A rare constellation of tech luminaries — think Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates — was summoned to Capitol Hill today for a closed-door Senate summit on AI.

• The room's net worth, according to Forbes: more than $500 billion.

Why it matters: Musk told reporters the meeting "could go down in history as important to the future of civilization."

• He also called for a federal department of AI, CNBC reports.

Zoom in: The summit was designed to put tech leaders and lawmakers together to lay the groundwork for AI regulation, Axios' Maria Curi and Ashley Gold write.

• More than 60 senators showed up to the morning session, organized by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The intrigue: Zuckerberg and Musk — rivals who have discussed fighting each other — were seated on opposite sides of the room.

Two large elephants are dominating the room at this week's Detroit auto show:

• Elon Musk's Tesla and a looming strike that'd start early Friday if the Detroit Three don't reach a deal with the UAW.

Why it matters: For General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the competitive threat from Tesla heightens the importance of reaching a contract that lets them build affordable electric vehicles, Axios' Nathan Bomey and Joann Muller write.

• This year's Detroit auto show — once a key industry event — will be a lot smaller with fewer participants, The Wall Street Journal reports.
• Tesla has largely ignored auto shows for much of the past decade. This year, the company showed up — displaying one used car and giving rides on a test track along with EVs from GM and Ford.

Zoom in: Automakers say the cost gap between them and Tesla is a big reason why they're struggling to compete with the EV titan.

• Keep reading.

1. 💰 Charted: Today's CPI report showed that August was a bad month for ordinary Americans' cost of living, Axios Macro authors Neil Irwin and Courtenay Brown write.
2. 🐘 Scoop: Sen. Tim Scott's campaign is pushing the Republican Party to change the qualifying and podium placement rules for the upcoming GOP presidential debates, Axios' Alex Thompson writes.
3. ⚖️ A murderer who brazenly escaped from a Pennsylvania jail was captured in the woods by a team of tactical officers after two weeks on the run, AP reports.

Lewis Pugh — a 53-year-old British athlete — finished his 315-mile journey to swim the length of New York's Hudson River this morning, AP reports.

• The monthlong swim ended after he reached Battery Park in Lower Manhattan.

Go deeper: Swimming the Lordly Hudson, All 315 Miles of It (N.Y. Times).