in and leaving shortly after his speech on Thursday. There's not going to be a Trump meeting, even though we understand that Netanyahu had wanted one. The U.S. and Israeli officials say that is due to scheduling constraints. However, relations between the two men have cooled, have even deteriorated, you could say, since the war in Iran.

The two have clashed over things like bombing in Lebanon, Israel kind of wanting to continue the fight in Iran, while the U.S. seeks an off-ram and the peace planning Gaza. One thing Netanyahu won't have to worry about is a 2024 ICC arrest warrant for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza. As recently as July, New York Mayor Zohan Mamdani said city lawyers were studying having Netanyahu arrested, though he's since acknowledged that local authorities can't do that. The federal judge has ordered President Trump to temporarily restore acts. access to three news outlets that were banned from the White House grounds for their coverage of the administration. Earlier this month, journalists from CNN, MS Now in Politico, were removed from

the press pool. In a ruling this morning, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, said that was a blatant violation of the First Amendment. Kelly has issued a temporary restraining order that allows the outlets to get their access back while litigation proceeds. Eight U.S. Navy personnel assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group attempted suicide during its months-long deployment in the fight against Iran. That's according to a letter, acting Navy Secretary Hung Kao sent to Democratic Senator Kristen Gillibrand, who had asked about suicide attempts, mental health resources, and living conditions on the ship. A Navy official said that around 7,000 people are part of that strike group, which was deployed in November 2025,

and that two of the suicide attempts took place while the ship was in a combat zone. None of the eight people died, according to Cow's letter, which also said that the ship's medical team is well equipped to manage both routine and acute medical concerns of crew members. Help is available to reach the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. Dial or text 988. And the Trump administration is planning to make it easier for more tobacco products, including flavored vapes to legally enter the U.S. market. Journal Health Policy reporter Liz Esley White says the Food and Drug Administration will revisit a rule that was introduced in the first Trump administration and later confirmed under President Biden that outlined requirements for new tobacco applications.

Since this rule was approved in 2021, tobacco companies have generally complained that the FDA is not sticking to the statutory time frame of 180 days. to review applications. Tobacco companies and some policy experts argue that if there were a more thriving legal markets for vapes, that would tamp down on the flood of illicit Chinese vapes that largely are unregulated. Some public health experts say that actually approving more legal flavors of vapes will entice teenagers to try tobacco products for the first time. And HHS spokeswoman said the Trump administration is committed to keeping nicotine

out of the hands of kids, getting counterfeit vapes off the street, and providing safer alternatives for people who want to quit smoking cigarettes. Coming up, the bond route is back. We'll survey today's markets and look at how meta's new AI-infused gadgets could enable you to use AI all day even without opening an app. Those stories and more after the break. A global bond sell-off is continuing today, with 10-year U.S. Treasury yields jumping another two basis points overnight,

putting them on track to settle above 2007 levels, while 30-year bonds hit their highest intraday level since 2004. And you'll have to go all the way back to 1996 to see Japanese 10-year yields as high as they are today. The bond route follows weak U.S. PMI data yesterday. Elsewhere in markets, oil prices are inching up again after U.S. Iran talks showed little sign of progress. Brent crude futures are currently trading above $105 a barrel, and U.S. gasoline prices are closing in on $4.50 a gallon, according to AAA. Chinese carmakers have posted another strong month of sales in Europe, with new car registrations for B.YD doubling last August's numbers. SAIC motor and Leap Motor also posted major gains while Volkswagen and Renault slumped.

And France's Arnaud family is moving to cement its control of luxury conglomerate LVMH. Holding company Christian Dior Esse will be delisted with Bernard Arnaud's own holding company assuming full ownership. Arnault has long worked to secure control of the company, which his children hold positions in, even though ultimate succession plans remain unknown. In an apparent first, an AI agent has hacked a government website. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said yesterday that the agent from OpenAI gained unauthorized access to both public and non-public files within an Australian government health care statistics portal in June, but that OpenAI didn't notify the government about the hack

until September 10th. I spoke with the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, to explain. I would express Australia's extreme concern about this incident. And I also expressed my disappointment that it took the company way too long to inform the government what had occurred and the nature of the way that that notification occurred as well was unacceptable. An OpenAI spokesperson said that no personal data had been compromised, but that its models took unintended actions while looking up answers during an evaluation. The revelation came during a session on AI at the UN General Assembly, where the CEOs of Anthropic and OpenAI warned of the growing risks associated with AI and promised to slow down its development.

Well, despite those concerns, some developers are forging ahead with new offerings, not least meta, which has seen its Muse AI app take off this week. At its annual developer conference last night, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, announced several new AI integrated products. including a keychain charm and smart glasses. So without cameras, this opens up a lot of new design possibilities. They can look like any other glasses. Meta is hoping those gadgets will drive further adoption of Muse to the point that users won't even have to touch the app. That said, critics have warned that dropping the camera might not be enough to ease privacy concerns

about meta's smart glasses, as the new raybans offer no clear signal to bystanders that a recording is underway. And that's it for what's news for this Thursday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Hattie Moyer. Our supervising producer is Sandra Kilhoff, and I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with the news show. And until then, thanks for listening.