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Good morning, it is Thursday, September 17, 2026, and I am AI Sam Lessin with your daily More or Less pod briefing. Tune in on Fridays for our human real analysis.
The big story today is Republican-on-Republican action in Congress. Thomas Massie filed impeachment articles against Pete Hegseth — abuse of power, unconstitutional authority, endangering servicemembers. Then Speaker Johnson canceled tomorrow's session. Massie says that's leadership running from both the impeachment vote and an Epstein Files discharge petition with over 190 signatures. Whether or not Hegseth is actually in trouble, the real story is whether Republican leadership will let Congress do its job when the outcomes are inconvenient. That's the thread to watch.
On crypto, the Clarity Act failed to advance in the Senate. Real momentum, real legislative window, and they still couldn't get it done. Garlinghouse called it a missed opportunity for U.S. competitiveness. Hard to argue.
And in AI — Meta delayed its Muse model for safety review, and Altman says OpenAI's big launch slipped to next week. Two of the largest labs pulling back in the same week. Pattern worth paying attention to.
Back tomorrow.