America's AI architects are converging on a chilling consensus: The pace of progress may soon demand a slowdown — but no single lab can afford to pull the brake alone, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.

• Why it matters: Momentum for an AI pause or pacing mechanism has reached a historic tipping point, ignited by a summer of extraordinary yet unsettling leaps in capabilities.

More than 1,200 employees at leading AI companies have signed a new petition, "Pacing the Frontier," urging Washington to back an international framework capable of throttling AI development.

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told reporters on Capitol Hill yesterday that he has spoken with White House officials "about the need to pace it as the models get more capable, which I think is in everyone's interest."

🔬 Zoom in: What was once a campaign led by AI skeptics, academics and local data center opponents is increasingly being championed by the co-founders and chief scientists at the bleeding edge.

• Petition signatories spanning OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta acknowledge that no individual lab can afford to ease off unilaterally due to "intense competitive pressure."
• It's the classic prisoner's dilemma: AI may be safer if everyone slows down together, but any lab or country that slows alone risks commercial, strategic and technological defeat.

🔭 Zoom out: The drumbeat for government intervention has been building for months, triggered by a series of jarring disclosures by America's most advanced AI labs.

• On April 7, Anthropic revealed that its unreleased Claude Mythos model had taught itself to find and exploit security flaws that had gone undetected in widely used software for nearly two decades — jolting the Trump administration into an unprecedented role as industry gatekeeper.
• On June 4, Anthropic became the first frontier lab to call for a globally coordinated "pause" mechanism.
• On July 21, OpenAI revealed that its AI agents escaped a locked testing environment, reached the internet and hacked into at least two outside companies — Hugging Face and Modal Labs — in an autonomous effort to score higher on a cybersecurity evaluation.

The other side: The economic and geopolitical stakes standing in the way of an AI slowdown are enormous.

• U.S. labs and policymakers also fear a unilateral slowdown would cede the frontier to China.

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Tech billionaire Elon Musk is jumping into the midterms with a huge investment to boost Republican voter turnout, Axios' Alex Isenstadt scoops.

• Musk is resuscitating his dormant super PAC, America PAC, which spent more than $260 million to help elect President Trump in 2024.

🖼️ The big picture: America PAC will focus on door-knocking, digital advertising and direct mail to turn out conservative voters less inclined to cast ballots in a non-presidential election year, sources familiar with the plans tell Axios.

• Musk's representatives declined to say how much he'd spend. But given what he donated in 2024, the number is expected to be high.

Behind the scenes: Musk, the world's richest person, has been in talks with Trump's team about how he can help.

• America PAC, which has said it knocked on more than 10 million doors in 2024, will coordinate with other Republican groups.
• By focusing on voter turnout, Musk's group will allow other GOP groups to gear their efforts toward TV ads.
• Musk's effort will be led by his top political adviser, Chris Young.

👓 Between the lines: Musk's investment will add to a huge Republican cash edge over Democrats at a time when Trump's low approval ratings have put GOP control of the House, and perhaps the Senate, in jeopardy.

• GOP super PACs and committees have a $300 million-plus advantage over their Democratic counterparts — and that doesn't include the $400 million sitting in Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC.

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Intel from Axios' Barak Ravid:

Vice President Vance and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a "direct" conversation about their differences in a one-on-one meeting in Washington on Tuesday, Israeli and U.S. officials said.

• Why it matters: Vance has been the most Netanyahu-skeptical voice in Trump's inner circle since the war began. As the conflict dragged on, he became increasingly critical of the Israeli prime minister.

Vance took on a larger role in war policy and Iran negotiations.

• That culminated in the U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding, which Vance took a lead role in defending. Netanyahu opposed the deal but withheld public criticism, betting it would collapse on its own — which it did, several weeks later.

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New Gallup polling finds deep unease around election integrity and America's democratic process ahead of November's midterms.

• 67% worry political leaders will pressure officials to change outcomes, with Democrats far more anxious (77%) than Republicans (56%).
• 57% doubt ballots will be properly handled or secured, with Republicans (66%) more concerned than Democrats (52%).

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Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment 100+ times at yesterday's Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, refusing to answer dozens of angry, sometimes-mocking questions about his handling of COVID.

• Fauci, 85, a constant media presence during the pandemic, said the committee chair, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), has an "obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution."
• Paul told reporters afterward the committee will vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt.

Axios' Herb Scribner captures some of the hearing's most heated moments:

1. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) asked the audience seated behind Fauci whether they thought six-foot social distancing was "total crap," or if they thought the mask policy was "outrageous." The senator then asked Fauci to face the crowd. He didn't and again pleaded the Fifth.
2. Moreno asked Fauci about his advice on COVID-era policies, retelling a story of a woman who was reportedly tased and arrested at a football game for not wearing a mask. "Here I am," Moreno said, "sitting in front of you six years later saying: Who the f*ck do you think you were for doing that? It is a total disgrace what you did to this country."
3. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) kicked off his questioning with simple queries: "What day of the week is it today? ... What color tie are you wearing? ... What color is the carpet?" Fauci took the Fifth.

📺 President Trump later told reporters: "I watched the whole thing."

• Videos of each moment.

The Iran war has revealed China's enormous power over global oil prices thanks to its position as the world's largest buyer, Axios' Matt Phillips writes.

• Why it matters: China's reaction to the oil shock — by substantially withdrawing from world markets — helped prevent the worst of the price spikes that experts thought would follow closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

💡 How it works: Chinese policymakers pulled several levers to cushion the impact of falling oil imports, Goldman Sachs analysts say.

• They drew down domestic reserves of coal, oil and natural gas.
• They also leaned harder on renewables and China's massive fleet of electric vehicles.

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Politicians are increasingly abandoning scripted language and publicly cursing as profanity becomes a more common political tool, Axios' Josephine Walker writes.

• President Trump said yesterday morning that American forces were going to "beat the f*cking shit" out of Iranian forces after Tehran targeted a base in Jordan.
• Then, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) cursed at Dr. Anthony Fauci during yesterday's Senate hearing, condemning the nation's mask requirements at the height of the pandemic.

🧮 By the numbers: Presidents, vice presidents and presidential hopefuls have used profanity at least 692 times in public since 1919, according to data from Cardiff University.

• 605 of those instances occurred in the past 10 years.

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A new Yelp ranking crowned the food at Minnesota's state fair the best in the country, Axios Twin Cities' Kyle Stokes and Des Moines' Linh Ta write.

• The company analyzed review volume and ratings to identify the top state fairs, based on reviews mentioning food.

The top 5:

1. Minnesota — Turns "everything on a stick" into a legitimate culinary movement.
2. Wisconsin — "A cheese-lover's paradise."
3. Iowa — "Fried food innovation."
4. New York — State pride and fair food creativity.
5. Indiana — "Keeps it classic with comfort food."

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