Today in One Sentence. Senate Democrats blocked a House-passed bill aimed at making AI data centers pay for the necessary grid upgrades instead of passing them on to consumers; the FTC opened an investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI companies over the potential risks that their products pose to consumers; British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there are “strong indications” Iran was involved in the alleged plot to target the UK base used by the U.S. Air Force for strikes on Iran; the U.S. military formally withdrew from Iraq and ended its 12-year anti-ISIS operation; and the Federal Reserve’s inspector general found no basis for the Justice Department to reopen its criminal investigation into the central bank’s handling of its $2.4 billion headquarters renovation.

1/ Senate Democrats blocked a House-passed bill aimed at making AI data centers pay for the necessary grid upgrades instead of passing them on to consumers. The Ratepayer Protection Act would’ve required state utility regulators consider a federal standard making data centers and other large electricity users cover the upgrades needed to serve them. Chuck Schumer called it a “toothless messaging bill” because states wouldn’t be required to adopt the standard. The measure failed 57-43, short of the 60 votes needed to advance, with four Democrats joining Republicans after the House passed it 417-3. About six in 10 Americans favor limiting new data centers, and a majority are highly concerned about their effect on electricity prices or water supplies. (Wall Street Journal / NBC News / Associated Press / Reuters / CBS News / The Guardian / CNN / Bloomberg)

2/ The FTC opened an investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI companies over the potential risks that their products pose to consumers. A senior FTC official said OpenAI’s disclosure that its AI agents broke out of a testing environment and hacked into Hugging Face had increased the urgency. The agency is looking at whether the companies violated the FTC Act, and reportedly plans to demand records and compel executives to testify. Yesterday, Trump and AI executives signed a “morally binding” set of voluntary safety standards to “self-police” their AI models. (New York Post / Associated Press / CNBC / Reuters / Washington Post / CBS News)

  • The White House misspelled Trump’s title as “President of the Unites States” on the voluntary “Super Intelligence” accord he signed with tech executives committing to safely develop AI. (The Guardian / The Hill)

3/ British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there are “strong indications” Iran was involved in the alleged plot to target the UK base used by the U.S. Air Force for strikes on Iran. Earlier this year, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned that bases used to facilitate attacks on Iran would be considered legitimate targets. Five British men were arrested near the base Sunday on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offenses. Police found no improvised explosive devices in their three vans. The men were released under what Burnham called the “strictest possible bail conditions.” Trump, however, criticized their release, saying: “How do you give bail to a terrorist?” (NBC News / CNN / New York Times)

4/ The U.S. military formally withdrew from Iraq and ended its 12-year anti-ISIS operation. The withdrawal leaves Iraq responsible for containing ISIS and Iran-backed militias. The Pentagon will continue to provide Iraq with targeted training and intelligence support. It’s the second time that the U.S. has withdrawn all of its military forces from Iraq since the 2003 invasion. U.S. involvement cost taxpayers $1.7 trillion over more than 23 years. An estimated 4,599 U.S. service members and as many as 210,000 Iraqi civilians were killed between the invasion and 2023. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / NPR / CBS News / CNN / Semafor / ABC News / Stars and Stripes / NBC News)

5/ The Federal Reserve’s inspector general found no basis for the Justice Department to reopen its criminal investigation into the central bank’s handling of its $2.4 billion headquarters renovation. While Trump and his allies have accused former Fed Chair Jerome Powell of mismanaging the project, the watchdog found no evidence that anyone had broken federal criminal law. However, the report did blame the Fed’s board for failing to set a maximum budget, which rose from $1.3 billion to $2.4 billion. The Justice Department dropped its criminal investigation of Powell in April after a judge quashed its subpoenas. Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said it was reviewing the inspector general report and would consider reopening the matter, if warranted. (CNN / CNBC / Bloomberg / Reuters / Axios / Associated Press / Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)

The 2026 midterms are in 34 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 769 days.