ITK Daily | February 16
Vice President Kamala Harris, Anna Wintour, Wawa, Rod Stewart, Caitlin Clark, plus 1,000 more actionable insights.
ITK Daily is geopolitical business news + intelligence for comms pros.
Always Be Communicating.
Happy Friday.
Here’s today’s ITK Daily:
*** Ross Rant ***
Communications and the 60th Munich Security Conference
This weekend, the historic Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich will again host many of the world's leading security policymakers, diplomats, and thought leaders for the 60th Munich Security Conference (MSC).
From February 16 - 18, 2024, the MSC will be the platform for high-level discussions on the most pressing global security challenges, marking a significant milestone in its six-decade history.
Key global business issues likely to dominate discussions at the MSC:
The Ukraine War + Moscow's imperial ambitions
China's growing militarization + Beijing trying to convert East Asia into its exclusive sphere of influence
Escalation of violence, terrorist attacks + the humanitarian emergency in the Middle East
Losing the chance for peace + democratic progress in the Sahel
Geopolitical tensions transforming globalization + the rise of "de-risking" economic relationships
Climate policy + the rollout of green technologies
Geopolitical tensions fragmenting the tech sector + much-needed global regulations on AI and data security
Full post - click here.
*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***
Bloomberg: Israel, Hezbollah strikes intensify as fears grow of new front
+ Tensions running high as rockets hit deep into Israel’s north
+ US has been trying to mediate between Lebanon, Israel
Biden-Netanyahu relationship at boiling point as Rafah invasion looms: WSJ reports the US administration acknowledges waning influence over its closest Middle East ally
Egypt builds walled enclosure as Israeli offensive looms: WSJ reports authorities are surrounding a border area in the desert with concrete walls as a contingency for a possible influx of Palestinian refugees.
AP: On the USS Eisenhower, 4 months of combat at sea facing Houthi missiles and a new sea threat
AP: US to confront Trump-driven political turmoil at the Munich Security Conference
In Munich, Harris aims to reassure European allies as Trump disparages NATO: Vice President Kamala Harris will argue that global partnerships are critical to US security, not a burden to be lightly discarded, officials said. WSJ
AFP: Ukraine's Zelensky to sign security pacts with Germany and France
Do we want to pay the price for a Russian victory in Ukraine? There is a critical need to back Kyiv in its fight against Vladimir Putin's hybrid war on Europe, cautioning that the efforts needed now are minor compared to those needed to oppose a victorious Russia. Stéphane Séjourné
Russia said to be using thousands of Musk’s Starlink systems in war: WSJ reports the comments from Ukraine’s top military-intelligence officer suggest Russia is starting to acquire Starlink terminals at a scale that could cut into a major Ukrainian battlefield advantage.
Is NATO ready for a Russian invasion? Max Jeffery
War in space is no longer science fiction: Inside America’s celestial struggle against China and Russia. Economist
Intelligence about Russia puts focus on new US satellite push: The Pentagon is in the early stages of a program to put constellations of smaller and cheaper satellites into orbit to counter space-based threats of the sort being developed by Russia and China. NYT
Japan unexpectedly slipped into recession after shrinking for a second quarter due to anemic domestic demand.
The row over US Steel shows the new meaning of national security: Should a Japanese buyer really be blocked from acquiring the American firm? Economist
https://www.economist.com/business/2024/02/15/the-row-over-us-steel-shows-the-new-meaning-of-national-security
China revives socialist ideas to fix its real-estate crisis: WSJ reports Xi Jinping aims to put the state back in charge of the crumbling property market, part of a push to rein in the private sector.
Mongolia + the United Arab Emirates signed a memo today agreeing to cooperate on AI development and governance.
+ The UAE additionally signed AI agreements with Austria and Colombia.
The Global South needs a leader. Indonesia should apply: The country’s new president has a chance to rally developing nations behind a global minerals policy acceptable to both the West and China. Mihir Sharma
David Cameron won’t ‘lecture’ US on Ukraine … after Trump ally tells him to ‘kiss my ass’: Politico reports the UK foreign secretary sought to calm tensions after Marjorie Taylor Greene attacked him over Ukraine funding.
The UK also slipped into recession last year.
+ Labour seized on the recession news in hope of a political win.
Greece becomes first Orthodox country to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption: AFP reports Greece's parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly adopted a bill legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption in a landmark reform promoted by the conservative government despite opposition from the powerful Orthodox Church.
Africa wants to attract more Chinese tourists: 'The potential is enormous, we need to be prepared': Le Monde reports South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania are multiplying their strategies aimed at China, whose travelers rarely venture onto the continent.
Bloomberg: Nigeria's currency crisis is fueling a corporate exodus
+ A currency in free-fall and rampant inflation are slashing the profits of global conglomerates
+ At least three global conglomerates have announced they are exiting the nation, Africa’s most populous and its second biggest economy. GSK, Bayer and Sanofi are joining Procter & Gamble in departing
*** US Politics + Elections ***
Democrats look to Nebraska to shore up Biden’s blue wall: Population shifts since 2020 have decreased the power of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania to guarantee Democratic victory. WP
The moneyball theory of presidential social media: Not even the president can bend the internet to his will. Charlie Warzel
Anna Wintour to host Biden fundraiser during Paris Fashion Week: BOF reports Wintour will host the fundraiser with Rufus Gifford, the finance chair for the Biden-Harris 2024 presidential campaign, on March 4.
Trump world considers having the former president deliver the official GOP State of the Union response: Two sources told NBC News that Trump is leaning against doing it. The decision ultimately rests with the Republican leadership in Congress.
+ The first of four criminal trials for Donald Trump begins March 25.
Joe Manchin floats Mitt Romney as a potential running mate as he weighs a presidential bid: NBC News reports Manchin made the comment Thursday in Cleveland, the latest stop on his "listening tour" as the West Virginia senator ponders a third-party White House campaign.
AP: Republican businessman Hovde to enter Wisconsin US Senate race against Baldwin
Nobody knows which political ads work and why: A study of more than 600 political ads found there’s no way to predict what makes one effective. Politico
Bloomberg: FTC wants to penalize companies for use of AI in impersonation
Fortune: The NYC ‘office apocalypse’ has a developer mulling tennis courts where it had planned a 61-floor skyscraper
+ @economics: Tumbling market values for office buildings are poised to cost Boston more than $1 billion in tax revenue over the next five years
California tried to ban plastic grocery bags. It didn’t work. NYT reports a ban on single-use bags included an exemption for bags meant to be reused and recycled. Except, they weren’t. New legislation aims to fix that.
*** Disruption + Innovation ***
Communications is the most in-demand job skill for the second year in a row, according to data gathered by LinkedIn.
Today’s satellite boom was foretold in busts of yesteryear: Musk and Bezos are betting that their space ventures won’t replay Motorola’s Iridium flop three decades ago. Bloomberg
WSJ: Lucid is latest EV maker to cut prices as demand ebbs
VW under pressure to end China venture as US impounds cars: WSJ reports large German manufacturers have expanded their footprints in China, threatening efforts to reduce economic reliance on the Asian giant.
China urges firms not to be 'blinded by lies' over Xinjiang rights record: AFP reports China on Thursday urged companies not to be "blinded by lies" about its rights record in Xinjiang, after German automaker Volkswagen said it was discussing the future of its activities in the troubled region.
Ford CEO, who’s been worrying about China’s EV dominance for years, says ‘the world has changed’ and he’d work with rivals on a cheaper battery Fortune
How hardware is (still) eating the world: Tech companies have a near-insatiable appetite for chips — and that is only set to grow as the demands of AI software swell. John Thornhill
Bloomberg: Applied Materials jumps after forecast shows chip rebound
+ Outlook signals that chipmakers are resuming investments
+ China was an especially strong market for company last quarter
Google touts AI to vet troves of content in seconds; CEO predicts profit: Reuters reports reading "War and Peace," Leo Tolstoy's monumental novel that runs half a million words long and often over 1,000 pages, might be a minute-long affair for a new artificial intelligence model from Google.
Google’s flagship AI model gets a mighty fast upgrade: Just two months after Alphabet made its Gemini AI model public, it’s rolling out a new version that can handle several times as much audio, video, and text input as GPT-4. Wired
Google to launch anti-misinformation campaign ahead of EU parliamentary elections: AFP reports Google is preparing to launch an anti-misinformation campaign across five countries in the European Union (EU), the company told Reuters ahead of the bloc's parliamentary elections and tougher new rules tackling online content.
AI can strengthen cyber defences, not just break them down: Private and public institutions must work together to harness the technology’s potential. Sundar Pichai
Bloomberg: Apple readies AI tool to rival Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot
+ Company is working on several generative AI-based features
+ New tool would help developers create code more quickly
Apple’s latest prototype AI tool can animate images using text descriptions: The Verge reports it’s early days for Keyframer, which joins Apple’s expanding list of generative AI projects.
Can OpenAI create superintelligence before it runs out of cash? The AI start-up is one of the fastest-growing companies in history, but questions remain about the long-term viability of its business model. FT
OpenAI introduces Sora, its text-to-video AI model: The Verge reports OpenAI’s latest model takes text prompts and turns them into ‘complex scenes with multiple characters, specific types of motion,’ and more.
Fortune: OpenAI just shifted the generative AI battle to Hollywood with its new AI text-to-video product
AI computing firm Lambda raises $320 million in fresh funding: Reuters reports Lambda, an artificial intelligence computing firm, said on Thursday it has raised $320 million in a new funding round led by billionaire Thomas Tull's US Innovative Technology to expand its AI cloud business.
The year chatbots were tamed: A year ago, a rogue AI tried to break up my marriage. Did the backlash help make chatbots too boring? Kevin Roose
Nokia + Dell Technologies have agreed a partnership to help deploy so-called private 5G networks and adapt networks to the cloud
Bloomberg: Wawa billionaires bet on taking the convenience chain South
+ Wood family is worth $6 billion, Bloomberg calculations show
+ Chain is targeting new markets in the Midwest and Southeast
Deutsche Bank ordered MDs back to the office four days a week.
*** Culture ***
Cillian Murphy tackles Irish 'shame' with Berlin fest opener: AFP reports Oscar nominee Cillian Murphy said Thursday his latest movie aimed to tackle Ireland's "collective trauma" over notorious laundries used for decades as prison camps for "fallen" young women, as it opened Berlin's international film festival.
AFP: Rod Stewart banks $100 million for song catalog: report
*** Sport ***
Iowa star Caitlin Clark sets NCAA Division I women’s basketball career scoring record.
Mbappé tells PSG he is planning to leave club: FT reports the French striker has previously flirted with joining Real Madrid.
Kylian Mbappé tells PSG he will leave club in summer 2024: Le Monde reports the star striker and captain of the French national football team will reach the end of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain on June 30. He joined the team in 2017.
An English city gave soccer to the world. Now it wants credit. NYT
Verne Lundquist has announced that the 2024 Masters—his 40th—will be his final Masters for CBS. The 84-year-old has called all but one Masters since 1983 and is retiring.
What tennis reveals about AI’s impact on human behaviour: Since the introduction of Hawk-Eye, umpires have been biting their tongues. Economist
The F1 offseason has spun out of control: A high-profile firing. A shock scandal. And the biggest team switch in decades. Formula 1 is in the midst of the most tumultuous winter break in the sport’s history. WSJ
‘Professor Prime’: How Deion Sanders inspired a new college course WP
Simone Biles en route to the Paris Olympics: 'I'm getting old and I have more to lose': In mid-January, Le Monde met the most decorated gymnast of all time in Spring, Texas. She is preparing for her Olympics comeback in Paris this summer, after missing out in Tokyo because of the 'twisties.' Le Monde
The Athletic: Manfred says his tenure as MLB Commissioner will end in January 2029
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
ITK Daily | February 16
