AI Agents Hacked a Government Site

0:00This podcast is brought to you by ReliahQuest. Cyber criminals are constantly attacking. They want your data, they want your identity, they want your innovation. ReliahQuest fortifies your business with agenteic defense, AI that detects, contains, and eliminates cyber threats in minutes. It helps your security team move faster at the work that matters most to protect the business now and delivers insights to help them predict what's next. ReliahQuest, agenteic defense for the enterprise. Learn more at ReliahQuest.com that's R-E-L-I-A-Q-U-E-S-T. .com. As Trump and she prepare to meet in Washington, will the U.S. confront Beijing over its support for Iran? Plus a judge orders the White House to restore access to ban journalists and 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.

1:01It'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 way today. The U.S. and China have agreed to extend a bilateral trade truce until January, delaying higher tariffs that have 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. in 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 Taiwan,

2:03including oil purchases and the processing of Iranian financial transactions. General reporter Rory Jones says American officials are walking a tightrope 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 Taiwan. A head 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.

3:03And 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 by Cardison Kohl's four president Trump to take on Xi more directly. Meanwhile, back at the UN General Assembly in New York, Venezuela's interim president, Delsey 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 austed leader, Nicolas Maduro, follow three unsuccessful attempts by Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Curina Machado to return to the country in recent days. Machado sat down with our Vera Bergen-Gruin last week in Panama and tried to pitch her return as a contribution

4:05to 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 the macroscopic freedom to have our children come back home, to rebuild institutions to turn Venezuela into the greatest ally of the United States for a 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 is Rayleigh Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address the UN today, and General reporter Anat Pellad says that in contrast to past U.S. visits, this one would look different. These are the first elections since the October 7th, Hamas led attacks and then suing Warren Gaza. The current polls show Netanyahu failing to achieve a ruling majority, so he hopes to kind of receive a boost in the polls

5:06where 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-ramp 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 Zoran Mamdani

6:09said 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 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, MSNOW, and Politico were removed from the press pool in 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 U.S. S. 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 Kow sent to Democratic Senator Kristen Gillibrand, who had asked about suicide attempts, mental health resources,

7:10and 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 Kow's letter, which also said that the ship's medical team is well equipped to manage both routine and acute medical concerns with 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

8:11that the FDA is not sticking to the statutory timeframe of 180 days to review applications. So, 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 to back up 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.

9:12Those stories and more have the break. Harvard Business School Executive Education delivers breakthrough learning for leaders. Stimulating classes led by faculty at the forefront of their fields, topics that will define the future of business, discussions that transform perspectives and ways of thinking, and access to the brightest business minds on the planet. Learn more at hbs.me-s-breakthrough. That's hbs.me-s-breakthrough. 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 interday 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.

10:15The bond wrap follows week US PMI data yesterday. Elsewhere in markets, oil prices are inching up again after US-Aaron talks showed little sign of progress. Brent crude futures are currently trading above $105 a barrel, and US gasoline prices are closing in on $4.50 a gallon according to AAA. Chinese car makers have posted another strong month of sales in Europe, with new car registrations for BYD doubling last August's numbers. SAIC motor and leap motor also posted major gains, while Volkswagen and Renault slumped. And France's Arno family is moving to cement its control of luxury conglomerate LVMH. Holding company Christian Dior SE will be delisted, with Bernard Arno's own holding company assuming full ownership. Arno has long worked to secure control of the company, which is children hold positions in, even though ultimate succession plans remain unknown.

11:17In 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 with an Australian government healthcare 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 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

12:17where the CEOs of Anthropic and OpenAI warned of the growing risks associated with AI and promised to slow down its development. Despite those concerns, some developers are forging ahead with new offerings, not least, NETA, 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 Ray Bands offered no clear signal to buy standards that are recording his underway.

13:20And that's it for what's news for this Thursday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Hetty Moir, our supervising producer, is Sandra Killhoff, and I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show, and until then, thanks for listening. I'm Laura Thurough with Baird Private Wealth Management. You've been doing all the right things, saving, investing, building toward your goals. Healthcare can be a major expense today, and an even greater one over time. Tools like long-term care insurance or a smart health savings account strategy can help protect what you've worked so hard to build. Learn more at bairdwealth.com slash WSJ guidebook.