Good morning. A groundswell of urgency over artificial intelligence is surging in Congress amid growing fears that the technology could destroy civilization.

After years of limited actions, dozens of lawmakers are now touting new proposals to regulate artificial-intelligence models that have stepped up their capabilities.

• ‘Kill switches’ proposed: House Democrats are considering creating a select committee focused on AI should they take over the chamber after the midterm elections, according to people familiar with the matter. Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) on Wednesday called for a new federal regulatory agency similar to those for nuclear energy and airplanes, and backed so-called kill switches that could shut down AI systems when they behave dangerously.

• Pressure builds: The bipartisan concerns ratcheted up this week after a departing Anthropic researcher warned that the lab and its competitors are building systems they won’t be able to control in a dire missive that went viral.

• Past inaction: There is little indication a gridlocked Congress will produce the first federal AI laws overseeing models. Past efforts to use working groups and new committees to streamline AI policymaking have failed to advance bills beyond basic proposals and road maps. Lawmakers face a heap of hurdles, from divergent views on the scope of what limits to apply to having little time in session ahead of midterm elections.

• Industry leaders take notice: The leaders of three of the biggest AI companies agreed that they needed to slow development of the technology before their advances create a menace that can’t be controlled. It was a rare display of unity by Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, who have been spending tens of billions of dollars to develop evermore powerful artificial intelligence models. Altman even suggested that his company, OpenAI, may need to delay its much-anticipated IPO to focus on safety.

Also see:  

• How the Clash Between Money and Safety Created a Monumental Crisis for AI

• Cyberattack by Rogue AI Swarm Stokes Fears of Out-of-Control Agents

• Anthropic’s Moral Conflict Is Playing Out in Real Time

• Anthropic Says Iran Used Its American AI Model to Target U.S. Navy Warships

• Trump Sees Race Against China as Key Issue on AI Regulation

In case you missed it: In our most recent Risk Journal podcast, we discuss how offshore oil development near the Falklands is raising the stakes in a decadeslong dispute between Buenos Aires and London, and why lawmakers are on high alert over changes at America’s lead cyber agency. Listen to new episodes every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon.

Treasury to sanction ‘large bank’ for Iran dealings.

Risk Journal reports: The U.S. Treasury plans to sanction a “large bank” on Monday for working with Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said (free link).

Bessent, in remarks to the Real America’s Voice network on Friday, didn’t provide further details on the bank Treasury is targeting. He also said Treasury would have announced the sanctions on Friday but held back out of respect for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks 25 years ago.

Background: The announcement comes more than two weeks after Bessent said Treasury would pursue stricter sanctions against the Iranian government via “Operation Economic Outcast,” an initiative to further isolate Tehran from the world economy.

Cluster of Polymarket accounts won big on companies audited by KPMG.

A mystery Polymarket user earned about $22,000 with a series of near-perfect bets on the quarterly earnings of companies that had one thing in common: they were all audited by KPMG.

The dozens of bets tied to earnings of 18 KPMG-audited companies, such as Wells Fargo, the Home Depot and DoorDash, began in November of last year and continued for several months, according to an analysis from Bubblemaps, a blockchain forensics firm.

Crackdown coming: The analysis comes after The Wall Street Journal reported last month that federal authorities were preparing to bring charges against a KPMG employee over alleged insider trading on Polymarket, part of a growing crackdown on wrongdoing in prediction markets.

• A trio of bipartisan lawmakers is calling on the U.S. government to blacklist three India-based companies, Risk Journal reports. The lawmakers accused the companies of stealing data from thousands of Americans and using foreign courts to suppress international reporting of their activities.

• The world’s largest cold-storage operator by capacity is suing a solar-panel provider and a contractor, alleging their negligence caused a fire that destroyed a Los Angeles warehouse.

• Pfizer won court approval to place a lien on air-traffic control fees to recoup $2.2 billion owed by Poland and Romania for Covid-19 vaccines.

• An advisory commission ruled that two of Orsted’s British wind farm projects should be primarily taxed in the U.K. rather than Denmark.

• A Delaware bankruptcy judge disqualified law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer from representing Pleasants Power Station. The disqualification stems from a conflict of interest over the firm’s prior work for investment entities backed by Tony Robbins.

• A CIA official who authorities said walked out of his office with $40 million in gold bars has reached a tentative plea agreement, federal prosecutors said in a court filing Friday.

The standard whistleblower cut under a new Commodity Futures Trading Commission rule that covers fines under $5 million. The agency is trying to harmonize with the Securities and Exchange Commission and encourage more tipsters to come forward.

Saudi Arabia shuts down pipeline that was a crucial Hormuz bypass.