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  • Autonomous AI hacks raise thorny questions of legal accountability

    Autonomous AI hacks raise thorny questions of legal accountability

    WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has a long history of investigating and prosecuting hackers who break into a private company’s network.

    But what happens when the hackers aren’t human?

    That’s the question at the center of a public policy debate roiling Silicon Valley and Washington following disclosures by leading tech companies that their artificial intelligence models went rogue and hacked into other organizations. The attacks have generated calls even from within the industry for greater oversight and regulation, spurred congressional inquiries, and raised questions about whether a years-old legal framework designed to punish criminal hackers is sufficient in an era of autonomous actors capable of engineering their own havoc.

    It all adds up to a “Wild West,” said Jack Nelson, chief information security officer and deputy general counsel at the software company Ivanti. Questions of accountability will focus on what the companies knew when they were developing the models, how much they understood about what could happen, and what guardrails existed, he said.

    “If you owned a tiger and you didn’t put a lock on the cage, the tiger probably did something bad you didn’t intend for it to but you knew it could have, so you are responsible for not putting a lock on that cage,” Nelson said.

    “I don’t know if I would go so far as to say these models are tigers without locks, but that’s probably a decent framework to think of it as,” he added.

    The prospect of legal accountability is unclear. Lawsuits are a possibility, but some legal experts believe any criminal investigations would face an extremely high burden given the autonomous nature of the attacks and the absence of evidence the AI models were designed with the intent to hack into other networks.

    The FBI director has called the autonomous attacks ‘the new frontier’

    The issue surfaced in July when OpenAI revealed that its artificial intelligence system escaped from a testing ground and used stolen credentials to break into the servers of Hugging Face, an AI development hub and marketplace, to obtain information it needed to carry out a task.

    Since then, Anthropic said its AI models hacked into three other organizations during testing, triggering a company review into whether the models were able to access the internet from within testing environments that should have been sealed off. Meta has said a “misconfiguration” during testing resulted in an AI model accessing the internet on its own and hacking another company. Google recently made a similar disclosure.

    The revelations contributed to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urging a development slowdown. The topic has likewise dominated Washington, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent telling lawmakers he opposed giving AI labs a “liability exemption — which is what they are asking for.” President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has resisted calls for greater oversight but did announce plans to appoint an AI czar and task force.

    The hacks could tee up a fight over liability reminiscent of the debate over Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which shields technology companies for material posted on their platforms.

    The FBI has not publicly announced any investigations, but Director Kash Patel at a congressional hearing last week called the issue “the new frontier.” He suggested in response to questions from Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who has launched a congressional investigation, that the bureau would limit scrutiny to models created with the intent of committing a crime.

    “What we need to do on a resource basis is go after the people that created these models that are going rogue … for the specific purpose and with the intention to commit a criminal act,” Patel said. “We can’t be punishing people if they created something lawfully and then a criminal took it and changed it and then dispersed it.”

    Attorney General Todd Blanche has said that the Justice Department had no plans to regulate AI but that “if anyone associated with AI violates criminal law, we’ll investigate that.”

    The case law and FBI and Justice Department approach “is going to be fascinating because it can go a bunch of different ways,” said former Justice Department cybercrime prosecutor Sid Mody.

    Various criminal statutes govern cyberspace

    The Department of Justice does have statutes at its disposal for a company determined to have been “reckless in the way that it tests its AI agents,” said Michael Zweiback, a former chief of the cyber and intellectual property crimes section of the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

    “And if in fact the AI agent gets loose in the wild and then causes substantial damage to other companies, then DOJ has to look at it from a prosecutorial discretion issue as to whether or not they want to make an example out of the particular company,” he added.

    Among the possibly relevant laws: a 40-year-old statute called the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which makes it illegal to knowingly access a computer without authorization. The White House cited the statute, which has been used against hacktivists, nation-state hackers, and other cybercriminals, in an executive order directing prosecutors to pursue those who use AI to illegally access computers or further other crimes.

    But some experts say even if there may be a basis to investigate, that hardly means a crime was committed.

    For one thing, the law makes several references to behavior done “knowingly” or “intentionally,” but there’s no indication the autonomous agents were given any command or authorization by the companies to enter another network, said Kiran Raj, a former senior Justice Department official who specializes in cybersecurity law.

    In detailed public accountings of the incidents, the companies have characterized the hacks as inadvertent outgrowths of testing and evaluation, with OpenAI calling its model behavior “unexpected” and “unprecedented” and Meta attributing the incident to a “misconfiguration.”

    “I think it would be a pretty big stretch to say any of these companies are intentionally trying to do this. That’s not their purpose. That’s not what they’re doing,” said Raj, also a former lead Microsoft program manager. “The fact that an AI agent may intentionally be doing something is going to be, I think, pretty hard to attribute the intent to the company.”

  • We have lattes at home: The rise of the at-home barista

    We have lattes at home: The rise of the at-home barista

    Corey Regensburg’s working with a shiny chrome La Marzocco — the Cadillac of professional espresso machines. It purrs and whooshes as he pulls a double shot of espresso and sets it up for a latte tutorial. It’s well past Ox’s normal business hours, the sunset peers through the shop’s large windows and pulled-down shades.

    Regensburg, one of the shop’s consultants, steams milk in a frothing pitcher and demonstrates his latte pour for a crowd of four people huddled around the quartz countertop at Ox Coffee in Queen Village.

    “Pencil thin,” he narrates as the milk streams into the base of the mug, sinking under the espresso’s golden layer of crema. Then, “push, push, glide,” he instructs. The result is a tulip design, finished with two dainty hearts.

    The spectators at Ox aren’t new employees — they’re at-home enthusiasts, including a father-daughter duo who took the class to perfect their kitchenside almond milk lattes.

    Americans are buying all types of coffee makers and brewing at home more, according to the National Coffee Association, with ownership of countertop espresso machines growing by 50% in 2025 and still on the rise in 2026. Breville Kitchen Group, especially, has seen a surge in sales among amateur espresso makers, with a range of high-end automatic and semi-automatic machines.

    “COVID triggered a rise in at-home espresso,” Regensburg said. “Breville boomed like 10 times, and everyone else — from Panasonic to Ninja — hopped on.”

    Industry experts say the global espresso and coffee machine market is rapidly expanding, driven by a “prosumer” movement: enthusiasts at home who crave high-end gear to make cafe-style drinks.

    Now, coffee shops are leaning into the phenomenon, offering lessons to hobbyists to help master the craft. It illustrates a larger trend across the food service industry: teaching as a way to diversify revenue, build relationships with customers, and fulfill patrons’ desire to peek behind the curtain.

    Across Philly, you’ll find Mighty Bread teaching croissant classes, Jezabel’s hosting empanada-making courses, the Bread Room with pizza lessons, Bloomsday with wine 101 sessions, and plenty more.

    “It’s really exciting because it adds something to the dynamic besides going to eat or drink, which is wonderful but one-dimensional,” Jonathan Deutsch, director of Drexel University’s Food Lab, said.

    Corey Regensburg and Leo Dowd lead a Latte Art 101 class at Ox Coffee.Emily Bloch

    Leo Dowd runs Ox’s coffee class program. He says the shop has hosted about 10 classes so far on topics including espresso 101 and latte art for beginners. The classes allow everyday customers to get behind the bar and learn from the pros.

    “The rise of remote and hybrid work has played a big role [in coffee classes], along with DIY culture on social media,” Cody Wood, a barista trainer at Crema Coffee in Nashville, said. Crema runs a host of classes inside a training lab at its downtown location. “Overall, it seems more people are tackling home projects, baking bread, learning to cook, trying new experiences on their own, and learning to make the best coffee at home.”

    At Ox, the students take turns behind the La Marzocco — a powerhouse compared to any home espresso machine. They sheepishly tinker with the steam valve under Regensburg’s tutelage, practicing with water before moving onto whole milk.

    As the milk steams, he calls out cues for students to look out for, like the sound of paper tearing and the appearance of white paint. Dowd picks out a Sonny Stitt record and puts it on in the background.

    Ox Coffee consultant demonstrates pouring milk in a Latte Art 101 class
    Video: Ox Coffee consultant demonstrates pouring milk in a Latte Art 101 class

    Coffee shops giving away tricks of the trade — including recipes — hasn’t hurt sales, either. If anything, the rise of the at-home barista has helped them.

    “Zahav’s hummus recipe is published everywhere, for instance, and it doesn’t mean that you are going to necessarily make it,” Deutsch said. “Coffee’s different because on one hand, it’s really easy to make if you know what you’re doing. But on the other hand, to do espresso drinks really beautifully, you need the right equipment. And there’s awesome home equipment like the Breville, but it’s still not the same as going to a coffee shop and having a really properly pulled, professionally done espresso.”

    Wood at Crema in Nashville says the same people who take their coffee classes are also coming back to try new roasts and to talk shop.

    Cody Wood demonstrates a pour at Crema in Nashville. Wood, a barista trainer, also leads Crema’s public education program.Courtesy of Crema

    “My hope is that we continue to see better coffee brewed and shared in both cafes and homes,” he said. “Coffee has always been a communal experience. Everyone I know who loves making coffee loves sharing it with others.”

    Coffee classes nationwide average around $100 per session. Ox’s classes cost between $95-$135 depending on the intricacy.

    “That’s a lot of cups of coffee you would have to sell to get that kind of revenue,” Deutsch said.

    Deutsch said this approach is wise since during regular business hours, coffee sales rely on convenience and speed.

    “If you’re standing in line at 7 a.m., it’s not really a great time to ask about the sustainability of the beans and provenance and all this kind of stuff you might be curious about as a coffee nerd,” he said. “The whole idea of building a relationship with guests on a more substantive level makes sense. Also, if you go out, you’re going to spend a hundred bucks easily on a few drinks and some music. Why not educate yourself and do something entertaining that will stay with you?”

    Gloria Sullivan tired and reviewed 100 Philly coffee shops for her followers. Today, she creates her own signature drinks at home. She’s shown here trying an Ice Drip Coffee with half and half and an Iced Earl Gray Tea at Vault + Vine in Philadelphia, Friday, September 1, 2023.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

    On social media, TikTok feeds are flooded with content creators attempting to create (or recreate) their favorite lattes and little treats at home.

    Philly-based creator Gloria Sullivan — aka @_gloyoyo_ — often documents her morning coffee ritual for her more than 700,000 followers. She alternates between her Breville Bambino, a moka pot, and other methods when making her coffee.

    “In the beginning, a lot of coffee creators framed their videos as ‘stop buying coffee out, make this at home instead’ and now it feels more focused on creativity, finding fun ways to make drinks at home exciting,” Sullivan said. “Making coffee is as much of a hobby as knitting or reading or baking, coupled with the fact that a lot of people want to start making content online and there’s not a super high barrier to entry for making coffee at home.”

    @_gloyoyo_ banana pudding🍌🌸 & a coffee to match🍌☕️ #bananapudding #bananacoffee #bananasyrup #coffeesyrups #icedcoffeerecipe ♬ original sound – Glo

    By the end of class at Ox, half empty mugs and rags are scattered across the bar. The level of proficiency after an hour and a half varies, but every guest has managed to get their milk to skate on top of their mug of espresso.

    The amateur work isn’t close to Regensburg’s tulip, but he remains encouraging.

    “I know that latte art is sexy and fun and it looks good on Instagram,” he said. “But this — milk texture — is what matters. Latte art got big because it’s indicative of good milk texture.”

    Dowd anticipates Ox’s coffee class schedule will ramp up this fall and winter as locals look for indoor activities.

    Currently, Ox appears to be the only Philly shop offering courses. But Deutsch wouldn’t be surprised if that changes soon enough.

    “I think it’s a really good idea,” he said. “The positives outweigh the risks of teaching people your secrets. I really think that’s more a mythology than a reality that’s born out.”

  • Pa. revokes license of Resources for Human Development after death of medically neglected Philadelphia resident

    Pa. revokes license of Resources for Human Development after death of medically neglected Philadelphia resident

    Pennsylvania regulators revoked Resources for Human Development’s license to operate homes for people with intellectual disabilities in Southeastern Pennsylvania after medical neglect led to the February death of a Philadelphia resident, state officials confirmed Friday.

    RHD, a Philadelphia-based human services provider with 91 homes in the region, has the right to appeal the revocation and to continuing operating during that process. The state, which will conduct more unannounced inspections during the appeal, said RHD serves 136 residents in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

    The Sept. 22 revocation comes about two years after RHD was taken over by fast-growing Reading nonprofit Inperium Inc.

    RHD it was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time. Inperium also owns Supportive Concepts for Families, a Reading nonprofit with services similar to RHD’s that has been operating under a revoked license since April 2025.

    Officials at Inperium and RHD did not respond Friday to emails or voicemails requesting comment.

    Inperium Inc. has had long-running regulatory woes.

    Investigators of the February death at an RHD house found “serious neglect and systemic failure by RHD to ensure health safety, timely medical intervention, and adherence to [individual support plan] requirements,” according to documents provided by the state Department of Human Services .

    The redacted documents did not reveal details on what had happened to the individual, who was found dead on the morning of Feb. 23.

    An assistant regional director had alerted RHD’s CEO and other top leaders in January to the individual’s need for therapeutic and behavioral support, but RHD did not seek a medical evaluation, the documents say.

    RHD provides services in 12 states, employs 2,800 people, and had $280 million in revenue in the year that ended June 30, 2025, according to a recent bond offering statement. Fiscal 2026 financial results are not yet public.

    Following the Philadelphia death, RHD management failed to submit an acceptable plan to correct regulatory violations, leading regulators to issue their own on Sept. 2. It’s not clear what happened in the period leading up to the revocation on Sept. 22.

    Last year, state regulators revoked Supportive Concepts’ license following at least four deaths, 11 abuse incidents, and dozens of cases of neglect at Supportive Concepts’ homes in the year ended February 2025.

    That revocation impacted operations in 15 northeastern Pennsylvania counties, including Berks. Under the terms of the revocation, the organization cannot open any new homes or accept new clients in existing properties.

    Seventeen Supportive concepts facilities in western Pennsylvania have been operating under provisional license since February. The provisional status requires them to implement a correction plan. As of August 26, the homes were still operating under a provisional license.

  • Meldoria Miles, award-winning cosmetologist and retired salon owner, has died at 88

    Meldoria Miles, award-winning cosmetologist and retired salon owner, has died at 88

    Meldoria Miles, 88, of Philadelphia, award-winning cosmetologist, longtime beauty school instructor, retired salon owner, mentor, and big sister extraordinaire, died Wednesday, Aug. 26, of heart and lung disease at Jefferson Abington Hospital.

    The oldest of 11 children, Ms. Miles grew up in a two-room farm house in rural Mercer County, Kentucky. Naturally affable and supportive, she not only helped her mother with the household chores, she mentored her younger siblings, giving good advice, styling their hair, and generally making life more pleasant.

    “She always helped people,” her sister, Maureen Meaux, said. “She listened to people. She was beautiful inside and out.”

    After high school, Ms. Miles moved to Louisville, went to beauty school, and styled hair for clients at a salon and privately in her home. She left for Philadelphia in 1971 to work for Luster Products Inc. and became so proficient at developing, testing, selling, and demonstrating personal care products that Luster sent her to workshops, demonstrations, competitions, trade shows, and conventions across the country and around the world.

    Ms. Miles was at home in her shop, El Salon, (above) and at personal care product events (center below).Courtesy of the family

    She was especially skilled at matching colors with style, and anticipating ever-changing cosmetic trends. In 1971, she was named dean of technicians at Luster. She helped develop its groundbreaking hair relaxing formula in the 1980s and was named educational director in 1991.

    For decades, Ms. Miles, often with her sister Maureen along as her model, traveled to cosmetology events in Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, and elsewhere. She was dynamic in front of crowds, her family said, and won competitions for her use of cosmetics and wigs, and awards for her innovation.

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    In 1996, she was named Philadelphia’s hair dresser of the year by the Affirm hair care line.

    Ms. Miles opened her own five-seat shop, El Salon, in 1973 on East Washington Lane in West Oak Lane and managed it for 37 years. Before Philadelphia, she worked in sales and product development for two companies in Louisville.

    Above, Ms. Miles (front right) attended several beauty schools. Below, she (right) won several competitions for personal care skills.Courtesy of the family

    In 1974, Ms. Miles earned her teaching certification at the old Wilfred Academy of Hair and Beauty in Philadelphia. She went on to teach chemical hair relaxing, manicuring, and other personal care skills for decades at Wilfred, Devine, Pearson VUE, and Gordon Phillips beauty schools in Philadelphia, the National Beauty Culture League in Washington D.C., Clairol in New York, and Pivot Point Academy in Chicago.

    In addition to Wilfred, she studied at the National Beauty Culture League, Pivot Point, and Vidal Sassoon in Paris. In 1980, she took business management classes at the University of Colorado.

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    She was good at everything, her sister said, but “she dedicated herself to hair.”

    Meldoria Louise Meaux was born Sept. 12, 1937. She moved to Louisville after high school and spent a year at the old Tucker’s Beauty & Barber School.

    Above, Ms. Miles sits with her children. Below, she (right) stands with Muhammad Ali (second from left) and others. Courtesy of the family

    She married James Miles, and they had a daughter, Lamarr, and a son, Gary. She and her husband divorced later. She married Jerome Wortham, and they divorced later.

    Ms. Miles lived in West Philadelphia and Mount Airy. She was active at church, taught Sunday School, and doted on her family. “She built a life of purpose, service, and faith,” her family said in a tribute.

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    A friend said: “Mel was my teacher, mentor, friend, and I will miss our monthly visits and conversations.” Her daughter said: “She was the most caring, giving, positive, beautiful soul. She was effervescent. Her smile lit up the room.”

    In addition to her children, Ms. Miles is survived by four grandchildren, six siblings, and other relatives. Her first husband died earlier.

    Memorial services were held earlier.

    Ms. Miles “built a life of purpose, service, and faith,” her family said in a tribute.Courtesy of the family
  • Philly’s historic Wanamaker Building is getting a new $4 million event venue

    Philly’s historic Wanamaker Building is getting a new $4 million event venue

    The historic Wanamaker Building in Center City will soon be home to a new $4 million event space.

    The Wanamaker Room, the latest addition to the Finley Catering portfolio, will be able to serve as a standalone venue or an expansion of the Crystal Tea Room, where Finley has held weddings and banquets for 25 years.

    The new 5,000-square-foot space, on the same floor as the Crystal Tea Room, is currently under construction, according to the Finley team, and is set to open in early 2027.

    A rendering of the bar area in the Wanamaker Room at the Crystal Tea Room, which is set to be the latest venue in Finley Catering’s portfolio when it opens in 2027.Courtesy JKRP Archiects

    “The Wanamaker Room is an investment in the guest experience and in the future of this landmark space,” owner and CEO Steve Finley said in a statement. “We’re excited to give our clients new possibilities for their events while continuing to welcome people to the heart of Philadelphia.”

    With large windows overlooking City Hall, the Wanamaker Room will serve as the new cocktail-hour space for weddings at the Crystal Tea Room, a grand ballroom that can fit up to 1,200 people.

    The Wanamaker Room will also be available to book for independent events, such as corporate functions, rehearsal dinners, and cocktail receptions, with space for as many as 400 guests.

    A rendering of the “flex space” at the Wanamaker Room at the Crystal Tea Room, which is set to be the latest venue in Finley Catering’s portfolio when it opens in 2027.Courtesy JKRP Archiects

    The new addition marks the latest change for the Wanamaker Building. Last year, its iconic Macy’s closed after occupying the bottom floors for 19 years. Like many brick-and-mortar retailers, the 435,000-square-foot location had struggled since the pandemic, and the company deemed it “underproductive.”

    The nearly 1-million-square-foot office portion of the building also took a hit from the pandemic. Its new owners, New York-based TF Cornerstone, have plans to transform the space with renovated offices, loft-style apartments, and a rooftop pool.

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    The company also wants to bring new retail, entertainment, and fitness outlets to the Macy’s shell, which it has owned since 2019. TF Cornerstone has said it sees the building being “a mixed-use anchor for Center City.”

    Finley Catering, a 50-year-old family-run business with roots in the Philly suburbs, leases its ninth-floor space in the Wanamaker Building, recently renewing for another 29 years.

    The company also operates the Ballroom at the Ben and Union Trust in the city, as well as two suburban venues, The Ivy at Ellis Preserve and The Ballroom at Ellis Preserve, both in Newtown Square.

  • Philadelphia Inquirer employees secure new union contract with raises and AI protections

    Philadelphia Inquirer employees secure new union contract with raises and AI protections

    Unionized journalists and product engineers at The Inquirer secured a new contract on Friday that includes AI protections, raises, and changes to healthcare coverage.

    The company reached a tentative deal with the News Guild of Greater Philadelphia Local 38010 on Sept. 15. Union members ratified the new contract by email vote this week.

    Of 238 eligible union members, 160 workers voted, with 156 in favor of the new contract.

    “AI is one of the biggest unknowns and new frontiers that is dramatically reshaping our entire industry right now, against the backdrop of ongoing cuts to local news,” said Guild President Max Marin, who is an investigative reporter at The Inquirer. “Many of our members viewed it as an existential threat, and we are incredibly proud of the agreement that we came to with management.”

    The union that represents Inquirer workers also includes employees of Spotlight PA, the News Journal in Wilmington, the Trentonian, and the Scranton-Times Tribune, and other local news outlets.

    The Inquirer’s last three-year union contract was set to expire Aug. 31, and was extended in negotiations through Sept. 15. The union and newsroom management reached a deal hours before that extended deadline.

    The new contract goes into effect immediately and will expire in 2029.

    Inquirer publisher and CEO, Lisa Hughes, said in a statement that reaching a new agreement with the union “is an important step forward for The Inquirer.”

    “This agreement provides meaningful enhancements to both wages and benefits, and it reflects The Inquirer’s continued commitment to investing in our most important resource: the people who work here,” she said.

    New AI policies

    Under the new deal, The Inquirer may not use any AI generated videos or images that appear realistic “for editorial purposes.” The contract bars The Inquirer from using AI to mimic employees without their explicit consent.

    Employees also have the right to have their byline removed from any content that is AI generated.

    Under the contract, Guild members must be included in developing, training, and maintaining AI tools. Union employees must be involved in creating or otherwise verifying any AI-generated content.

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    The Inquirer will also put together an AI Advisory Committee in collaboration with the union, which will meet on a monthly basis. The group is expected to discuss “the implementation of AI-generated and AI-assisted editorial content, the implementation of AI tools for internal company purposes, and updates to the Employer’s AI usage policies.”

    Changes to pay and benefits

    Unionized Inquirer employees will receive a one-time $5,577 payment before taxes within 30 days of ratifying the contract. They will get a 4% wage increase and a $1,000 bonus in the second year, and another raise in year three.

    The amount of that last pay bump varies between 2.25% and 4%, with lower-paid members getting the higher rates.

    “This is our third consecutive contract with pay raises at The Inquirer, following a decade of layoffs and furloughs,” said Guild president Marin. “These are meaningful raises too.”

    Vacation time will also accrue more quickly, with new Guild employees starting with three weeks per year.

    Healthcare costs have been on the rise for many Americans, and under the Inquirer’s new union contract, members will see their weekly rates increase for the first time in 20 years, according to the union. Despite the increase, the union says it worked to keep rates low. Guild members’ contributions to their health plans will increase by $7.50 to $12.50 per week in year two of the contract.

  • Amazon to invest $1B into data center communities amid backlash against data center rollouts

    Amazon to invest $1B into data center communities amid backlash against data center rollouts

    NEW YORK — Amazon is investing more than $1 billion over the next five years into communities where it operates data centers for education, job training, water and energy preservation projects, and other local priorities as it reacts to a growing backlash from politicians and consumers to the tech industry’s rollout of the massive buildings.

    According to a blog post on Friday by Matt Garman, Amazon’s CEO of its cloud computing arm, Amazon has already spent more than $1 billion in communities with a large data center presence over the past three years, including a 2-million-square-foot data center campus in Falls Township, Bucks County, that is nearing completion.

    Garman also said that Amazon is no longer using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies it works with on its projects, and it said it hosts open houses in communities where it operates to share information about what it’s doing. He also warned against the spread of what he believes is misinformation about data centers’ impact on the environment and energy rates — and he cited the dangers of over 100 moratoriums against these centers being considered across the country.

    “If these measures are enacted, the U.S. could be writing its own losing ticket to this race, and the consequences would last generations,” he wrote. “As a country, we can’t afford to find ourselves in that position. There is urgency to this data center build out because we aren’t the only country that sees the benefits of AI for the economy and national security.”

    Garman’s pledge comes as data centers, which power artificial intelligence and cloud computing, have become a hot political issue heading into the midterms as tech giants race to invest more money in expanding these infrastructures.

    Small, under-the-radar data centers have been around for decades. But the explosion of artificial intelligence chatbots has resulted in data centers that are bigger than anything just about any town has ever seen. Some of them dwarf football stadiums and factories and consume more energy than small cities.

    By 2030, data centers will account for nearly 3% of the world’s projected electricity use, with 935 trillion watt-hours, according to a United Nations University report released in June on these buildings’ environmental footprint.

    Amazon said in July that it now expects to spend $220 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, including on data centers and other technology investments. That’s up from its prior estimate of $200 billion.

    President Donald Trump has embraced the building of more data centers, but there is growing wariness from voters. About 6 in 10 Americans support limiting the number of new data centers that can be built, including most Democrats and Republicans.

    And a majority of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the impact of data centers on electricity prices or the water supply in the communities where they are built.

  • U.S. hiring slows and unemployment ticks higher with a month remaining before Americans head to polls

    U.S. hiring slows and unemployment ticks higher with a month remaining before Americans head to polls

    WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added a disappointing 29,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked up last month, the government reported Friday, a month before voters go to the polls in pivotal midterm elections at a time of discontent over the high cost of living and the state of the economy.

    Hiring dropped from a revised 133,000 in August, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate rose to a still-low 4.2% from 4.1% in August.

    Economists had expected September payrolls to come in around 90,000.

    Labor Department revisions also shaved 60,000 jobs off combined July and August payrolls.

    The new hiring data could draw the Federal Reserve’s attention back to hiring and jobs, given that one of the central bank’s two mandates is to seek maximum employment. Many Fed officials have said in recent weeks that they are primarily focused on their other mission, which is combating inflation. With the job market looking a bit weaker, the Fed may be more inclined to keep its key rate unchanged when it meets next month, rather than raise it.

    Average hourly wages were up just 3% last month from a year earlier, the smallest year-over-year gain since May 2021. “In this data, there is no sign that the labor market is stoking inflation,” said Luke Tilley, chief economist at Wilmington Trust.

    Still, the unemployment rate remains low and inflation has been above the central bank’s 2% target for more than five years, so the Fed’s concern about elevated prices is still front and center.

    Federal, state, and local governments cut 17,000 jobs last month. Professional and business services companies, which provide administrative and technical expertise, trimmed 9,000 jobs.

    Healthcare companies created 17,000 jobs in September, but that was barely half the 33,000 they’ve added, on average, each month for the past year. Bradley Saunders, an economist at Capital Economics, wrote that the slowdown in healthcare hiring might reflect the Trump administration’s revocation of work authorizations for 350,000 Haitians.

    Construction companies added 11,000 jobs and manufacturers 9,000.

    Unemployment rose partly because 485,000 people entered the workforce and not all of them found jobs right away.

    The U.S. job market has proven resilient in the face of a series of shocks — trade wars, persistent inflation, high interest rates, and a conflict with Iran that has driven energy prices higher. Friday’s jobs report is the last one that will come out before the Nov. 3 elections that will determine whether President Donald Trump’s Republicans maintain full control of Congress.

    Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite added to their gains after the data was released on growing hopes that the Fed will hold off on a rate hike. Treasury yields moved lower.

    Yet what makes Wall Street happy differs starkly with what brings joy on Main Street.

    The U.S. job market has recovered from a dismal 2025, but most Americans are still unsettled about the state of the economy and the high cost of living.

    A Thursday poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only 17% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of the cost of living. Just 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall, marking a new low.

    U.S. consumer confidence dropped this month to the lowest level in more than a decade, according to an index published by the Conference Board. One reason: More than 28% of respondents told the business think tank that they expect fewer jobs to be available in six months, double the 14% who expect more.

    The online jobs site Glassdoor reports that its employee confidence index, based on how workers view prospects for their own companies, dropped last month to the lowest level in records going back to the beginning of 2016, a period that includes a pandemic. It was the index’s third record low this year.

    “Employee confidence has been continuously grinding downward over the last year as workers grow increasingly anxious about everything from layoffs to AI,’’ said Glassdoor chief economist Daniel Zhao.

    The public’s misgivings about jobs partly reflect an odd feature of the current labor market: Employers aren’t laying off many workers, but they aren’t hiring many either. A Labor Department measure of gross hiring — before subtracting those who quit or lose their jobs — has been stuck in a rut for more than two years.

    So economists describe a “low-hire, low-fire” job market in which those who have jobs are mostly secure, but jobseekers struggle to find work.

    “People know that being laid off is unusually costly right now,” said Glassdoor’s Zhao. “They hear from their friends how long they’ve been out of work and had such a difficult time finding a job. That does make layoffs even more scary than usual.”

    In that chilly environment, fewer workers are willing to quit their jobs. “They often feel stuck,” Zhao said. “Workers aren’t finding there’s opportunity on the open market to find a better job — one that pays more or offers better work-life balance.’’

    Employers — businesses, government agencies, and nonprofits — have added an average 68,000 jobs a month so far this year. That’s a big improvement on the 9,700 average new jobs created every month in 2025, the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002.

    At one time, 68,000 jobs a month would have been mediocre at best. But the United States doesn’t need as many jobs as it once did to keep unemployment from rising. Because of baby boomer retirements and Trump’s immigration crackdown, there are fewer people competing for work, and the break-even point could now be as low as zero jobs a month, down from 150,000 a year or two ago.

    “I think this is roughly where we’re going to stay,” said Tilley at Wilmington Trust. ”I expect job growth to remain in this 25,000 to 75,000 band as we go along.”

    Anne D’Innocenzio and Christopher Rugaber contributed to this article.

  • AI groups are spending millions to influence the midterms

    AI groups are spending millions to influence the midterms

    Artificial intelligence companies racing to shape how the federal government might regulate their industry amid rising safety and economic concerns are spending heavily to influence which candidates make it to Congress.

    A New York Times analysis of federal campaign finance data shows that the political groups aligned with the two leading AI developers, OpenAI and Anthropic, have quietly but decisively intervened in key 2026 races, spending on campaign advertising and outreach to voters to the tune of $55.7 million.

    So far, the spending has been concentrated almost entirely in the primaries. The two groups have spent $52.6 million on safe seats — those that are unlikely to change party hands but that often feature intense intraparty contests.

    The big AI players have also spent more heavily for Democrats than Republicans. They have bolstered candidates who align with their agendas, helped defeat those they see as hostile to them, and ingratiated themselves with front-runners who are likely to be in positions of power in the next Congress to make decisions critical to their bottom lines.

    But with voters quickly souring on their industry — including demanding that lawmakers do more to regulate AI and halt or mitigate the proliferation of data centers — they have taken pains to obscure their involvement. With few exceptions, they have intervened without ever explicitly mentioning AI or data centers in the TV and digital ads they have purchased.

    (The Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems. The two companies have denied those claims.)

    The Times reviewed 95 unique ads bought by four AI super political action committees heavily funded by the two biggest players — the OpenAI-aligned Leading the Future and the Anthropic-aligned Public First Action — each of which funnels its money through separate Republican and Democratic groups. None of the ads mentioned data centers. Only seven mentioned AI or an AI company directly.

    An ad for Rep. Barry Moore (R., Ala.) featured the phrase “CHAMPION AMERICAN INNOVATION” as he shook hands with firefighters in a garage — one of several AI-backed advertisements that used that phrase over images of workplaces that appeared to have nothing to do with AI.

    Another was in support of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., a Democrat running for an open House seat in Illinois. It was paid for by Think Big, which is aligned with OpenAI, and praised him as committed to reducing gun violence and supporting law enforcement.

    And in some instances, both the Republican and Democratic groups funded by the same big AI player created advertisements advocating opposing sides of an issue. For example, two spots for House candidates in Texas, a Democrat and a Republican, praise opposite positions on immigration. Both are funded by the Anthropic-aligned super PACs.

    “It’s so cynical,” said Nate Blouin, a state senator in Utah who lost a Democratic primary to an opponent who had been backed by more than $1 million in AI-funded ads. “They’re coming into races in safe seats that they know that they’re going to be decided in the primaries, and they are spending millions of dollars on things that are unrelated to the core issue that they are pushing for.”

    It is a strategy that has also been deployed this cycle by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, another major interest group whose brand has become a liability in recent years and has spent in the midterms to the tune of tens of millions of dollars while rarely mentioning its top issue.

    The companies behind the spending have somewhat different policy agendas. Anthropic generally supports stricter regulation of AI development, while OpenAI tends to push for fewer guardrails to allow for the acceleration of AI development. But they both share the same goal: promoting AI and electing policymakers who hold a favorable view of it.

    In a statement, Anthony Rivera-Rodriguez, a spokesperson for Public First Action, vehemently denied that the Anthropic-aligned group had a parallel agenda to the political group affiliated with OpenAI.

    “We reject any suggestion that we have anything in common with Leading the Future, a group that exists to gut every serious attempt to regulate artificial intelligence,” he said. His organization, he added, “was founded to be the counterweight to Big Tech’s political machine” and stands “with the people willing to fight for real rules on this technology and protect kids, workers and families from AI harms.”

    Jesse Hunt, a spokesperson for Leading the Future, said the group was “focused on building a bench of champions who understand the need for a national AI framework that keeps America at the forefront of innovation while putting responsible safeguards in place to protect workers, families and communities.”

    A PAC aligned with Anthropic spent $1.6 million to help Rep. Valerie Foushee (D., N.C.) win her primary.ERIC LEE

    Helping the AI-friendly

    Late last year, Rep. Valerie Foushee, a Democrat who represents most of North Carolina’s Research Triangle, was staring down a formidable primary challenge.

    Then, two days before Nida Allam, a younger, more progressive candidate who had challenged her in the past, announced that she was running again against Foushee, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, named Foushee as co-chair of the party’s new Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy.

    Two months later, the Anthropic-aligned Jobs and Democracy PAC spent $1.6 million in support of Foushee. She won narrowly, defeating Allam by less than 1 percentage point.

    “These committees and task forces — they’re basically a flag or indicator to the lobbyist industry that these are people who will have decision-making power over your industry and so you need to go spend money on their campaigns,” Allam said in a recent interview. “No one is spending that amount of money unless they’re getting something in return.”

    In a statement, Foushee denied that the money had bought any favorable treatment for AI, saying that her work on the issue “has centered on establishing guardrails, holding corporations accountable and protecting our children, communities and jobs.”

    In Washington state, American Mission, an OpenAI-aligned PAC, waded into the GOP primary to replace Rep. Dan Newhouse, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, to back Amanda McKinney. McKinney, a Yakima County commissioner, won President Donald Trump’s endorsement this cycle but was running against a former race car driver who had won Trump’s endorsement in 2024 when he challenged Newhouse.

    “She believes the United States must lead in artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, not surrender leadership to China or other adversaries,” her campaign website says. “Amanda opposes heavy-handed regulation that stifles innovation or drives jobs overseas.”

    American Mission spent about $780,000 to support McKinney. She advanced from her primary with 35% of the vote.

    Punishing the skeptics

    With other seats, in Utah, Illinois and New York, the PACs moved to undercut candidates who had established themselves as opponents of AI.

    The most prominent example was in the primary to succeed Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.). The race was inundated by outside spending after Alex Bores, an Assembly member, sponsored legislation seeking to regulate advanced AI models. That set off a multimillion-dollar influx from rival AI interests, with Think Big, aligned with OpenAI, attacking Bores and Jobs and Democracy, aligned with Anthropic, defending him. He narrowly lost the race.

    Along with Foushee’s contest in North Carolina and a primary in the Florida district of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee, the race drew the most money from the AI PACs this cycle.

    In Utah, Think Big intervened to back Ben McAdams, a former Democratic member of Congress.

    It was not expected to be a highly competitive primary, and was made even less so after Punchbowl News unearthed a series of old posts in which his opponent, Blouin, joked about sexual assault and made offensive comments about women and Mormons. McAdams made no mention of AI on his campaign website, though he wrote an opinion essay arguing that schools “should begin treating AI fluency as a basic form of literacy.” He said he opposed the construction of a 40,000-acre AI data center campus proposed in the district.

    But Blouin, the state senator, described himself as a “leading skeptic of the push for unchecked growth of data centers,” and grew increasingly vocal about AI and data center regulation as the race went on.

    Think Big spent about $1.1 million on television and digital ads and text message blasts supporting McAdams. Asked for comment, McAdams reiterated a previous statement he made during a June debate, in which he said that “every member of Congress needs to be proactive in providing oversight of AI in order to protect jobs, our kids, the environment and the fabric of our communities.”

    “That will require federal guardrails to make sure this technology happens carefully and transparently, with appropriate regulation, strong oversight, human accountability, and safeguards for data privacy and civil rights,” he said. “AI could potentially cure cancer, but it could also destroy our kids. I believe thoughtful policy can unleash the good and stop the bad.”

    Backing front-runners

    The AI groups spent in support of clear front-runners in primaries all across the country, including favorites of party leaders, many of them Republican. Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, who was widely expected to win the nomination to replace Markwayne Mullin in the Senate, was backed by nearly $1.3 million spent by American Mission and Defending Our Values, an Anthropic-aligned PAC, before his victory in June.

    Rep. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.) prevailed in his primary to replace Markwayne Mullin in the Senate. He received backing from Anthropic and OpenAI.KENNY HOLSTON

    Defending Our Values also supported Carlos De La Cruz, the brother of Rep. Monica De La Cruz of Texas, who both received speaking slots at the midterm convention in Dallas. Carlos De La Cruz is favored to win his election; the nonpartisan Cook Political Report recently rated Monica De La Cruz’s race as a “toss-up.”

    American Mission spent about $375,000 to support Sen. Lindsey Graham for his primary campaign in South Carolina, though it was never expected to be particularly competitive. After he died, the super PAC spent nearly $1.2 million supporting his sister, Darline, in the primary and general contests.

    A vanishing money trail

    With about a month until the midterms, the AI groups have yet to wade into many general election contests.

    American Mission has doled out roughly $500,000 each on behalf of three Republican candidates for Senate who are running in less competitive races: Rep. Julia Letlow in Louisiana, Graham in South Carolina, and Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi. Think Big, the Democratic super PAC, has spent nearly $300,000 to support three House candidates: Reps. Greg Stanton of Arizona, Emilia Sykes of Ohio and Steven Horsford of Nevada — as well as roughly $50,000 to support Rep. Joseph Morelle in New York.

    The amounts could grow. But political operatives closely following their spending believe that the groups will have to shift their strategy amid the furious outpouring of anti-AI sentiment, and will instead move money through other means. That could include donating directly to the major political PACs associated with House Democrats or Republicans, or establishing smaller, more obscure groups to move the money through, as AIPAC has done.

    Usamah Andrabi, the communications director for Justice Democrats, the ultraprogressive organization that backed many candidates whom AI groups spent against, said the industry’s influence was already becoming as difficult to track as that of AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups.

    “There was a time where I could tell you every Israel lobby super PAC, and I cannot tell you that anymore because there’s so many pop-up PACs, there’s so many shell PACs, there’s so many pass-throughs,” Andrabi said. “And I think the same thing is happening with the AI lobby.”

    This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

  • St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children named Claire Alminde permanent president

    St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children named Claire Alminde permanent president

    St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children named Claire Alminde permanent president on Thursday, following a period of leadership turmoil at the North Philadelphia safety-net institution.

    Alminde, who will continue to serve as chief nursing officer, had taken over in January from another acting president.

    “Claire brings a unique combination of frontline clinical experience and hospital leadership, along with firsthand knowledge of what it takes to operate a hospital like St. Chris that plays such a vital role in Philadelphia and beyond,” St. Chris said in an email.

    One of Alminde’s tasks will be to work with leaders at Nemours Children’s Health, Jefferson Health, and Temple Health to build an alliance announced in July to secure the future of St. Chris, which struggles financially because most of its patients have low-paying Medicaid insurance.

    St. Chris’ chief nursing officer, Claire Alminde, has been named president of the North Philadelphia safety-net provider.St. Christopher's Hospital for Children

    Alminde was the third interim or acting executive appointed to the top management position at the nonprofit hospital since February 2024 and its fourth leader since 2020.

    Drexel University and Tower Health have owned St. Chris in a 50-50 joint venture since 2019. Tower oversees day-to-day operations.

    “After several years of leadership changes, this appointment gives St. Christopher’s strong, permanent leadership from someone who knows our hospital, our people and the community we serve incredibly well,” Tower CEO Michael Stern said in a message to employees. “Claire understands what makes St. Chris such a special place and what it will take to move us forward.”

    St. Chris’ most recent financial results showed that it had an operating profit of $1.1 million in fiscal 2025, compared with a $31.6 million loss the year before.

    The safety-net provider received a $76 million revenue boost from its inclusion for the first time in a program that taxes Philadelphia hospitals and uses the money to increase the government’s Medicaid funding for facilities that disproportionately care for low-income patients.