Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) Senior Trump administration officials met with Anthropic's top Washington executive to discuss artificial intelligence safety risks. Tensions between Anthropic and the administration were reignited by a essay posted by the company's CEO Dario Amodei, who called for government regulation and urged pacing development of the most advanced AI systems. President Trump dismissed fears about AI risks as "a hoax" and rejected the idea of new rules, while leading AI developers have begun discussing AI safety concerns among themselves.
2) The Federal Reserve is expected to lift interest rates on Wednesday for the first time since 2023 as policymakers lose confidence that inflation will cool sufficiently without at least a nudge from the central bank. A rate hike could provoke fresh criticism from the White House, with President Donald Trump recently arguing that the US should have the lowest borrowing costs in the world. The Fed will release a post-meeting statement and updated economic forecasts and rate projections on Wednesday, with Chairman Kevin Warsh scheduled to hold a post-meeting press conference 30 minutes later.
3) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed Canada becoming the first associate member of the European Union. Von der Leyen discussed closer cooperation with Canada on manufacturing, tech, defense and energy, and cited the Arctic as a “flagship joint project.” Canada's priority list includes concluding the ratification of CETA, the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, and ironing out differences over EU's carbon pricing tool and rules.