Websites are closing their doors to AI agents

Open AI, Meta, and Google want AI agents to do everything for you. But popular services on the web aren’t letting that happen

by Emma Roth

Oct 17, 2026, 5:00 AM GMT-8

Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

Autonomous agents are the hottest thing in AI. OpenAI, Meta, Google, Instinct, and others promise their agents can scour the internet on your behalf, doing anything from booking a dinner reservation and cleaning out your inbox to buying new shoes. But what happens when the rest of the internet won’t play nice?

Know Your Enemy: Lula Takes on Zuckerberg’s Meta — and Wins a Court Order to Stop Undeniable Pro-Bolsonaro Bias

A Brazilian electoral judge ordered Meta to treat presidential candidates equally. The case raises a question democracies can no longer afford to ignore: who controls political visibility online? 

By Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr.

October 17, 2026

Brazil's presidential election has opened another front in the struggle over democracy in the digital age. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has challenged Meta, the technology giant behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, accusing it of using algorithms and artificial-intelligence restrictions that favour his right-wing opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro.

Trump Puts Russia Sanctions He Just Signed Into Law on Hold. Why? To “Make America Great Again?

Editorial

October 16, 2026

Trump signed a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, then suspended its implementation two days before the statutory deadline, invoking the national interest. Trump, has not explained how the suspension serves that interest or how it will Make America Great Again.

The most revealing aspect of Donald Trump’s recent decision is not just that he has put major sanctions against Russia on hold. It’s that he signed the legislation, led Congress and America’s European allies to believe additional pressure on Moscow was forthcoming, and then cited national interest as the reason to suspend key parts of its implementation. Additionally, he has promoted a deal to purchase Russian diesel and has overseen a dispute regarding restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Starshield.

Associated Press: Israeli settlers attack Palestinians during olive harvest, and other Middle East developments

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Updated 1:19 PM GMT-8, October 16, 2026

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in towns across the occupied West Bank during the olive harvest, beating residents and a foreign journalist.

Meanwhile, a drone strike on a busy market in Sudan killed or wounded dozens of people. And a monitor says October is already the busiest month for reported attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz since March.

Who Authorized Satellite Restrictions? Trump and Musk Pass the Buck While the Culprit is Still at Work

Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr. on Duty

October 16, 2025

While Trump and Musk kick the can down the road, Ukraine is still seeking the restoration of 

full military capability

The responsibility for restricting Ukraine's satellite communications is being passed between Washington and SpaceX, while the identity of the person who authorised the decision remains undisclosed.

Man who confronted Oregon elementary school gunman identified by brother

Kaylub Giamanco was driving home when he heard gunshots and saw a gunman entering Silver Rail Elementary School, his brother said.

Oct. 16, 2026

By Liz Kreutz, Minyvonne Burke and Leah Nagy, TODAY

Kaylub Giamanco was driving home from lunch when he heard gunshots and saw a gunman entering the Oregon elementary school his two young daughters attend. The 36-year-old carpenter ran into the school and killed the teenage suspect.

NBC: Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after just 5 days on the job

Zacharia had come under scrutiny after a shaky first news briefing and the revelation that she represented herself as a lawyer but did not pass her bar exam after law school.

Oct. 16, 2026 NBC News

By Monica Alba, Garrett Haake and Rebecca Shabad

Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after just five days on the job, two senior administration officials, an administration official and a source familiar with the decision said. A senior administration official said that Zacharia is transitioning into a new role that would be announced at a later date.

Iran Was Ready. Was Washington Prepared? Six Questions That Define the War

By Mars Strangelove Jr.

October 16, 2026

Iran's strikes on Gulf infrastructure, reports of foreign intelligence assistance, and the mounting economic consequences raise a fundamental question: did Washington understand the war it was starting?

Evidence emerging from the war presents Washington with a problem that cannot be measured by aircraft destroyed, missiles intercepted, or targets struck. Iran has demonstrated an ability to hit strategically important infrastructure, disrupt energy flows and impose costs far beyond its borders.

Iran’s precision strikes picked apart Gulf infrastructure, blunting US war plans

Reuters

VISUAL INVESTIGATION

By M.B. PELL, RYAN MCNEILL and KAYLEE KANG

Filed Oct. 15, 2026, 10 a.m. GMT 

LONDON

Iran’s missiles and drones have hit Gulf infrastructure sites at least 135 times, causing cascading failures that Gulf states have often concealed. Despite repeated official statements that the damage came from debris, Reuters found the equipment struck was, time and again, exactly what mattered most.

Iran and its proxies have carried out dozens of pinpoint strikes on infrastructure in the Gulf since the start of the war, systematically disabling critical equipment and causing cascading failures and economic damage region-wide in a deft campaign that helps explain how the Islamic Republic has held its own against the more powerful US military.

Judge finds Elon Musk, Kristi Noem engaged in premeditated campaign to smear ex-FEMA official

By Melissa Quinn

Updated on: October 15, 2026

4:26 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A federal judge on Tuesday found that billionaire Elon Musk and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, as well as other senior Trump administration officials, engaged in a coordinated campaign to spread false information about a former FEMA official and impugn her integrity.

Reuters: The Starshield Order Came From Inside the White House. Did Trump Know?

By Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr.

October 15, 2026

Source: Reuters

The order to restrict Ukraine's access to a critical military satellite communications system came from inside the White House, according to a Reuters exclusive published Thursday. But while the report identifies the origin of the instruction, it leaves a more consequential question unanswered: who authorized it, and was President Donald Trump aware of the decision?

Reuters, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official briefed on the matter, reported that Pentagon leaders received a message directing them to slow the Starshield service used by Ukraine's military. The officials did not identify the White House official responsible for the decision or the person who implemented it.

Washington Post: Trump’s Own Officials Examined Ilhan Omar in 2019 — and Found No Evidence of Citizenship Fraud

By Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr.

Based on reporting by The Washington Post

October 15, 2026

The Trump administration is once again investigating Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar over allegations concerning her immigration history. But an exclusive report by The Washington Post has brought an important piece of history back into the picture: the first Trump administration examined many of the same questions seven years ago and found insufficient evidence to justify a full investigation.

In a Huge First, Physicists May Have Found a Shortcut to Fusion Energy

Physics

15 October 2026

By David Nield

An artist's rendition of a tokamak fusion system. 

(Kyle Palmer/PPPL Communications Department)

The Sun at the center of our own Solar System is a great advert for nuclear fusion: ultra-high temperatures and pressures combining to fuse hydrogen nuclei together into helium nuclei, releasing a huge amount of energy along the way.

An American is Accused of Plotting the Tumble Ridge School Massacre - and why that complicates even more today's Oregon shooting

By Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr.

October 15, 2026

An American man is accused of helping plan a school massacre in British Columbia, advising the teenage attacker on weapons and tactics, sending money for materials connected to an explosive device, and preparing to livestream the killings.

On October 14, a federal grand jury in Washington state indicted James Cody Bryant, a 30-year-old resident of Bellingham, Washington, on a charge of conspiracy to murder people in a foreign country in connection with the February 10 massacre in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The indictment follows an investigation by the FBI, with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Homeland Security Investigations. 

4 killed, including 3 children, in shooting at Oregon elementary school, source says. Shooter is also dead

By Emma Tucker and John Miller
Updated 8 min ago
Three children and one adult were killed in a shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, according to preliminary information from a law enforcement source.

The shooter, a 16-year-old male, according to multiple law enforcement sources, had already been shot and killed inside the school when police arrived at the scene at about 1 p.m., police said. At an earlier news conference, police said there were multiple victims, including children, but did not specify a number.

Multiple people, including children, injured in shooting at Oregon elementary school, police say. Shooter is dead

By Emma Tucker
Updated 15 min ago
Multiple people, including children, were injured and a shooter is dead after gunfire erupted at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, according to police.

The shooter had already been shot and killed inside the school when police arrived at the scene at about 1 p.m., said Sheila Miller, spokesperson for the Bend Police Department. It’s not yet known who killed the shooter, but it “may have been a bystander,” Miller said, citing the ongoing investigation.

The Nord Stream Sabotage Trial Opens in Hamburg as Ukraine Strikes Back Under Trump's Pressure

By Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr.

October 15, 2026

The resumption of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, the restrictions affecting U.S.-controlled military satellite technology and the opening of Germany's Nord Stream sabotage trial have brought three important questions into focus: What is Washington asking Ukraine to sacrifice? What leverage does Kyiv still possess? And who ultimately benefits from the changing relationship between the United States, Russia and Ukraine?

Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery on Thursday, October 15, ending its participation in a brief halt to attacks on energy infrastructure that President Donald Trump had announced days earlier. The strike came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that Kyiv could no longer accept a truce that, in Ukraine's view, Moscow had failed to respect.

The Pentagon Gave $350 Million in Contracts to a Firm Closely Tied to a Senior Defense Department Official

By Aaron Davis and Robert Faturechi

October 9, 2026, 12:45 pm

Reporting Highlights

• No-Bid: In June, the Pentagon signed a $281 million consulting contract with a firm tied to a Pentagon powerbroker.
• Old Ties: George K. Kollitides II was brought into the Pentagon under Steve Feinberg, the deputy defense secretary and a former colleague in the private equity world.
• Hidden: Experts said a no-bid consulting contract under a mechanism designed to secretly develop weapons prototypes was extraordinary.