Today’s Top Stories from NBC News
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2026
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In today’s newsletter: AI executives call for self-regulation of their companies’ technology. Trump reacts to the Fed’s decision to hike interest rates. And the L.A. news community mourns those killed in a helicopter crash.
Here’s what to know today.
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Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg and Dario Amodei.
(Getty Images)
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Concerns about artificial intelligence and the pace of its development have exploded in recent days. Now, tech executives — including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Open AI CEO Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis — are coalescing around the idea that their industry needs to come up with its own rules and standards.
Tech companies have shown some willingness to make changes — but without regulation, they’re also able to undo those changes whenever they want. Litigation has also moved companies to change, like Meta’s recent $18 billion settlement, which included an agreement to place limits on how teens use Instagram.
But some experts question AI companies’ ability to regulate themselves. “Self regulation is an oxymoron,” said Alex Bores, a New York state assemblyman and supporter of nationwide AI regulation. “That’s just Congress and the president not living up to their duty to protect the American people.”
The House yesterday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would shield consumers from higher energy costs from new data centers in their communities. But the bill doesn’t address recent safety concerns, and it’s uncertain what will happen to the bill in the Senate.
Meanwhile, people across the political spectrum, from Steve Bannon to Sen. Bernie Sanders, have called for a “pro-human” future for AI (more on that in today’s Staff Pick, below).
Where things stand with AI self-regulation.
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- An NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey found that 53% of adults believe AI does more harm than good in K-12 education, and 54% believe the same in colleges and universities.
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The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in three years and signaled one more interest rate hike in the coming months as it aims to slow rising inflation. The central bank raised rates yesterday 0.25%, making its flagship rate 4.00%. And as of this week, all but two members of the Federal Open Market Committee forecast another rate increase this year.
Inflation was up to 3.4% as of August, fueled by the Iran war’s impact on energy prices. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh told reporters that his agency can’t affect the prices of food and other items, “but what we can do, and will do, is ensure that any change in relative prices don’t broaden out.” President Donald Trump reacted to the decision by demanding interest rates be lowered, “AND FAST!”
He later said the Fed’s decision was due to a “hostile board” that Warsh couldn't overpower. “I told, I talked to Kevin, and I think if you want to approach the board, it’s not going to matter. The board is very hostile. They’re very political. They’re doing the wrong thing.”
Trump also rejected the claim that rates were raised to combat inflation, arguing the board was “raising them only for political reasons.”
What Warsh said about the Fed’s decision.
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A bill aimed at imposing sanctions on Russia and Iran is headed to Trump’s desk for his signature after it passed in the House yesterday in a 262-159 vote. The legislation, named the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, takes aim at Russia’s energy sector by punishing the largest buyers of its oil and gas, allowing the president to impose tariffs on goods from those countries, which may include China and India.
The goal is to slash the revenue streams that fund Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine. But some top House Democrats who criticized the bill fear it would grant broad tariff authorities that Trump could abuse. Here’s what else the bill states.
After voting wrapped yesterday, House members left Washington and aren’t expected to reconvene until Nov. 9 — after the midterm elections. That means lawmakers won’t vote on Rep. Thomas Massie’s resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which needs to be acted on in two legislative days. While GOP leaders insisted their decision to cancel today’s votes had nothing to do with Massie’s impeachment efforts, it allowed vulnerable Republican members to avoid a difficult vote on Hegseth’s leadership during the unpopular six-month war with Iran. What Speaker Mike Johnson said of Massie’s impeachment effort.
Separately, human rights experts commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body say they have found “reasonable grounds” to believe the U.S. committed war crimes in two strikes in Iran, including on a school in the southern city of Minab.
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- For subscribers: Election officials are caught in the middle of the fight in Missouri over which congressional map will be in place for the midterm elections. “Somebody I talked to … described it as being the ping-pong ball in a ping-pong game,” one official said.
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Los Angeles’ TV news community was in mourning the day after a helicopter used by the local NBC station crashed while covering a fatal bus collision, killing three people.
Journalist Eliana Moreno, 38, was remembered as dependable and kind to her colleagues. Pilot George Marciniw was praised for his professionalism and devotion to his job. Edy Fernando Gutiérrez Mejia, 29, a pedestrian who died at the scene, was affectionately known as “Pichi” to loved ones. Learn more about the victims.
Tuesday’s crash played out in on-air remarks and in social media posts as anchors and reporters processed their grief while continuing to report on the accident.
Colleen Williams, a 40-year veteran of NBC Los Angeles and one of the city’s most recognizable broadcasting personalities, seemed to fight back tears as she confirmed on air that the station’s helicopter had gone down. Robert Kovacik, a 22-year veteran of the station, wiped away tears from inside a police vehicle.
The heartbreak extended to other news stations. “What happens in this business is you wind up spending holidays, weekends, late nights and early mornings with these people, your colleagues,” said Jeff Wald, former news director at local station KTLA. “They become your second family.”
How the L.A. news community mourned its own.
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For years, I’ve chatted and met with people skeptical of the speed of AI development — some of them award-winning physicists who worry that a super intelligence could supplant human ingenuity, others activists who have railed against the growing concentration of wealth and power for a select few tech oligarchs.
Those factions, and more, convened for the first Pro-Human Assembly in Washington, D.C., this week. Faith leaders, A(ish)- list actors, computer scientists, nonprofit activists and more advocated for a more human approach to AI development. The conference had an incredible buzz, especially coming off the heels of last week’s firestorm of headlines about how AI researchers think the technology is moving too fast. There was also a table of free merchandise — I don’t know the next time I’ll be able to nab a free baseball hat that proclaims the benefits of being “pro-human.”
Despite the camaraderie, attendees seemed to disagree on what “pro-human” actually meant. Steve Bannon railed against China, while Sen. Bernie Sanders advocated for people to have a democratic say in the technology’s direction. The event’s organizers called for the tech to “amplify rather than diminish human potential.” What exactly that means, I have no idea — and I think the 500-plus attendees might have 500-plus different ideas.
— Jared Perlo, tech reporter
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- For subscribers: A new documentary on the Israeli military’s killing of civilians in Gaza has earned global praise. But its two filmmakers now face intense backlash at home.
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- For subscribers: Two University of Texas students who were called “foreigners” in a GOP nominee’s viral post shared their reactions to becoming unwitting political footballs.
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