Alex Osola (3:02)

What else is in the bill?

Siobhan Hughes (3:03)

A big item has to do with member security. There is an extra $30 million so that individual lawmakers can reimburse police back home for their work related to member security in the wake of Charlie Kirk's killing. There's also extra money for security executive branch officials and members of the judiciary. There is a fix that looks like it would finally let the District of Columbia spend its taxpayers own money that had been blocked from spending under the current spending law.

Alex Osola (3:39)

So are Republicans able to pass this bill?

Siobhan Hughes (3:43)

Well, they're in a real game of chicken right now with the Democrats in the House. The chances are a lot greater that Republicans can pass this bill, but its fate is by no means assured in the Senate, where Republicans are going to need some Democratic votes to get this across the finish line. And so the question is really, who blinks? If anyone does, will Republicans blink and cave in to the Democrats demands on health care subsidies? Will the Democrats blink in an effort to stave off a shutdown? Or will we in fact end up in a spot that we were in during President Trump's first term where the government shuts down?

Alex Osola (4:20)

That was WSJ reporter Siobhan Hughes. Thanks, siobhan.

Siobhan Hughes (4:23)

Thank you.

Alex Osola (4:28)

U.S. retail sales rose by 0.6% in August, according to the Commerce Department, which also revised up its July figure. The data defied expectations for a slowdown last month when hiring slowed and inflation picked up. Separate data today indicated import prices, which exclude duties and transportation costs, rose unexpectedly by 0.3% last month. Major US indexes were flat to modestly lower today. The dow dropped about 0.3% and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both fell about 0.1%. You might recall that last month we were talking about the end of the de minimis exemption for low cost goods. So packages worth less than $800 that were once allowed to enter the US tariff free are now being levied. To hear how that's playing out, I'm joined by WSJ reporter Esther Fung. Esther, I remember talking to you not all that long ago about how consumers and companies were really fearing the worst here. Has that come to pass? How is all of this going?

Esther Fung (5:34)

It's been a mixed bag. Some sellers, they are absorbing the tariffs and they might include the tariffs in the price of the goods itself or they added at checkout process. The confusing thing that's happening right now for several consumers is when the sellers say the US Consumer is responsible for paying the tariff. These consumers are now getting surprise tariff bills from FedEx, UPS or DHL. And they feel blindsided by an additional tariff bill that comes with that package.

Alex Osola (6:14)

So how are consumers reacting?

Esther Fung (6:16)

Some people have told me that they are now more concerned and paying more attention to what they buy from abroad. And there are some consumers who say they're holding back purchases. So there's a lot of wait and see.

Alex Osola (6:34)

And how are sellers dealing with this?

Esther Fung (6:36)

More and more businesses are trying to prepay the tariffs. Some of the US Consumers are also complaining about the processing or brokerage fees that UPS, FedEx and DHL also charge. On top of collecting the tariffs. UPS, FedEx and DHL told me that they're collecting tariffs on behalf of the US Government. The money is not something that goes into these companies coffers all round. All these nasty surprises, not good customer experience. And sellers, they are trying to adapt to this new environment. And if they still want access to the US market, they'll have to figure this out.

Alex Osola (7:17)

WSJ reporter Esther Fung. Thank you, Esther.

Esther Fung (7:20)

Thank you.

Alex Osola (7:24)

Utah prosecutors unveiled seven charges today against Tyler Robinson in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The charges include aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty. Coming up, IBM is betting on quantum computing. But are they too early? That's after the break.

Marine Corps Narrator (7:53)

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Alex Osola (8:13)

After spending much of the 2,010s in the doldrums, IBM has made something of a comeback in the past five years. The success of its hybrid cloud business and consulting services have led to a surge in the company's stock price. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna is hoping that the next few years will be even better for the company as it makes a big bet on quantum computing. Krishna recently spoke with WSJ's Bold Names podcast about what the company needs to do to get Quantum to scale.

Arvind Krishna (8:39)

Quantum is pretty straightforward. To maintain the momentum, we have to grow a very large ecosystem on Quantum. So the use cases multiply and we might perhaps collect 10% of the value. 90% of the value should go to the people and the consumers of the technology, not to us. So educating people, teaching them how to use quantum, unlocking their imagination is A big part of what we have to do, and I'm honest about the 1090 trade off, I think that that is where it has to go. Otherwise the technology doesn't really scale.

Alex Osola (9:14)

For more, I'm joined now by WSJ business columnist and Bold Names co host, Tim Higgins. Tim, IBM is coming out of this period that was defined by Watson, its artificial intelligence system that the company struggled to monetize. As you say, the episode, it was maybe a bit ahead of its time. Is the company again, maybe too much ahead of its time with quantum?

Tim Higgins (9:35)

You know, it's an interesting question. It's definitely this race with the likes of Google and other big tech names who see this huge potential for this kind of next generation technology. One of the big differences this time around from IBM compared to previously with Watson is that it seems to be tempering expectations a little bit, not leaning so heavily into the idea that the world is changing right now, yet still trying to stoke some of that excitement about what is possible.

Alex Osola (10:07)

We've seen how many companies are still trying to monetize AI even now. Despite all this hype. Is IBM at a place to monetize quantum computing anytime soon?

Tim Higgins (10:18)

No, not yet. That's a really great question. I mean, it's one of the things that I wanted to know because a lot of the way he talks about this technology almost seems like science fiction and when does the sci fi become real? And he's talking about four to five years out for return, something like 2029, 2030. So not today, but on the near term horizon.

Alex Osola (10:39)

Let's get onto your podcast. You're back after a little bit of a break and I can't help but notice one of the biggest differences is that you're now on video. What has that been like?

Tim Higgins (10:48)

Yeah, we're back and bigger than ever. Video's a thing to do, so you can finally look at my face. I don't know if you want to, but I know my mother's happy. But really at the core, the show is still the same. And that is this idea that we are having these conversations with some of the world's most interesting people, business leaders, about the challenges of business that they are facing, how they are addressing them. And now the viewers and listeners get to come along with us.

Alex Osola (11:17)

And after your interview with the CEO of IBM, what are some topics you expect to talk about on the show in the next few weeks?

Tim Higgins (11:24)

Oh, please, stay tuned. China is top of mind. This, the geopolitical situation. It's very hard for us companies to kind of plot forward how to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Tariffs are always of interest and of course Mims and I are big into AI and how that is changing the world and the way that companies think about how they're going to do business.

Alex Osola (11:49)

Tim Higgins now available in all formats. That was WSJ business columnist and Bold Names co host Tim Higgin Higgins thank you, Tim.

Tim Higgins (11:57)

Thank you.

Alex Osola (11:58)

To watch or listen to the most recent episode of Bold Names with Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims, check out the links in our show notes. And finally, YouTube is entering its AI era. Starting today, it's making VO3, Google's new AI video generator that's giving game developers and filmmakers jitters. Available to normal users. For short videos, users in the U.S. canada, the UK and several other countries will get access. First released in May and available to paying Google AI subscribers, VEO is met with a mixture of awe and apprehension from people across industries because of its advanced capabilities and ability to generate matching video and sound. And that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienime and Rodney Davis, with supervising producer Michael Cosmides. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning.

Show Sign-off (12:55)

Thanks for listening.