Good morning, it's Monday, Oct. 5. President Trump launched a new AI task force led by the nation's top spy official, but it arrives without a rulebook.

Also in today's issue: Diesel's price promise, Alito's rare TV interview, A spy caught at LAX.

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The most powerful technology of our lifetime now has a White House team assigned to it. So far, that team has no rulebook.

Take ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Meta AI or Anthropic's Claude. The safety promises behind those tools are ones the companies wrote and signed themselves last week. President Trump calls that pledge "morally binding." It is not legally binding. And the person picked to lead the new effort doesn't come from tech or consumer protection.

On Sunday, Trump announced a "Super Intelligence Force," using the term he has ordered agencies to say instead of "artificial intelligence." Its job is to coordinate federal work so America keeps leading in the technology. It reports to Trump and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

Here's why this lands at kitchen tables, not just in Silicon Valley. A CBS News poll taken last week found that voters in both parties expect AI to take more jobs than it creates. Most prefer candidates who want to restrict how it's built and used.

So what did the companies actually promise? Six firms signed a one-page accord: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Nvidia and Elon Musk's SpaceXAI. They agreed to "four layers" of checks, including their own testing, reviews by an outside audit firm and sign-off from each company's board. They also agreed to meet regularly to set safety standards.

The force will be led by Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, who coordinates the country's 18 intelligence agencies. Joining him are FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Pentagon technology chief Emil Michael and Scott Kupor, who runs the federal personnel office. Putting a spy chief at the top shows how the White House sees AI: first as a national security race.

Clayton told The Wall Street Journal that the risk of not being first is high. He said the force will review current law and possible steps for Congress, much as risk rules for banks were built with federal regulators.

Lina Khan, who ran the Federal Trade Commission under President Biden, isn't convinced. On ABC's "This Week," she said social media companies made the same self-policing promise a decade ago, and the harms piled up. She urged Congress to write real rules, as it once did for railroads, medicines and nuclear power.

Here's the twist. The FTC is the agency that normally polices tech companies for misleading consumers, and it opened a probe of AI firms last week. Its chairman now also sits on a team whose mission is helping those same companies lead the world.

Each side has a fair point. Supporters say heavy rules could slow American companies while rivals race ahead. Critics say voluntary promises are easy to drop once they get expensive.

The Senate is out until after the Nov. 3 midterms, so no AI law is coming soon. Watch the force's first moves. A real proposal to Congress would signal that binding oversight is coming. Another round of pledges would leave the companies' own promises as the main safeguard.

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Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that President Trump knew the Iran war would push up energy prices. Trump was willing to "take a hit" for it, Wright said. On CBS's "Face the Nation," Wright predicted gas and diesel prices will keep falling for four weeks, with diesel under $6 "before too long." He admitted he doesn't know exactly when. That timing matters for farmers and truckers who recently paid more than $6.50 a gallon, and for everyone who buys what they haul. Relief isn't locked in. The same day, seven OPEC+ oil producers kept November output flat with crude above $100 a barrel. Another tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz.

Justice Samuel Alito, 76, said he considered retiring earlier this year but stayed because he believes he can still make a contribution. In a rare TV interview published Sunday by CBS News, the author of the 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade also said there's no realistic chance the court overturns same-sex marriage. His reason: couples have married and signed contracts based on that ruling, which he called more concrete than the reliance people placed on Roe. Since the abortion ruling, 13 states have banned abortion entirely. Alito spoke the day before the court's new term opens, with cases on climate change, guns and immigration ahead.

An Irvine, California, real estate agent was arrested Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport as she tried to board a flight to Shanghai. Prosecutors charge Wanying "Heather" Zhang, 34, with acting as an unregistered agent of China. A federal complaint says she filmed the Seattle-area home of the son of Taiwan's president in 2025, including his U.S.-born child. She then allegedly texted license plate numbers to a Chinese official. An FBI agent wrote that such details could give Beijing leverage over Taiwan's leader in a conflict. The case shows how pressure on Taiwan can reach families living in American suburbs.

That was the average price of a gallon of diesel before the Iran war began in late February, according to AAA. It recently topped $6.50. Even the administration's near-term goal of under $6 would leave diesel about 60% above where it started.

P.S. Should AI companies be trusted to police themselves? Hit Reply — one word is enough.