The three men racing hardest to build superhuman AI — Demis Hassabis, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei — all agree the frontier needs to be regulated ASAP, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in a "Behind the Curtain" column.

• Why it matters: For the first time, the CEOs of Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic are on the record, in writing, converging on the same diagnosis and remarkably similar prescriptions.

The three rivals each published a detailed distillation of their views in the past five weeks — the same extraordinary stretch in which Washington twice intervened to restrict or delay access to frontier models.

• We hear Meta's Mark Zuckerberg is working on his own memo, too.

🔬 Zoom in: Hassabis' proposal, published Tuesday, drew rare praise across the bitterly competitive AI industry, including from Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and even longtime rival Elon Musk.

• Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark called the framework "excellent," writing: "At this point, everyone at the frontier of AI agrees that third parties should test out AI systems and use these to develop standards to feed into policy."

The Trump administration itself is torn: Publicly, it has championed deregulation and resisted anything resembling "an FDA for AI," determined not to choke off U.S. innovation in the race against China.

• Privately, officials admit a total hands-off approach is untenable: Cyber fears have already forced them into improvised regulation twice this summer — first over Anthropic's Fable and Mythos models, then over OpenAI's GPT-5.6.

🖼️ The big picture: Amodei, Altman and Hassabis (plus countless CEOs and investors) basically agree on a rough regulatory framework.

1. Independent testing: All three want frontier models subject to outside scrutiny before reaching the public — a break from the industry's old self-reporting standard.
2. One governing system: All three cite legacy regulatory models, proposing bodies that set standards, certify compliance and can limit access to frontier systems deemed too dangerous.
3. America First: All three want the U.S. — not a fragmented patchwork of states or rival national regimes — setting the terms for a body with international reach.
4. Threat awareness: All three cite imminent national security vulnerabilities, including dangerous cyber and bioweapon capabilities.
5. Innovation protection: None of them is calling for a broad crackdown on AI. The shared target is the small class of frontier models powerful enough to create catastrophic or strategic risk.

Where they disagree: The AI godfathers part ways on whether the government itself should be the sole final referee.

• Amodei wants an FAA for AI: a federal agency with the power to block a model's release immediately, from Day 1.
• Hassabis wants a FINRA for AI: an industry-funded, federally overseen standards body that starts with voluntary pre-release reviews and could harden into mandatory market-access rules.
• Altman, writing in the Financial Times ($), pushes an IAEA for AI: a U.S.-led international forum that certifies countries, companies and safety standards, using access to frontier models and markets as leverage for compliance.

👓 Between the lines: OpenAI, Google and Anthropic already have the lawyers, security teams, government relationships and technical staff to navigate a complex certification process. Startups and open-source developers would face a much steeper climb.

• Critics fear this could lead to regulatory capture: Rules written to make AI safer may wind up entrenching the biggest AI companies.

The bottom line: The Wild West era of AI development is officially over. The people with the most money, the most compute and the most to lose from an AI slowdown are the ones lobbying hardest for regulation.

• Zachary Basu contributed ... Share this column.

📝 Read the manifestos: Demis Hassabis ... Sam Altman (April preview) ... Dario Amodei.

President Trump's primetime address from the East Room tonight (9 p.m. ET) is forcing TV networks to choose: Air potential 2020 election falsehoods, or risk backlash from a White House that's shown little hesitation in confronting the media, Axios' Alex Isenstadt writes.

• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tells Axios it'll be "a major address to the nation on protecting the integrity of our elections."
• The networks haven't announced their coverage plans, which is unusual for the morning of the event.

Why it matters: What usually would be a straightforward decision on whether to carry a presidential address has become a high-stakes editorial judgment for broadcast networks.

Trump has said his speech will focus on "free and fair elections." He has promised a "very big announcement" and "really big news" regarding the security of the U.S. voting system.

• He hasn't specifically said whether he'll bring up the 2020 election — an obsession of Trump's since he lost it and cried fraud.

The big picture: The networks face pressure from both sides.

• They've spent years trying to avoid amplifying Trump's false claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Yet they also must contend with an FCC that, under chairman and Trump ally Brendan Carr, has opened investigations into broadcast networks.

Share this story.

Vice President Vance is venturing into unfriendly media terrain to defend the White House against its critics — reviving the same playbook that endeared him to President Trump before he chose him as his running mate, Axios' Alex Isenstadt writes.

• Why it matters: Vance is using the media blitz to showcase one of his biggest political assets — his talent for verbal combat — as he lays the groundwork for an expected 2028 presidential campaign.

Vance's nearly three-hour appearance yesterday on Joe Rogan's top-ranked podcast was the latest stop.

• Rogan endorsed Trump in 2024 but has since broken with the White House over its decision to strike Iran and its handling of the Epstein files.
• Pressed on Iran, Vance attacked the "hawks" who criticized the administration for negotiating with Tehran instead of "bomb[ing]" the country "into oblivion."
• On Epstein, Vance called himself "one of the OG Epstein conspiracy theorists" and acknowledged the administration had "absolutely screwed up" its messaging.

🔎 Zoom in: The Rogan interview followed a string of appearances with skeptical interviewers as part of his book tour.

• On ABC's "The View," Vance clashed with the hosts over immigration, race and the Epstein files.
• On "Real Time," Vance sparred with Bill Maher on ICE raids, the 2020 election and Republicans' willingness to excuse Trump's conduct.
• On Megyn Kelly's podcast, Vance defended Trump's Iran policy during questioning from the conservative commentator, who has loudly criticized Trump over the war.

Keep reading ... Vance to Rogan: "We did" mishandle comms on Epstein files.

Global opinions about the U.S. and China have flipped: Most of the 36 countries surveyed by Pew now view Beijing more favorably than Washington for the first time.

• Views in 10 of the 12 NATO countries surveyed are also more favorable to China, including Italy, Canada, France and the Netherlands.

Data from all 36 countries … Share this story.

A House vote to cut U.S. aid to Israel yesterday cleaved the Democratic caucus almost precisely in half — and exposed how bitterly divided the party has become over its once-staunch ally, Axios' Andrew Solender and Hans Nichols write.

Why it matters: The vote was a flashing warning sign for Israel and put Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in the uncomfortable spot of voting against the majority of his party.

• 103 Democrats supported withholding $3.3 billion in U.S. aid, while 98 opposed it — a once unthinkable split. (The amendment failed, 104–314, after Republicans overwhelmingly rejected it.)
• Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar said it "sends a strong message to Netanyahu that the days are over of an unaccountable blank check … nothing will be the same on this issue ever again, I think, after this vote."

🥊 Pro-Israel Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) told Axios: "It's about the raw fear of pissing off the far left. But members need to remember that there is no appeasing them."

• Share this story ... Get Axios Hill Leaders, our weeknight newsletter from Capitol Hill.

🫏 Scoop from Axios' Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbein: The DNC asked its leadership team to sign nondisclosure agreements before a recent meeting about the party's finances.

• The move — a break from past practice for such officers — underscored DNC chair Ken Martin's sensitivity about the party's money woes and the persistent criticism about his leadership. Go deeper.

A livid President Trump complained to advisers late Tuesday about the Department of Homeland Security's decision to pause vehicle stops by ICE agents, after two fatal shootings of drivers in the past two weeks.

• The department's idea seemed to be that agents would get more training. But by yesterday morning, Trump had sent a Truth Social post reversing the pause, leaving DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and border czar Tom Homan to explain, Axios' Brittany Gibson and Alex Isenstadt write.

Why it matters: The latest ICE shootings have revived a tense debate within the administration over how to balance increasing public pressure to stop the violence with Trump's demands for tough enforcement and more deportations.

🔭 Zoom out: The recent shootings show how Mullin's handling of such incidents contrasts with that of his predecessor as DHS secretary, the often-embattled Kristi Noem.

• The initial pause on vehicle stops came soon after a plea from Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R), in light of the shooting of a Colombian national in Maine on Monday.

Keep reading.

The New York Times fought back in court against subpoenas of three reporters who uncovered security fears about President Trump's new Qatari-donated Air Force One — Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton and Eric Schmitt.

• The Times reports that the Justice Department subpoenas, "which were delivered Friday evening by federal agents who showed up at reporters' homes, sought to compel the Times journalists to testify about their confidential sources before a federal grand jury in Manhattan."

The newspaper says it "learned that subpoenas were prepared for two others, Adam Goldman and Tyler Pager, but neither received one."

• David McCraw, The Times' lead newsroom lawyer, said: "Today, The New York Times filed a motion to quash the abusive and improper subpoenas issued to three of our journalists demanding they appear before a grand jury in the Southern District of New York and disclose their confidential sources."

⚖️ The Justice Department's Emily Covington tells me the subpoenas have "nothing to do [with] intimidation."

• She said in an earlier statement: "To be clear, reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are. … We recognize there may always be natural tension there, but we are not going to ignore the law and stop investigating the people who work in the Administration and think it's okay to break the law and leak classified information impacting national security."

📱 When I asked the White House about a CNN report that some officials had been "asked to turn over their phones to investigators on White House grounds" as part of the leak probe, an official replied: "The White House takes these leaks seriously and will do everything legally to ensure the individual or individuals are caught."

👀 As part of a new video franchise by the New York Times Trust team, executive editor Joe Kahn, who oversees 2,000+ journalists, went on camera to say: "We see this … as an attempt to intimidate the journalists and The Times itself, and we're going to continue to report both about Air Force One and on the circumstances around the government use of prosecutorial power to intimidate the independent news media."

• Watch the video (gift link).

Argentina and Lionel Messi advanced to the World Cup final yesterday in a dramatic come-from-behind win over England.

• The defending champions overcame a 1–0 deficit by scoring twice in six minutes and 24 seconds at the end of the game.

🇪🇸🇦🇷 They'll face Spain in the final on Sunday (3 p.m. ET) outside New York City.

England and France will play in a third-place match on Saturday (5 p.m. ET).

▶️ Watch the winning goals.