TODAY’S politiCs story

Trump administration ordered to fully fund SNAP

What happened
The Trump administration must fully fund November’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to the tune of roughly $9 billion by today, a Rhode Island federal judge ruled Thursday. Shortly after John McConnell delivered his ruling, the Justice Department filed a notice to appeal the decision.

Who said what
In failing to fully fund the food assistance program during the ongoing federal shutdown, the government also “failed to consider the harms individuals who rely on those benefits would suffer,” said McConnell. “Not making payments to them for even another day is simply unacceptable.”

His order came as “the partial funding disbursed by the Agriculture Department earlier this week had yet to reach” the 42 million Americans who “qualify for the benefits,” said The Washington Post. Vice President J.D. Vance lambasted the judge for “telling us what we have to do in the middle of a Democrat government shutdown.”

What next?
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) reportedly plans to call a vote on a new bipartisan package of funding bills today, as the shutdown enters its 38th day. Democrats, “stiffened by their party’s big election wins Tuesday,” are expected to block the package, Politico said.

TODAY’S business Story

Musk wins $1 trillion Tesla pay package

What happened
Tesla shareholders yesterday voted in favor of a pay package for CEO Elon Musk that clears the way for him to become the world’s first trillionaire. The $1 trillion package “consists of 12 tranches of shares to be granted if Tesla hits certain milestones over the next decade,” said CNBC, and could expand his stake in the company from about 13% to 25%.

Who said what
This is “the largest payout ever awarded to a corporate leader,” said Bloomberg. The deal is “designed to motivate the world’s richest man” to refocus on the EV company, said The Wall Street Journal. “Even though his far-right political rhetoric” has “hurt” the brand this year, said Reuters, Tesla’s future success “hangs on Musk’s vision of making vehicles that drive themselves, creating a robotaxi network across the U.S., and selling humanoid robots.”

What next?
Musk told shareholders at yesterday’s annual meeting that he plans on “massively increasing vehicle production” and ramping up production of Tesla’s Optimus robots “faster than anything’s ever been ramped up before in human history.”

It’s not all bad

A first-of-its-kind breath test could help detect pancreatic cancer, a notoriously difficult type of cancer to diagnose in its earlier stages due to its vague symptoms. The test identifies “volatile organic compounds in the breath” that can be found “even at the early stages” of the disease, said the BBC. The nonprofit Pancreatic Cancer U.K. is funding a study with Imperial College London to use the test to screen 6,000 patients across the country.

Under the radar

Microsoft launches bid to build ‘humanist’ AI

Microsoft has announced an initiative that will pivot the company away from its relationship with entrepreneur Sam Altman’s OpenAI to instead develop its own artificial intelligence system. Microsoft’s products are embedded with OpenAI software after a 2019 partnership, but its push for AI independence is fueled, in part, by the efforts of Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman (pictured above) to recenter human beings in the search for digital superintelligence.

A recently renegotiated agreement with OpenAI has allowed Microsoft to establish an internal Superintelligence Team that puts “human interests and guardrails first,” said The Wall Street Journal. Although AI has become “more humanlike,” it will never experience “suffering or pain itself,” Suleyman said to the outlet. “Therefore, we shouldn’t overempathize with it.” The goal is to create “types of systems that are aligned to human values by default,” systems that are “not designed to exceed and escape human control.” A self-described AI “accelerationist” who wants to “go as fast as possible,” Suleyman nevertheless believes it will be “necessary” to give up “some level of capability” so human beings “remain in control” of the nascent technology, said Semafor.

By framing its AI push in terms of “humanist superintelligence,” Microsoft is making a “deliberate effort to contrast” its work with the more “technological goals” of other AI developers, said Fortune. The push to develop digital superintelligence is the “new goalpost for AI development,” said Bloomberg. But Microsoft’s emerging focus on “safety and human-centricity” comes as industry regulation “moves away from a focus on those areas,” said Axios.

On this day

November 7, 1991

The Los Angeles Lakers’ Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. announced he was HIV-positive at age 32. The basketballer attempted an NBA comeback several times before retiring for good in 1996. Johnson’s public battle helped to destigmatize the disease, and he continues to advocate for safe sex and HIV/AIDS awareness.

TODAY’S newspaperS

‘Hassles in holiday travel’

“Disruption is set to reach a new level,” The Boston Globe says on Friday’s front page, as “10% reduction in flights” starts in the “latest attempt by the Trump administration to force congressional Democrats to end the record-long government shutdown.” The “shutdown’s cuts point to hassles in holiday travel,” says The New York Times. “Pelosi decides not to run in 2026,” says the Los Angeles Times. “Staffers rebel at Heritage think tank,” says The Washington Post. “US layoffs reach levels typical of recessions,” says The Minnesota Star Tribune.

► See the newspaper front pages

Tall tale

Heavy is the crown

The first-ever Fat Squirrel Week was won by a contender called Chunkosaurus Rex, who beat out hefty rivals from across Texas. In the final heavyweight round, he defeated Chunk Norris of Fort Richardson State Park. The contest was organized by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, with social media followers voting for their favorite rotund rodent. Chunkosaurus Rex lives in Dinosaur Valley State Park, said the agency, where he’s a “fan favorite” and moves “surprisingly fast in the quest for acorns and camper crumbs.”

Morning Report was written and edited by Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Jessica Hullinger, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Rafi Schwartz, Chas Newkey-Burden and Kari Wilkin, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.