Trump’s ‘Morally Binding’ AI ‘Accord,’ the Rise of AI Agents, and Extremists on the Ballot

Oct 1, 2026 3:58 PM

This week on Uncanny Valley, we discuss the voluntary AI safety agreement tech executives signed, AI agents for normies, and extremist candidates running for office in the US midterms.

Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Getty Images

This week on Uncanny Valley, Brian Barrett, Zoë Schiffer, and Leah Feiger discuss the “morally binding” AI accord tech executives signed following a meeting with Donald Trump. They’ve agreed that AI labs will regulate themselves—should work out great. Plus, the team digs into OpenAI’s Developer Day, where CEO Sam Altman introduced AI agents for normies, otherwise known as Dots; how AI agents are coming to workplaces near you; and a quick rundown of the most extremist candidates running for office.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• Trump’s AI Safety ‘Accord’ Is a Fancy Pinky Swear
• These Extremists Are Running for Election in November
• A Pentagon Influencer Called Liberal Women a ‘Pestilence’ Who Will End Western Civilization
• The White House is Starting to Panic Over the Midterms
• I Think I Found an AI Agent Worth the Risk
• AI Agents Are About to Flood the Workforce
• I Built AI Clones of My Coworkers. Things Got Weird
• Why No One Wants To Date Tech Bros

You can follow Brian Barrett on Bluesky at @brbarrett, Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer, and Leah Feiger on Bluesky at @leahfeiger. Write to us at [email protected].

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Transcript

Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.

Zoë Schiffer: Welcome to WIRED's Uncanny Valley. I'm Zoë Schiffer, contributing editor.

Brian Barrett: I'm Brian Barrett, executive editor.

Leah Feiger: And I'm Leah Feiger, director of politics and science.

Leah Feiger: For sure.

Archival audio: Can we just bring Dario to the front for a second?

Donald Trump, archival audio: Where's Dario?

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