Takin a timeout

Good morning. A Ford assembly plant in Mexico is leaning on the medieval art of falconry to deal with its long-standing pigeon problem. A hawk named El Charro has been hired by the automaker to fend off a large cohort of pigeons that were sneaking into the factory and peppering the new cars with their droppings. The early results suggest El Charro could be a perennial candidate for employee of the month. 

If you’re also tired of constantly scrubbing white smudges off of your windshield, consider this a sign to invest in a well-trained bird of prey. 

Today’s reading time is 5½ minutes.

Earnings to watch: Consulting giant Accenture and Nike will both report their results on Thursday. Investors will have a close eye on Nike, which has seen its stock plummet over 43% this year, for any signs of a turnaround.

OpenAI is sending its new models to their room for a timeout. 

Driving the news: OpenAI has paused training of its most powerful models after discovering that its AI agents have gone rogue far more frequently than previously believed. According to Axios, OpenAI and Anthropic are now investigating tens of thousands of incidents of frontier models conducting problematic actions that they were not directed to do. 

Zoom in: AI developers like OpenAI and Anthropic run hundreds of thousands of tests on their models, meaning that even a small percentage of agents exhibiting so-called misaligned behaviour can result in thousands of incidents. 

Why it matters: Even when we were told that these rogue attacks were one-off accidents, there was serious cause for concern. Now, with tens of thousands of these “misalignment” cases under review, the scope of the AI safety issue has grown exponentially. 

Our take: It seems that even the top labs with the best researchers in the industry can only, at best, control these models most of the time. When we’re talking about technology that has already been used to try and build biological weapons and an autonomous “kamikaze drone swarm”, having control all of the time seems important.—LA

Five people were arrested in a foiled terrorist plot at a U.S. air base in England. British police detained five men on suspicion of terrorism yesterday after they were tipped off that three suspicious vans were heading toward a U.S. air base that has been used to launch military strikes on Iran. The motive of the suspects has not yet been confirmed by investigators. (Reuters)

Boeing’s 737 MAX plane has a software glitch that could affect landings. The aerospace company acknowledged that it identified a glitch that can cause the plane's automated navigation system to fail near landing, though it insists it is not a safety hazard. The Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating the issue, while major airlines like Southwest and United Airlines have reportedly told Boeing they don’t want any new 737 MAX planes that are equipped with the software. (Wall Street Journal)

U.S.-Iran talks are expected to pick up this week. Donald Trump said that U.S. negotiators will re-engage with their Iranian counterparts this week, even after the president rejected a peace plan backed by Tehran. The two sides remain far apart on negotiations, with Iran focusing solely on the Strait of Hormuz while the U.S. has pushed for key nuclear concessions in addition to reopening the crucial trade artery. (Axios)

📡 What else is on our radar: 

HR technology is moving fast, and keeping up while running the day-to-day is no small task on its own. From AI-powered recruiting to skills-based hiring and always-on employee experience tools, the software shaping HR teams in 2026 looks noticeably different from what worked even two years ago, and the pace of change keeps accelerating heading into next year.

This free report from Capterra breaks down the trends actually influencing how HR teams evaluate, buy, and implement software this year. You will see which capabilities are becoming table stakes, where AI is delivering real ROI versus hype, how compliance and data privacy are reshaping vendor selection, and what smaller HR teams prioritize under tighter budgets.

Whether you are planning next year's budget for HR tech or benchmarking your current stack against the wider market, this report gives you a clear, data-backed view of where things are headed, without the sales pitch.

Get the Free Report

❌ U.S. ban on certain Canadian imports takes effect. The U.S. ban on imports of some Canadian goods, including most types of alcohol, dairy products, molasses, and motorcycles, takes effect tomorrow. Of the products banned, alcohol is the only one that the U.S. buys much of from Canada, but producers have noted that the tariffs already in place have already made selling to the U.S. uneconomical. Overall, the new ban won’t have much of an impact on Canada’s overall economic situation — the damage there has already been done by tariffs. 

📊 New GDP numbers. Statistics Canada will report the latest GDP figures tomorrow. The report should offer some clues as to how the economy is faring after posting surprisingly strong growth in Q2. Analysts expect to see some of the wind coming out of the economy’s sails in this report, but the real damage from new U.S. tariffs will start to become more apparent going forward. The Bank of Canada will be watching closely ahead of its October interest rate decision — unexpectedly strong growth reported tomorrow will increase the odds that it hikes rates next month.

🗳️ Early voting in the Quebec election. Quebec’s provincial election is next Monday, but the outcome will be heavily influenced by what happens this week as early voting gets underway. In the province’s last election, around one-third of voters cast their ballots early in a vote that saw François Legault win a landslide majority. This year’s race is set to be much tighter: the Parti Québécois has consistently topped opinion polls, but four other parties command double-digit support in most surveys. That level of vote splitting could lead to surprises on election night and leave no party with a governing majority.

Another Chinese automaker has figured out how to charge an EV battery in around the time it takes to read this newsletter.

What happened: China’s Geely Auto unveiled an EV battery that can be charged from 10% to 70% in four minutes and 30 seconds. Geely said its technology incorporates AI to predict the temperature of a charging battery and adjust power flows accordingly.

Why it matters: The battery is the most expensive — and, arguably, the most important — part of an electric vehicle. Geely is one of several Chinese automakers bringing battery development in-house to try and bring down costs and reduce dependence on third-party battery makers, like CATL. 

Zoom out: The breakthroughs in China’s battery industry contrast with the struggles of Canada’s nascent battery sector, which has been plagued by recent setbacks. Just last week, VW’s PowerCo announced it would delay the opening of its St. Thomas battery manufacturing plant until 2029. Earlier this year, Honda scrapped its plans to develop an EV supply chain, including battery plants in Ontario, and last year saw the collapse of the ambitious Northvolt battery project in Quebec.—TS

As Canada’s #1 hospital, University Health Network (UHN) is working hard to advance healthcare. Researchers and clinicians push medicine forward, while donors and supporters make progress possible.

Together, we can turn ideas into new treatments, bring innovation to patient care and invest in discoveries to shape the future of medicine.

Because a healthier world doesn’t happen alone. It happens when we’re UHNITED. 

Unite with us. Learn more.

🏡 $2,356. Average asking rent in Nova Scotia last month, the highest of any Canadian province. The Maritime province recently overtook B.C. as the most expensive asking rent in the country, driven by surging prices for apartments and condos in Halifax.

It’s a beautiful day to take on today’s mini-crossword, the daily sudoku, Codebreaker, and Who’s Who.