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Today’s top stories

Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon are joining forces across their political poles today at the “Pro-Human Assembly” in Washington, D.C., to address concerns about artificial intelligence. They aim to urge Congress to act quickly to curb AI’s impact. President Trump disagrees with the criticism of AI and data centers, calling the pushback a “sick conspiracy” that would benefit China, an AI competitor.

• 🎧 There is a debate in the global AI industry over whether Chinese companies can surpass the United States, NPR’s Emily Feng tells Up First. Part of the debate also includes concerns over whether Beijing would even want to develop a super-powerful AI, as Feng points out that it is arguably not in its best interest to develop a technology that might threaten humanity. The current discussion about AI highlights the conflicting assumptions behind Trump’s pro-tech, pro-business approach, Feng adds. Just last year, the president let Chinese companies buy a key semiconductor chip, even though there were warnings that the country needed it to meet its AI goals.

The Supreme Court has blocked Trump’s efforts to impose new mail-in voting restrictions before the midterm elections. The high court ruling ensures that the U.S. Postal Service will continue delivering ballots as usual. Voting by mail has already started in states like Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin, and more states are set to follow soon. Voters who are eligible to vote by mail may have their ballots on the way to them now. Voters who need to request one should check their state’s deadline to do so, as election officials suggest sending completed ballots back as soon as possible.

The Kennedy Center’s board says that the arts institution faces bankruptcy and might close as soon as today. NPR obtained a document outlining this plan ahead of a board meeting set for today. It is slated for the same day as a status hearing set by Judge Christopher Cooper, who is overseeing a lawsuit from Rep. Joyce Beatty seeking to halt the center’s renaming to honor Trump.

• 🎧 The Kennedy Center says Trump is the only one who can raise enough funds to help with its financial issues, which is why the board thinks he deserves to have his name on the building, NPR’s Anastasia Tsioulcas says. Big nonprofit institutions like the Kennedy Center usually rely on earned revenue from ticket sales, donations and some government grants. Both artists and audiences have been leaving the arts center over the past year, saying they believe it has become too politicized under Trump. Its live events calendar is a fraction of what it used to be, and donations have also dried up. Tsioulcas says it seems likely that there is a real and dire financial crisis at the Kennedy Center, and the question now is how to manage it and whether adding the president’s name will help solve it.