News without an agenda. AP is a not-for-profit organization with no corporate parent, no shareholders and no government influence. Our mission is journalism, not profit margins. Your donation supports independent reporting that serves the public interest, not corporate shareholders. Donate today.
|
|
|
Hello and thanks to those who wrote to wish me a nice vacation. Croatia was gorgeous and I’m happy to be back. In today’s news: Hegseth is grilled on Capitol Hill over Iran war funding; the Trump administration is deferring more than $1 billion in Medicaid money for California and Minnesota; and ChatGPT maker OpenAI says its system hacked another AI company on its own. Also, a look at how the bagel crossed continents to become an iconic American food. Finally, Tropical Storm Bertha is expected to bring flooding and strong winds to the Gulf Coast. If you live nearby, use our hurricane tracker to stay updated.
|
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Tuesday, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
|
Hegseth estimates Iran war has cost $37.5 billion
|
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided the new estimate, up from earlier assessments, while facing fiery questions at a Senate hearing Tuesday. Read more.
|
|
|
|
- Hegseth and other officials appeared as Republicans prepare a $95 billion package to fund the military, along with other White House priorities including farm aid and voting law changes. Hegseth said the supplemental war funding is an “urgent, necessary” injection of money.
The hearing came days after the Pentagon announced that three more American service members have died in the conflict, bringing the U.S. death toll to 17, and that more than 100 have been injured since early July.
|
|
|
Trump administration says it’s deferring $1B in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota
|
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the new actions — which come after previously announced Medicaid funding deferrals in those states — are part of the administration's strategy to “stop the fraud before it happens.” Read more.
|
|
|
It’s the latest in a series of punitive steps the Trump administration has linked to allegations of fraud in mostly Democratic-led states. The tactic is part of the administration’s sweeping campaign to show it’s cracking down and saving taxpayers money when rising healthcare costs and other economic stressors have made affordability a top voter concern in November’s midterm elections.
But the federal government hasn't provided “data or explanation on how the deferral amount was calculated or what it was based on” to Minnesota, said John Connolly, the temporary commissioner and state Medicaid director for Minnesota’s Department of Human Services. California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom accused the administration of targeting it for political reasons.
|
|
|
OpenAI says its AI technology acted on its own in an ‘unprecedented’ hack of another company
|
AI startup Hugging Face said last week that it had detected an intrusion into its data processing systems that it suspected was caused by an AI agent autonomously acting on its own. Read more.
|
|
|
The disclosure comes amid heightened concerns about the cybersecurity capabilities of powerful models. In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a framework for the federal government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems for up to a month before their public release.
Hugging Face co-founder Clément Delangue said he spent the past 24 hours working with OpenAI, “and we strongly believe there was no malicious intent on their part. It’s quite mind-blowing that all of this happened autonomously!" Delangue added that it “might be the first incident of its kind.”
|
|
|
A poppy seed bagel. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
|
|
|
|
Let me know here which stories you'd like to see more of in Morning Wire. You can invite a friend to subscribe here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Nadja
|
|
|
|
|
Let me know here which stories you'd like to see more of in Morning Wire. You can invite a friend to subscribe here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Nadja
|
|
|
|
|
*Advertisers have no control over editorial decisions or content. If you're interested in advertising, contact us here.
|
|
|
|
|
