ITK Daily | March 6

ITK Daily | March 6

Lunar Nuclear Power Plant, Crypto, NASA, Riken Yamamoto, Padel, plus 1,000 more actionable insights.

ITK Daily is geopolitical business news + intelligence for comms pros.

Always Be Communicating.

Happy Wednesday.

Here’s today’s ITK Daily:

*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***

India reverses AI stance, requires government approval for model launches: TC reports India has waded into global AI debate by issuing an advisory that requires "significant" tech firms to get government permission before launching new models.

+ Though the ministry admits the advisory is not legally binding, India's IT Deputy Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar says the notice is "signaling that this is the future of regulation." He adds: "We are doing it as an advisory today asking you to comply with it."

India bridles at China’s growing presence in South Asia: A spat with the Maldives highlights regional difficulties. Economist

India's top diplomat points to 'new phase' in Japan defense ties: Nikkei reports Jaishankar weighs in on awkward relations with China, Pakistan, Maldives.

China agreed to provide military support to the Maldives and promised to develop a “comprehensive” strategic partnership.

China drops 'peaceful reunification' reference to Taiwan: Reuters reports China will boost its defense spending by 7.2% this year, fuelling a military budget that has more than doubled under President Xi Jinping's 11 years in office as Beijing hardens its stance on Taiwan, according to official reports on Tuesday.

China’s excess savings are a danger: Beijing must dare to choose radical remedies to deal with them. Martin Wolf

China is offering "computing vouchers" ranging from $140,000 to $280,000 to AI start-ups in at least 17 cities, aiming to ease financial strains related to rising data center costs and chip shortages.

China to step up quantum computing, AI in tech self-sufficiency drive: Reuters reports China will formulate plans to develop emerging industries including quantum computing and continue striving to achieve self-sufficiency in technology, a government work report said.

Bloomberg: Russia says working with China for lunar nuclear power plant by 2035

How Biden took Trump's China policy and raised the stakes: Donald Trump won praise and flak for trying to hold back China's advance. Rather than roll back his policies, the Biden administration has piled on more pressure. DW

Ukraine’s first lady declines State of the Union invitation: WP reports the intent was for Olena Zelenska to sit near first lady Jill Biden and Russian opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya, who is viewed with some skepticism in Ukraine.

Independent: Biden invited Navalny’s widow to State of the Union

Parents of Russian-held Evan Gershkovich to attend Biden’s State of the Union: WSJ reports Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich will be guests of House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Shift in Russian tactics intensifies air war in Ukraine: NYT reports Moscow’s recent gains in the east have been aided by more aggressive air support on the front lines. But that also has helped Ukraine shoot down enemy planes in the past two weeks.

Politico: Iran has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles, UK defense chief suggests

Putin’s masterful spy op leaves Scholz in the cold: Moscow’s espionage coup has divided Western allies, discredited Scholz, and hampered Kyiv’s push for weapons. Politico

Ukrainian special forces sank the Sergei Kotov, a Russian warship worth $65m, according to Ukraine’s military-intelligence agency. 

The European Commission announced a new defense strategy designed to boost the continent’s arms manufacturing sector. The plan asks that national governments spend half of their defense procurement budgets within the bloc.

Can Israel afford to wage war? As the battle continues, costs are spiraling. Economist

AP: Gaza cease-fire talks fail to achieve a breakthrough with Ramadan just days away, Egypt says

Economist: Joe Biden is exasperated by Israel but will not stop its war

Biden team eyes ways to rush humanitarian aid to Gaza via sea: Politico reports the effort comes as the U.S. struggles to convince Israel to permit more aid trucks to go through land routes.

Africa is juggling rival powers like no other continent: African leaders need to balance vast opportunities against dire risks. Economist

Gangs in Haiti try to seize control of main airport in newest attack on government sites: Politico reports armed gang members overran the two biggest prisons and freed thousands of inmates over the weekend.

Haiti: State of emergency declared in the capital plagued by gang violence, 'Everyone is afraid.': Le Monde reports the government has declared a 72-hour state of emergency in the city of Port-au-Prince, which has been gripped by a surge in violence since February 29. Heavily armed gangs aiming to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry are behind the escalation.

Bloomberg: Gang-riven Haiti’s absent leader Henry reemerges in Puerto Rico

America’s economic security doctrine has taken on a darker hue: Washington seeks to defend the rules-based order with unruly, self-interested interventions. Adam Tooze

***  US Politics + Elections ***

Jerome Powell will visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday. The Fed chief is expected to reiterate the lack of urgency in cutting rates.

Tim Kaine invited Elizabeth Carr, the Virginia native who in 1981 became the first American born via IVF, to attend the State of the Union speech.

NBC News: Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema will not run for re-election in Arizona

The Hill: RFK Jr. fuels speculation he may run as Libertarian

The Republican convention is July 15-18 in Milwaukee.

The Democratic convention is August 19-22 in Chicago.

The six swing states that will decide the US presidential race: Why the battle for the White House comes down to states like Arizona and Georgia. FT

Tired of wokeness? Move to Florida: How the Democrats lost the Sunshine State. 1843 Magazine

‘Playing politics to win’: Crypto spends big on Super Tuesday: Crypto super PACs have spent more than $13 million to influence races in California, Texas, Alabama, and North Carolina. Politico

US bill would ban TikTok from app stores unless ByteDance divests it: Bipartisan legislation comes amid growing national security concerns tied to its Chinese owner. FT

***  Disruption + Innovation ***

Bloomberg: Meta says issues resolved affecting Facebook, Instagram apps

A few social media influencers are shaping AI: Tweets lead to attention, which leads to higher citation numbers. IEEE Spectrum

+ "Trust is the currency of the AI era, yet, as it stands, our innovation account is dangerously overdrawn. Companies must move beyond the mere mechanics of AI to address its true cost and value — the 'why' and 'for whom.'" -- Edelman Global Technology Chair Justin Westcott

+ According to Edelman, globally, trust in AI companies has dropped to 53%, down from 61% five years ago. In the US, trust has dropped 15 percentage points (from 50% to 35%) over the same period.

+ Trust in AI is low across political lines. Democrats' trust in AI companies is 38%, independents are at 25% and Republicans at 24%.

Top AI researchers say OpenAI, Meta, and more hinder independent evaluations: Tech company policies have put a chill on independent AI research, says open letter. WP

WSJ: AI talent is in demand as other tech job listings decline

+ Postings for artificial-intelligence-related roles are growing and touting higher pay

+ The DC metro area overtook the San Francisco Bay Area in number of AI job postings during December, according to a recent report by JLL.

+ About half of the AI-related job openings in D.C. require government security clearances.

Ema, a ‘Universal AI employee,’ emerges from stealth with $25M: TC reports: “Our goal is to build a universal AI employee,” Surojit Chatterjee, the CEO and co-founder, said in an interview. “Our goal is to automate on the mundane tasks that employees do on a day to day basis in every enterprise… to free them up to do more valuable and more strategic work.”

The AI wars heat up with Claude 3, claimed to have “near-human” abilities: Willison: "No model has beaten GPT-4 on a range of widely used benchmarks like this." ARS Tech

Alibaba is leading a financing round of at least $600 million for Chinese AI startup MiniMax, spearheading its second major deal in the space this year as it unleashes capital in pursuit of growth.

AI search startup Perplexity set to double valuation to $1 billion: WSJ reports funding round comes just a few months after company’s most recent financing.

Overjet has raised $53.2 million from investors led by March Capital to develop and expand an AI platform that helps diagnose disease from scans and other data, aiming to make trips to the dentist easier for patients and insurers.

IO Research, an artificial intelligence (AI)-focused blockchain startup, said on Tuesday it raised $30 million in a Series A funding round from investors including Hack VC, Solana Labs, and cryptocurrency exchange OKX.

Reuters: Russia's Sberbank: AI to make 60% of corporate loan decisions by year-end

Israel’s OurCrowd partners with Nvidia to accelerate the next generation of AI startups: FC reports the announcement comes barely a day after Nvidia surpassed Aramco to become the world’s third most valuable company.

Temasek Holdings is in discussions to invest in Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence company OpenAI.

Sam Altman-backed startup to bring AI smart pin to Japan, South Korea: AI device maker Humane is bringing its smart pin to Japan and South Korea as the U.S. startup backed by Microsoft, and Sam Altman makes its first overseas push, its co-founders told Nikkei Asia.

Amazon is bringing generative AI to online shopping with Rufus, a chatbot, currently in beta, that can help with personalized gifts and other tasks.

Bloomberg: Apple stock gloom deepens as pressure to show AI progress mounts

+ Apple shares have slumped about 11% this year, lagging peers

Apple’s iPhone sales in China fell by a surprising 24% over the first six weeks of the year, according to figures from Counterpoint Research.

Why Elon Musk has it in for Sam Altman: On this episode of Elon, Inc., we discuss Musk’s many grievances with OpenAI and its CEO. Bloomberg

OpenAI responds to Musk lawsuit: ‘Sad it’s come to this’: OpenAI hit back at Elon Musk in a blog post published on its site Tuesday, responding to a lawsuit by one of its co-founders and former benefactors. Bloomberg

Your company probably knows you’re reading this story at work: CNN reports last month, news surfaced that major companies like Walmart, Starbucks, Delta and Chevron were using AI to monitor employee communications. The reaction online was swift, with employees and workplace advocates worrying about a loss of privacy.

+ According to a Qualtrics survey, 46% of workers find AI in the workplace "scary."

90: JPMorgan Chase claims its new AI-powered cashflow management tool was able to help clients cut back on manual labor by 90% and made it easier to “analyze and forecast cashflows.”

Cyberattack paralyzes the largest US health care payment system: The hacking shut down the nation’s biggest health care payment system, causing financial chaos that affected a broad spectrum ranging from large hospitals to single-doctor practices. WP

NASA is seeking new astronaut candidates for the first time in four years.

Lockheed Martin has submitted a bid to acquire spacecraft manufacturer Terran Orbital.

Athletic Brewing Company has become the leading nonalcoholic beer brand in US grocery stores,

Rupert Murdoch’s TalkTV will reportedly cease running as a linear TV channel and will broadcast solely on YouTube.

The mysterious rise of the Chinese ecommerce giant behind Temu: Its finances are a black box and its operations shrouded in secrecy, but PDD’s extraordinary growth has made it a darling of Wall Street. FT

German factory is key to Tesla's EV expansion plan in Europe: DW reports Tesla faces challenges that reflect the delicate balance between industrial progress and environmental concerns.

+ A far-left organization called the Volcano Group claimed responsibility for a suspected arson attack on Tesla’s factory in Germany.

*** Culture ***

Brown University will reinstate standardized testing requirements.

Riken Yamamoto wins 2024 Pritzker architecture prize: Le Monde reports aged 78, the Japanese architect has produced a prolific yet unspectatular body of work, mainly in Asia, interweaving interior and exterior, public and private spaces.

Riken Yamamoto, who dissolves the boundary between public and private, wins 2024 Pritzker prize: The laureate for architecture’s top award cherishes ideas of neighbourliness, even at a grand scale. FT

Pritzker Prize goes to a Japanese architect who explores the threshold between public and private spaces: Yamamoto said he was proud and “amazed” to be awarded the prize, known as the Nobel of architecture. FC

World’s best restaurant Noma will stay open until Spring, 2025 and return to Kyoto: Bloomberg reports the destination dining room, frequently ranked No. 1 in the world, will launch a Japan residency and serve 70 meals from October to December. 

*** Sport ***

The Dartmouth College men’s basketball team voted to unionize with the Service Employees International Union, becoming the nation’s first group of student athletes to organize.

Cool the ‘gamblification’ of US sports WP - Editorial

A socialist writer skewered the Formula One scene. Then her article vanished. Editors for Road & Track aren’t saying why they yanked Kate Wagner’s story from the website shortly after it published. WP

Padel craze is sweeping across France: 'It's a far cry from the hushed world of tennis': Le Monde reports somewhere between tennis and squash, this sport is fast becoming a hit and breathing new life into some struggling tennis clubs, which are transforming their green courts into blue ones.

AFP: 326,000 tickets for Paris Olympics opening ceremony, minister says


Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc