WSJ What’s News - Regulators Delay Approval for Boeing’s 737 MAX 10

Episode Date: September 28, 2026

P.M. Edition for Sept. 28. The FAA’s delay, over a software glitch that could pose a potential safety risk, sent Boeing stock sliding. Plus, top researchers from some of the biggest names in artificial intelligence published a report today asking policymakers to oversee self-improving AI systems. It’s the latest turn in the conversation over AI safety—which, as Journal tech policy reporter Amrith Ramkumar tells us, is also going on in the White House. Nvidia is launching the largest-ever U.S. stock buyback. And WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia in 2023 and spent more than a year imprisoned there, reflects with editor in chief Emma Tucker on how his experience has changed him on the eve of the release of his new book. Alex Ossola 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.

NVIDIA launches the largest ever U.S. stock buyback. Plus, more researchers call for oversight of AI, while President Trump plans to meet with tech executives tomorrow. The industry is very divided on this issue, and as a result, so is the administration, and both sides are often pointing the finger at one another. And the FAA is delaying approval of Boeing's 737 Max 10. It's Monday, September 28th. I'm Alex Oslo for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. First on today's show, an update on the suspected terrorist plot on an airbase in the UK that hosts U.S. forces.

British counterterrorism police said that they were releasing five men on bail who were arrested over the foiled attack. The five men are all U.K. nationals in their 20s, but investigators are probing whether a Iran or an Islamist group had orchestrated the plot. The five men remain under investigation, and security officials suspect that U.S. B-1 bombers at the base were a likely target of the plot. Iran's embassy in the U.K. said today that it rejects attempts to link Iran to the arrests. And in the U.S., a report out from Senate Democrats today says that Iran has relied on digital dollars issued by crypto company Tether to bypass U.S. sanctions. A tether spokesman didn't return requests for comment. The company has worked with law enforcement to freeze some wallets tied to the

regime. Invida is launching the largest ever U.S. stock buyback. Today, the chip giant said its board had approved a $150 billion increase to its share repurchase program, bringing the total buyback authorization to $235 billion. The company is flush with cash from the AI boom. Its stock closed up, 1.7%. Separately, today, Invidia launched a software platform to help developers test AI agents in a secure environment after a number of AI agents went rogue in recent months. It's part of a broader conversation going on about AI safety. What started as a warning from some of the biggest names in artificial intelligence has become an international conversation about whether and how to regulate AI for safety. We're exclusively

reporting that research leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Microsoft have asked policymakers to probe the degree to which their companies have made AI research automated. In a paper published today, the researchers wrote that automating AI research could compress the work so much that humans might no longer be able to understand it. And that could prevent people from being able to catch problems with AI models or from being able to solve those problems. And President Trump is also weighing what AI safety regulation might look like. For more on what's going on in the White House, I'm joined now by WSJ Tech Policy Reporter, Amrith Ram Kumar.

Amrith, initially, Trump was very dismissive of calls to regulate AI, but more recently, he's promised to do things like create an AI force and recruit a new AI czar. Why did he change his tune on this? I don't think we should look at this as the president changing his tune much. He's definitely sort of caught in two minds on AI. He is super focused on beating China in the AI race and a minimal regulatory stance, essentially. But the president has spoken over the years about the risks with AI, and he's said at times that there needs to be a killstance. switch where a human can take control of the system if it's spiraling out of control. And we know that many of his top advisors have been warning him in recent months that the risks of cyber attacks

caused by AI are going up. So I think he knows he needs to show some action here. This issue is very unpopular with voters and voters want to see some actions. So I think that's why you're seeing some conflicting messaging and pure chaos, frankly, in recent days. Well, one thing we know he has done is have dinner last night with Anthropic CEO Dario Amade. He's supposed to be meet with several other tech CEOs at the White House tomorrow. What is the purpose or goal of these meetings? So a gathering like this can just serve as a way to let people talk things out. But the industry is very divided on this issue. And as a result, so is the administration. And both sides are often pointing the finger at one another. So we'll see whether anything

comes out of it. This could be the type of venue where you see the president announce his pick for AI czar. It's still not clear what that person would do or what impact that would have on AI policy. The jury's still out on where this all lands. This AI force concept, the president has also talked about. There have been a few details. People were also disappointed last week in the U.S.-China talks that the AI dialogue basically resulted in a high-level threat-sharing agreement where the U.S. and China will give the other a heads-up

if there's a major national security threat caused by AI. So for all the bluster about AI in Washington over the past month, there's really little to show for it. Journal reporter Amrith Ram Kumar. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Mehta, which has invested more than $100 billion in AI, is under pressure to show investors how it plans to make money from that spending.

Now it's starting a new AI business aimed at enterprise customers. The division will bring together sales of several AI tools Meta already has, like its viral muse productivity agent, a coding tool, access to its top models, and agents for businesses. And... Three, two, one. SpaceX's Starship entered orbit for the first time today. The launch from a pad in Texas this morning is the 14th test of Starship. It carried 26 satellites that SpaceX added to its current constellation,

which delivers internet service to customers around the world. The launch and satellite deployment are key steps as the company wants to move the rocket from a research and development phase to one where it carries payloads that can generate revenue. In markets, the start of a new week brought more. more new highs for Treasury yields. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes settled at more than 5.24%, a fresh 19-year high, while the 30-year closed at a 24-year high. Stock slid with the NASDAQ leading the losses in the major indexes. It closed down 0.9%. Boeing was a big decliner today after the

Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, said it would delay certifying Boeing's latest model of its 737 max plane. The FAA says it's assessing a software glitch, an issue that some industry officials' worry is a potential safety risk during landings. The journal reported over the weekend that Boeing had identified a glitch that could cause an automated navigation feature to fail. Boeing stock slid almost 7% today. Coming up, a personnel shake-up at the top of the FBI, and a prosecutor reopens an investigation into an alleged gang rape at Cornell University. These stories and more after the break.

Three pieces of news from the Trump administration. First, the government rolled back regulations that required cars to be more fuel efficient. The Biden administration had mandated more than 50 miles a gallon for new vehicles, but the Trump administration today said it would bring that down to an average of 34.5 miles a gallon by model year 2031. Administration officials say the changes will help make cars cheaper by easing expensive engineering requirements for automakers. critics, like environmental groups, say those savings are overblown and will be quickly eclipsed by higher fuel costs. Also today, President Trump announced that a company called Misabi Metallics plans to build a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa. Masabi, which is based in Minnesota, is part of Indian conglomerate SR Group.

The proposed mill, which would be one of the largest in the U.S., is a win for President Trump as he looks to counter voter frustration with the economy ahead of the midterm elections. A White House official said that the plant could begin operating in 2030 and that it would support 1,700 jobs. And at the FBI, one of Director Cash Patel's top deputies is quitting after roughly a year on the job. Andrew Bailey, a co-deady director, said in a social media post today that he needed to spend more time with his family. Bailey's departure comes amid a slew of departures and turmoil at the agency, and his last day at the Bureau is Friday. In New York State, prosecutors have reopened an investigation into an alleged 2024 gang rape of a Cornell University student. Earlier this month, her lawyer filed a civil suit against the school, saying that the victim was forcibly drugged with ketamine at the Kai Phi Fraternity House and gang raped by seven of the fraternity members. The district attorney for Tompkins County, where Cornell is located, said today that his office would present the case against the seven men to a grand jury for potential criminal charges.

An attorney for one of the accused men denied the allegations in the civil suit. And finally, back in 2023, my colleague Evan Gershkovich was arrested by Russia's security forces. He was the first U.S. journalist to be charged with espionage there since the Cold War. If you're like me, you might wonder, how did he deal with the absolute terror of his arrest than more than a year in Moscow's infamous Lefortevo prison by treating it like a reporting trip? It kind of felt like this would be the most interesting way, you know, to spend my time. I'd already been planning a book before. And then when I got arrested, it sort of made sense that I just simply became a character in that.

And so I sort of just started taking notes. He took those notes old school with a pen and paper. As he recently told Wall Street Journal, editor-in-chief Emma Tucker, he wrote in no books he treated as diaries. So I would copy them each week onto a separate sheet of paper. By hand. by hand and then mail them out to my lawyers, so I would have a backup, essentially. But everything presumably was being read on the way out. So they have the record of my diaries, but I just figured everything I was saying in the diaries,

I didn't have anything to hide, so I was fine with them reading it and having it. Evans written a book about his experience. It's called This Cursed Beautiful Land and It's Out Tomorrow. One of the things he talks about in it is the experience of being arrested during an interview with a source. When I went to that interview, you know, it wasn't completely blind to the risks. Still the thought of taking a foreign correspondent, a prisoner, you know, just still felt like a bar that they wouldn't cross. So when I was at the interview and they stormed in, the first feeling was pure fear and your heart starts beating really quickly. After 16 months in prison and a global campaign for his release, Evan was freed in August 24.

And he says that now, even with the experience behind him, it's changed the way he thinks about journalism. The accepted rules and norms are changing of what a foreign correspondent is, what they're allowed to do. More countries are becoming authoritarian. More countries are more willing to no longer treat a foreign correspondent in, you know, not a diplomat, but kind of a diplomat where you, if you're really unhappy with an outlet or a certain journalist, you don't extend their visa, you cancel their accreditation, you kick them out, you don't take them high. hostage. So I've thought about that a great deal about the risks we take, the situations we put ourselves in. You can watch Evans' full interview with Emma Tucker on WSJ.com. We'll leave a link in the show notes. And that's what's news for this Monday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Danny Lewis and Anthony Bansy with supervising producer Tali Arbell. I'm Alex O'Slef for the Wall Street Journal.

We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening. You know,