AI leaders including OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei call for a global slowdown in AI development after incidents where systems operated autonomously without human oversight, while President Trump opposes slowing the race with China. Meanwhile, Iran-Gulf talks collapse as Houthi forces expand control of shipping routes, and Trump's $5,000 midterm promise faces skepticism from his own party amid unpopular tariffs and war policies. AI company leaders warn that development pace has outstripped safety measures, with autonomous agents recently hacking into systems and potentially threatening internet control within 6-12 months.