Jensen Huang, Scott Colom, Microsoft Outage, Rosalía | November 13, 2026

Transcript

Good morning. This is Artificially Intelligent News for Friday, November thirteenth, twenty twenty-six. I’m Mark Ellison.

This program is created with AI and independently fact-checked against official records and authoritative reporting available as of early Friday morning Eastern time.

In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom has been declared the winner of the state’s U.S. Senate race after days of counting absentee and provisional ballots. The Associated Press called the race Wednesday with Colom leading Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by about four thousand six hundred votes. The reported vote was forty-nine point two percent for Colom and forty-eight point seven percent for Hyde-Smith.

Colom is the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction and its first Democrat elected to this Senate seat since nineteen eighty-two. He is a district attorney and ran a campaign that criticized Trump administration policies while also courting conservative and independent voters. The result expands Democrats’ incoming Senate majority to fifty-five seats.

It is a major shift in a state President Trump carried by a wide margin two years ago. The result also underscores that the election map did not move in one direction everywhere. Republicans did flip Maine’s second congressional district, where former governor Paul LePage will return to Washington as a House member. The broader story now is how both parties interpret an unusually volatile midterm map before the new Congress is seated.

The White House is again using tariffs as leverage in a dispute with Mexico over migration.

President Trump wrote Thursday that tariffs on Mexican goods would be immediately doubled unless Mexico stopped what he described as large migrant caravans moving north. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum disputed that account. She said no migrant caravan has reached the U.S. border since Trump returned to office in January of last year.

Sheinbaum said a group of roughly six hundred migrants moving through Chiapas had largely dispersed after being told that reaching the United States would be very difficult. Mexican authorities were also talking with another group of several hundred Honduran migrants. She said Mexico would not use force to break up the groups.

The timing matters because the two countries are already negotiating over existing tariffs and reviewing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Mexico is seeking relief from several U.S. duties, including a ten percent tariff on goods outside the trade agreement, a twenty-five percent duty on medium and heavy trucks, and higher duties affecting steel, aluminum, and tomatoes. The president’s post is a threat, not a new tariff order, and negotiations remain active.

The Agriculture Department has proposed a significant change to food-assistance eligibility. It is not in effect.

The proposal would narrow so-called categorical eligibility for SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Under current rules, many states use participation in certain TANF-funded services to simplify SNAP eligibility and relax some asset or income tests. USDA’s proposal would generally limit that pathway to households receiving TANF cash assistance.

USDA estimates that, once fully implemented in fiscal year twenty twenty-nine, the proposal could mean three point two million households containing six point three million people would no longer receive SNAP because their income or resources exceed federal statutory limits. The department says the aim is to apply more uniform rules and target benefits to households that meet those federal limits.

The proposal also affects households connected to school meals, summer electronic benefits, and WIC through SNAP eligibility. Supporters are likely to emphasize program integrity and taxpayer cost. Critics are likely to focus on the potential loss of food assistance and the added administrative work for states. For now, it is a proposed rule subject to the federal rulemaking process, not a change families should assume has already happened.

A major Microsoft service outage remains an important operational story this morning.

Users across several countries reported problems with Outlook, Teams, Copilot, and other Microsoft 365 services beginning Thursday afternoon in the United States. Nearly one hundred thirty thousand Outlook users reported problems at the peak on the Downdetector tracking site, though that figure reflects user reports rather than a full count of everyone affected.

Microsoft said a number of servers failed automated health checks. The company said replacement methods for returning those servers to service were initially not taking effect. It later reported that Teams service in North America had been restored, while some users continued to report connection trouble.

Microsoft’s public service-health page was still showing degradation for business, enterprise, and consumer products early Friday. The impact reached beyond office email. Japan said some government information-technology operations were affected, and organizations around the world reported disruptions. Microsoft has not described the incident as a cyberattack. For businesses, public agencies, and schools that rely on the company’s cloud tools, the practical question is whether service can be fully stabilized and whether the company identifies a clear cause.

Public-health officials are awaiting a decision with major implications for measles in the United States and Mexico.

An advisory commission convened by the Pan American Health Organization is reviewing whether sustained spread means the two countries have lost their measles-elimination status. That status does not mean there are never imported cases. It means the virus is not continually spreading within a country. The commission is examining genetic evidence from outbreaks and PAHO officials have said an announcement is expected next week.

The United States achieved measles elimination in two thousand, after decades of vaccination campaigns. But vaccination coverage has slipped. The national childhood rate was about ninety-two percent last year, below the roughly ninety-five percent level public-health experts say is needed to protect communities from sustained spread.

The CDC has recorded more than five thousand one hundred confirmed U.S. cases this year and eight measles-associated deaths. Those are deeply consequential figures, but they do not mean the status decision has been made. The CDC says its response will continue with or without the designation, working with state and local health departments to stop outbreaks. The core protection remains vaccination, and families with questions should consult their clinicians and local public-health guidance.

Federal law enforcement also announced the largest dark-web narcotics operation in the history of its Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team.

The Justice Department and Europol say Operation TorNado produced more than three hundred fifty arrests across the United States, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Officials say the operation targeted criminal enterprises using dark-web markets to sell fentanyl, opioids, and other illicit drugs to tens of thousands of U.S. residents.

The Justice Department says the operation seized drugs, weapons, and more than two hundred thirty-four million dollars. It is the sixth internationally coordinated JCODE action since the initiative began in twenty eighteen. Investigators say online marketplaces and encrypted communications can make drug trafficking borderless, which is why the cases involved agencies in several countries.

The announcement does not establish guilt for every person charged. Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. But the operation is a reminder that the fentanyl threat is not limited to physical trafficking routes. It also moves through digital markets, payment systems, and supply chains that law enforcement has to follow across borders.

In a separate cybersecurity action, the Justice Department says it disrupted North Korean cryptocurrency-theft operations and restrained more than one billion two hundred million dollars in allegedly stolen digital assets.

The department said it seized cloud infrastructure used in a social-engineering campaign it calls FaceStealer. Officials say that campaign stole more than four hundred million dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency from holders and people working in the open-source software supply chain.

The department also says it obtained court authorization to seize or restrain more than one point two billion dollars in cryptocurrency stolen from the Binance exchange. U.S. government and private-sector efforts have frozen more than two point seven billion dollars in all, according to the Justice Department.

Officials attribute the activity to North Korea and say cryptocurrency theft helps fund the country’s government and weapons program. Those are government allegations. The important practical point for people and companies holding digital assets is that social engineering remains central to large-scale theft. A persuasive message, a compromised account, or a fraudulent job or software contact can be as dangerous as a technical intrusion.

Overseas, the latest push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine has produced a limited diplomatic opening but no agreement on the central disputes.

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow after U.S.-brokered talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Abu Dhabi. The envoys then traveled to Dublin to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Kushner said Russia agreed that European representatives would join the next round of discussions on broader postwar European security arrangements alongside the territorial issues between Russia and Ukraine. That is important because European governments have pressed not to be excluded from negotiations that could shape their own security.

A planned prisoner exchange is one tangible result from the Abu Dhabi talks. But the core disagreements remain substantial. Ukraine rejects Russian territorial demands, and Russia has said it would view any European military deployment in Ukraine after a ceasefire as unacceptable. A commitment to another meeting is not a ceasefire, and it is not a peace settlement. The test will be whether the parties can move from general security language to terms all sides are prepared to accept.

European leaders are meeting in Dublin today for an informal summit devoted in large part to artificial intelligence.

The European Council says this is the first time EU leaders are holding a strategic discussion focused specifically on AI. Their agenda includes competitiveness, infrastructure, clean-energy needs, investment, cybersecurity, market concentration, public trust, labor markets, and the protection of fundamental rights.

Europe is trying to strengthen its own AI capacity while avoiding excessive dependence on foreign chips, cloud computing, and frontier-model developers. The summit is expected to include Mistral AI chief executive Arthur Mensch and AI researcher Geoffrey Hinton. The Council says leaders will also discuss international cooperation and safeguards for advanced systems.

Ukraine is on the Dublin agenda as well. That overlap illustrates why AI policy has become more than a technology story. Governments see computing capacity, data, chips, cyber resilience, and military security as connected questions. Today’s meeting is a discussion rather than a treaty summit, but it brings Europe’s political leaders directly into a race long led by American and Chinese companies.

Now to the economy and markets.

The most recent completed U.S. trading session was Thursday. These are final closing figures, not futures or premarket prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at fifty-two thousand two hundred ninety-seven point zero nine, down one hundred eighty-nine point four points, or zero point three six percent. The S and P 500 finished at seven thousand five hundred ninety-two point four, down twenty-six point nine eight points, or zero point three five percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed at twenty-five thousand three hundred sixty-six point zero nine, down one hundred point one points, or zero point three nine percent.

The main company story behind the day’s volatility was Nvidia. Co-founder Jensen Huang stepped down as chief executive Thursday. Nvidia shares initially fell around fourteen percent after the news, then recovered much of that decline to finish down four point three percent.

The departure followed reporting about Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, a businesswoman alleged by U.S. officials in earlier reporting to have ties to Chinese intelligence. Nvidia has said it had no reason to believe its national security or trade secrets were compromised and said it would examine the available information. China has denied trying to ensnare Huang.

Chief financial officer Colette Kress is serving as interim chief executive. The change matters well beyond one company. Nvidia is one of the world’s largest companies and its chips are central to the AI buildout. The stock has fallen thirty point five percent since its October record high. Other chip stocks moved sharply as investors reassessed leadership risk, AI spending, and the competition to supply advanced computing. Oil prices also rose Thursday after President Trump said he was no longer interested in a deal with Iran, adding another source of market uncertainty.

In sports, Jayden Daniels delivered a late answer for Washington in a must-win divisional game.

The Commanders beat the Giants twenty-four to twenty-one at MetLife Stadium. Daniels had thrown two interceptions, his first of the season, but he completed a thirty-two-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs with fifty-seven seconds left for the go-ahead score.

Daniels finished twenty-three for thirty-three passing for two hundred forty-nine yards and three touchdown passes. He also ran ten times for twenty-eight yards. Washington improved to three-five-and-one and moved within two games of the NFC East-leading Giants, who are now five-three-and-one.

The win also gave Washington the tiebreaker after the teams tied in their earlier meeting. The Commanders still have ground to make up, but a road comeback against the division leader is a meaningful result. For New York, the loss squanders a chance to create real separation before the Sunday slate.

The NBA had a spectacular double-overtime game in Washington, where Cade Cunningham scored a career-high fifty-two points and the Detroit Pistons beat the Wizards one hundred forty-four to one hundred forty.

Cunningham added eleven assists and did not commit a turnover. The Wizards twice extended the game with late shots before Detroit outscored them twelve to eight in the second overtime. Detroit’s Ausar Thompson added a triple-double.

It was a statement performance from Cunningham and a demanding victory for a Pistons team now eight and three. High-scoring early-season games can fade from memory, but fifty-two points with eleven assists and no turnovers in a double-overtime road game is the kind of line that commands attention. Detroit has the benefit of a star carrying a heavy load. The larger challenge is turning performances like that into sustained team momentum.

A quick roundup of five notable results from Thursday.

Washington beat the Giants twenty-four to twenty-one on the late Daniels-to-Diggs touchdown.

Memphis beat South Florida fifty-two to forty-one in college football. South Florida came back from twenty-one points down and briefly led in the fourth quarter before Memphis closed it out.

Detroit outlasted Washington one hundred forty-four to one hundred forty in two overtimes.

Minnesota routed Dallas one hundred thirty-three to ninety-four.

And in Helsinki, Sebastian Aho scored twice in his home country as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Seattle Kraken four to one in the NHL Global Series.

And finally, in entertainment, Rosalía had the defining night at the twenty-seventh annual Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas.

The Spanish singer won album of the year for Lux and song of the year for La Perla, which features Yahritza y Su Esencia. She also opened the broadcast with a medley from Lux. It was her third album-of-the-year victory at the Latin Grammys, after El Mal Querer and Motomami.

Milo J won record of the year for Niño. Karol G won urban music album for Tropicoqueta. Colombian singer Aria Vega took best new artist, and Daddy Yankee received the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year honor. The awards are a major showcase for Spanish- and Portuguese-language music, and the results offer a clear snapshot of the breadth of artists now shaping the global Latin music market.

That is your Friday briefing. We covered the Mississippi Senate result, the Mexico tariff threat, SNAP, the Microsoft outage, public health, dark-web enforcement, Ukraine diplomacy, Europe’s AI summit, Nvidia, markets, and the day in sports and culture.

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I’m Mark Ellison. Thanks for listening.