ITK Daily | February 29
Project Maven, Mitch McConnell, Detroit, Richard Lewis, Chiefs, plus 1,000 more actionable insights.
ITK Daily is geopolitical business news + intelligence for comms pros.
Always Be Communicating.
Happy Thursday.
Here’s today’s ITK Daily:
*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***
Can Xi Jinping's 'buy new products' campaign fix China's economy? Xi might be better off taking a cue from the legendary founder of Wahaha. Nikkei
How Trump and Biden have failed to cut ties with China: It is hard to overcome economic incentives. Economist
China's Premier Li urges stronger economic, trade ties with US: Reuters reports China and the United States should strengthen economic and trade ties and Washington should avoid decoupling from China, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday, during a meeting with a visiting US delegation, Chinese state radio reported.
+ China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has been invited to Australia for a two-day visit in the second half of March, the South China Morning Post reported.
Bloomberg: Xi signals China ready to step up support for developing nations
+ Chinese leader meets in Beijing with Sierra Leone’s president
+ Xi trying to appeal to emerging economies in Global South
North Korea’s first spy satellite has been detected changing its orbit, suggesting Pyongyang is successfully controlling the spacecraft, according to a Dutch satellite expert.
Australian politician 'sold out' country to foreign spy ring, says intelligence chief: Reuters reports a former politician "sold out" Australia to a foreign intelligence service, the country's spy chief said on Wednesday, adding that his agency had confronted the spy ring to let them know their cover had been blown.
Alexei Navalny is set to be buried in Moscow on Friday.
Leaked Russian military files reveal criteria for nuclear strike: Doctrine for tactical nuclear weapons outlined in training scenarios for an invasion by China. FT
Bloomberg: US, UK discuss Russia security risk in back-to-back elections
+ People familiar with the matter comment on high-level talks
+ Fears Russia could pose security risks amid ballot distraction
Trump to meet next week with Orban, Hungary’s leader: NYT reports the former president has long been aligned with Hungary’s right-wing prime minister, who has built ties to the conservative movement in the United States.
Ursula von der Leyen suggests using Russian assets frozen in Europe to arm Kyiv: Le Monde reports the European Commission President has proposed seizing the interest generated by the 200 billion euros from the Central Bank of Russia, frozen within the territory of the Twenty-Seven to purchase military equipment for Ukraine.
Britain has rejected Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion that NATO troops could be sent to Ukraine, warning that it would be a ‘major escalation.’
Macron defends idea of potentially sending troops to Ukraine as allies distance themselves: Le Monde reports the French presidency said Tuesday that the question had been raised during calls with other Western leaders ahead of the Paris conference where Macron said 'no option should be ruled out.'
German mission to train Ukrainians forges ahead: DW reports Western powers have the military gear and the know-how, but after two years of war, Ukrainians have the actual combat experience. At a German training site for Ukrainian troops, that has created a unique dynamic.
US tech giants refuse to work with Britain’s top secret military censorship board: The shadowy committee is struggling to keep pace with new trends in social media and open source journalism. Politico
UK government to trial ‘red box’ AI tools to improve ministerial efficiency: Initiative is part of Rishi Sunak’s drive to boost Whitehall productivity through technology. FT
+ Oliver Dowden, UK deputy prime minister, will say there must be ‘constant and relentless pressure’ to drive the use of AI in the public sector.
Putin has new cyber-tools that threaten democracy, Ukraine warns: Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine’s national security adviser, warns the UK and US that Vladimir Putin will meddle in 2024 elections. The Times
France had no prior knowledge of Microsoft's Mistral AI deal, official says: Reuters reports France had no prior knowledge of Microsoft's partnership with tech startup Mistral AI, a finance ministry official told Reuters, denying suggestions that French lobbying for looser European AI rules had been on behalf of the US tech giant.
Why Microsoft’s stake in buzzy AI lab Mistral is raising eyebrows in the EU: The deal sent shockwaves through the AI world Monday, and has angered some regulators who worked to pass the AI Act. FC
How a changing electorate is propelling Labour to victory: Our data shows that the party is forging a remarkably broad electoral coalition. Economist
What happened to Lula? How he dashed high hopes for Brazil’s foreign policy—and how he can get back on track. Matias Spektor
Lula’s gaffes are dulling Brazil’s G20 shine: Its relationships with the West are healing. But Brazil has not decided what kind of country it will be. Economist
Meet the influencer giving young Mexicans their election news: AFP reports smartphone in hand, Mexican law student Gerardo Vera records a short political news video for TikTok aimed at younger voters who will be a major force in this year's presidential elections.
AI warfare becomes real for US military with Project Maven: US military operators started out skeptical about AI, but now they are the ones developing and using Project Maven to identify targets on the battlefield. Bloomberg
How the Pentagon learned to use targeted ads to find its targets—and Vladimir Putin: Meet the guy who taught US intelligence agencies how to make the most of the ad tech ecosystem, "the largest information-gathering enterprise ever conceived by man." Wired
Biden acts to stop sales of sensitive personal data to China and Russia: NYT reports in an attempt to limit blackmail and other harm, he issued an executive order asking the Justice Department to write rules restricting sales to six countries.
Republican senator wants to hike tariffs on Chinese vehicles: Reuters reports Republican Senator Josh Hawley is introducing on Wednesday legislation to hike tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports amid growing concerns about the impact of these vehicles on US car companies.
*** US Politics + Elections ***
Congressional leaders strike a short-term deal to avert partial shutdown: NYT reports top lawmakers agreed to vote on a temporary funding patch that would allow more time for spending negotiations.
AP: McConnell will step down as the Senate Republican leader in November after a record run in the job
How the Senate GOP scored a top recruit and widened its path to a majority: The recruitment of Larry Hogan in Maryland served as a capstone to months of quiet success for Senate Republicans, after years of recruiting disappointments. NYT
Bloomberg: Supreme Court immunity case jeopardizes Trump trial pre-election
+ Arguments in late April likely delay DC election trial timing
+ Two lower courts have already denied Trump’s immunity claim
AP: The Biden campaign is launching a nationwide effort to win the women’s vote. Jill Biden will lead it
Chatbots are generating false and misleading information about US elections: Most adults in the US fear that AI tools—which can microtarget political audiences, mass produce persuasive messages, and generate realistic fake images and videos—will increase the spread of false and misleading information during this year’s elections, according to a recent poll. FC
*** Disruption + Innovation ***
How AI works, in plain English: Three great reads Axios
How early adopters of Gen AI are gaining efficiencies: Enterprises are seeing gains from generative AI in productivity and strategic planning, according to speakers at a recent Wharton conference. K@W
CNBC: Google CEO tells employees Gemini AI blunder ‘unacceptable’
Google CEO calls AI chatbot responses biased and unacceptable: WSJ reports Sundar Pichai tells employees the company will make structural changes after controversy over ahistoric images and blocked requests.
Is Google’s Gemini chatbot woke by accident, or by design? The tech giant’s new artificial-intelligence model invents black Vikings and Asian popes. Economist
Why we should worry about progressive AI Yascha Mounk
The future of AI video is here, super weird flaws and all WP
Lightricks, the Israeli startup behind Facetune and Photoleap, announced a new AI video tool called LTX Studio that can generate characters, scenes, storyboards and even entire movies using only text descriptions.
Tumblr + Wordpress are planning to sell user data to OpenAI and Midjourney, but Automattic (which owns both services) says it will let users opt out.
Adobe is developing a generative AI tool for creating music.
Reuters: Meta's Zuckerberg discusses mixed reality devices, AI with LG leaders in South Korea
OpenAI is asking a federal court to throw out the New York Times' lawsuit, maintaining the newspaper had to "hack" ChatGPT in order to get the system to spout full Times articles.
Teleperformance shares plunged to a 7-year low on Wednesday over concerns artificial intelligence (AI) will disrupt the French call centre firm's business.
Please don't use ChatGPT for your taxes. Here's why: ChatGPT is good for many things, but not for something as complex as preparing a tax return. CNET
Google hit with $2.3 bln lawsuit by Axel Springer, other media groups: Reuters reports Alphabet's Google was hit with a 2.1-billion-euro ($2.3 billion) lawsuit by 32 media groups including Axel Springer and Schibsted on Wednesday, alleging that they had suffered losses due to the company's practices in digital advertising.
Alibaba is rolling out its second major cost cuts for cloud services in years, aiming to win back users from rivals like Tencent competing to provide the tools critical to training artificial intelligence.
Dell says AI rush can be tipping point for Open RAN adoption: Nikkei reports the initiative to crack open network equipment market is compatible with AI.
The environmental cost of AI: Data centres are becoming some of the biggest consumers of power and water. FT - Editorial
Amazon to invest in start-ups that combine AI with robotics: Franziska Bossart, head of ecommerce giant’s $1bn innovation fund, vows to increase deals aimed at automating retail network. FT
Inside the miracle of modern chip manufacturing: After coming up against the limits of physics, scientists are rethinking chip architecture like never before. FT
Apple investors reject call for report into company’s AI use: Bloomberg reports the proposal, submitted by AFL-CIO Equity Index Funds, was voted down at Apple’s annual meeting on Wednesday. Shareholders also rejected measures about equal employment policies, civil liberties, racial and gender pay gaps, and human rights. They approved the board slate and the company’s executive compensation plan.
+ The AI proposal urged Apple to disclose the ethical guidelines that it follows in adopting the technology. Artificial intelligence raises “a number of social policy issues,” according to the measure’s supporting statement.
TC: Tim Cook says Apple will ‘break new ground’ in GenAI this year
Behind Apple’s doomed car project: False starts and wrong turns: Internal disagreements over the direction of the Apple car led the effort to sputter for years before it was canceled this week. NYT
Detroit warned Apple about making a car. It had to learn the hard way. Tech giant’s interest in developing a car helped highlight an investment boom in Silicon Valley. Tim Huggins
Reuters: Fintech giant Stripe valued at $65 bln in stock-sale deal for employees
Klarna is reportedly pushing ahead with plans for an IPO in New York this fall that would value the Swedish buy-now-pay-later company at roughly $20 billion.
Reuters: Bitcoin hits $60,000 as 'FOMO' rally gathers pace
Bitcoin miners win legal battle to keep mum about energy use: The Verge reports a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order on a Department of Energy survey of Bitcoin mines’ energy use.
Reliance, Disney to merge India media assets to create $8.5 bln powerhouse: Reuters reports India's top conglomerate Reliance Industries and Walt Disney on Wednesday announced the merger of their India TV and streaming media assets, creating an $8.5 billion entertainment juggernaut far ahead of rivals in the world's most populous nation.
Marriott offers Taylor Swift concert trips for 500,000 points: Bloomberg reports the deal is part of a marketing effort to get a new generation of guests hooked on the company’s hotels.
41: The number of ski resorts owned by Vail Resorts.
Reuters: Nissan aims to start driverless ride service in Japan by 2027
Wendy’s says its CEO didn’t mean ‘surge pricing’ when he talked about digital menus: FC reports the fast food chain says comments about dynamic pricing were widely misinterpreted and that it is not planning Uber-style increases.
*** Culture ***
RIP: Richard Lewis, the comedian and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' star, has died at 76
*** Sport ***
Erling Haaland now has 79 goals in 83 appearances for the club since his debut in July 2022, which is 30 more than any other Premier League player during that time.
Bloomberg: NFL’s Chiefs eye $800 million stadium facelift after Super Bowl
+ Jackson County, Missouri, to vote to on sales tax for stadium
+ Arrowhead would get upgrades plus new ballpark for Royals
FT: Red Bull Formula One boss Christian Horner cleared by barrister-led probe
He got bored. Built an empire. Then cracked the formula for the world’s fastest sport. How Dietrich Mateschitz made Red Bull the dominant force in Formula One. WSJ
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
ITK Daily | February 29
