NPR News: 09-12-2026 10PM EDT

0:00This message comes from Synchrony Bank, who wants to inspire you to stay flexible, save smart, and keep dreaming big. With their high yield savings account, you'll earn a great rate without monthly fees or minimums so you can reach your savings goals faster without the hassle. Open an account with a great rate in five minutes or less, and dream on. Go to Synchrony.com slash NPR. Member FDIC. Live from NPR News in Washington. I'm Linda Kenyon. Open AI's leaders, as his company will not rush when it comes to developing AI, after a warning from anthropic leaders that AI could destroy humans if it's not controlled. NPR Shandali's Duster reports. Open AI CEO Sam Altman says his company will slow down AI advancement after a warning that a rush can make the technology uncontrollable. Dernan interview with Fortune magazine. Altman also said the company would delay its public offering until at least 2027 because

1:00of safety concerns. We're not rushing into an IPO. I actually think that given everything happening with safety, this would be right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public. And we don't feel pressure on that. Altman said company officials have discussed pausing runs on the technology to make progress and making it safer. Shandali's Duster and PR News. Iraq's government says it is investigating after Iran-backed militias are accused of attacking a key Saudi oil pipeline. The drone strikes shut down Saudi Arabia's East West pipeline and alternative to the straight of Hormuz. April Longley, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and an expert on Yemen, says this attack has far-reaching implications. The Iranians and the Houthis want to create a new reality in the region, a new status quo where they control these critical choke points, where they push the U.S. out of the region. So the order, the region orders and flux and they have a vision for where it wants to go. Now in terms of the next few weeks, I think they feel like they have the wind at their

2:02back. And so they're probably going to try to consolidate the gains they've made on the coast and maybe push into more territory in Yemen. President Trump said Iran was probably responsible for the attack on that Saudi pipeline. The pipeline had become a key alternative for moving oil around the straight of Hormuz, where shipping has been disrupted for months due to the ongoing war against Iran. Stocks on Wall Street overall fell this week as energy prices soared. NPR's Scott Horsley reports a market rally on Friday was not enough to reverse losses that had occurred earlier in the week. An escalation of the U.S. war with Iran pushed crude oil prices higher, retail gasoline prices in the U.S. jumped about 15 cents a gallon during the week, while the price of diesel fuel topped $6 a gallon for the first time ever. Rising energy prices are keeping inflation elevated. Consumer prices in August were up 3.4 percent from a year ago. Friday's inflation report left investors more confident.

3:03The Federal Reserve will raise interest rates when policymakers meet next week. Stocks rose on Friday, but for the week, the NASDAQ lost two-thirds of a percent. The S&P 500 index fell 8 tenths of a percent, and the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 1.6 percent. Scott Horsley in Pair News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News. Mail in voting for the midterm election has started in North Carolina and in Wisconsin. But NPR's Hansi LaWong reports some eligible voters are considering other ways of voting to prepare for a Supreme Court ruling on President Trump's push for new voting restrictions. Kelsey Kuiper is a military spouse who is voted by mail for years, but for the midterm, she's considering booking flights and rental cars so she can vote at the polls. I'm looking at maybe spending between $1,700 and $2,000 to fly there. I think that it's important to prioritize the rights that our active duty members are serving to preserve. Kuiper says she's worried about knock-on effects.

4:04If the Supreme Court allows a U.S. Postal Service to refuse to deliver mail and balance to voters in states where election officials do not turn over voter lists in the mailing agency and do not have certain barcodes in their ballot envelopes. We should note U.S. PS is a financial supporter of NPR. Many election experts say the U.S. PS plan could disenfranchise many disabled voters and those living in places without polling sites. Hansi LaWong and Pair News. President Trump wants the Smithsonian Institution to install a massive statue of George Washington outside the National Museum of American History. The president suggested replacing the current infinity sculpture in front of the museum with a 30-foot statue of Washington instead. In a late-night social media post, the president also asked for a special exhibit honoring Washington to run through February 22, 2032, that date would mark the 300th anniversary of Washington's birthday. I'm Linda Kenyon and Pair News in Washington.