ITK Daily | March 14
TikTok, Aaron Rodgers, Nissan + Honda, Christopher Nolan, Socks, 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 ***
TikTok bill easily passes House: The House easily passed a bill to force ByteDance to divest its holdings in TikTok, 352 to 65 with one voting present.
Bloomberg: TikTok tells staff that strategy stays the same after House vote
US Senator urges Microsoft to pull Bing out of China: Bloomberg reports Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, is calling on Microsoft to consider pulling its Bing search engine out of the country, after a Bloomberg Businessweek investigation revealed that the platform was shutting out information on human rights and democracy to satisfy China’s ruling Communist Party.
To build more missiles, the US looks to an ally 10,000 miles away: WSJ reports Australia aims to establish first factory outside US for making a missile that’s been pivotal in Ukraine.
Malaysia rises as crucial link in chip supply chain: US and European companies looking to diversify from China are expanding around Southeast Asia, a sign of how geopolitics is reshaping tech manufacturing. WSJ
+ Three semiconductor production projects worth around 15 billion dollars have been launched in India.
Britain to join EU semiconductor research programme: Reuters reports Britain said on Wednesday it was joining European Union efforts to develop and manufacture advanced semiconductors in Europe, pledging 35 million pounds ($45 million) to an overall 1.3 billion euro ($1.4 billion) research and innovation fund.
AI is an important engine for 'new productive forces', China's Li says: Reuters reports China's premier called artificial intelligence an important engine for the "new productive forces", state television CCTV said on Wednesday.
China faces familiar growth dilemma as economy slows: Nikkei reports anxious to avoid reinflating a property bubble, Beijing chooses caution over expansion.
Japan created a multi-billion dollar space innovation fund.
IAEA chief inspects treated water release operation of Fukushima nuclear plant: NHK reports the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has inspected the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. It is the first visit by Director General Rafael Grossi there since the plant's operator began releasing treated and diluted water into the ocean in August last year.
India's 'glittering' economy lights Modi's reelection path: Nikkei reports South Asian nation to surpass Germany and Japan by 2027, but experts warn of weaknesses.
Politico: Russia ‘ready’ for nuclear war, Putin claims
Putin isn’t a politician, he’s a gangster Yulia Navalnaya
Forever Putinism: The Russian autocrat’s answer to the problem of succession. Michael Kimmage + Maria Lipman
Reuters: Ukrainian drones damage Russian oil refineries in second day of attacks
EU agrees to €5 billion boost in Ukraine military aid: DW reports EU member states have struck a deal to jointly provide Ukraine with an additional €5 billion in military aid. Kyiv has said the move was a "powerful and timely demonstration of European unity."
US held secret talks with Iran over Red Sea attacks: FT reports indirect negotiations in Oman aimed to end strikes against shipping by Tehran-backed Houthis.
Challenges loom over US plan for temporary pier in Gaza: AFP reports while the US plan to build a pier off the Gaza coast to increase aid deliveries is a technique tried and tested throughout military history, it presents logistical hurdles that may limit the international community's ability to bring critical supplies to Palestinians.
EU approves new media freedom law: DW reports the European Media Freedom Act is aimed at protecting the editorial independence of news outlets across the EU. Press freedom advocates have welcomed the new law.
Europe one step away from landmark AI rules after lawmakers' vote: Reuters reports Europe moved closer to adopting the world's first artificial intelligence rules on Wednesday as EU lawmakers endorsed a provisional agreement for a technology whose use is rapidly growing across a wide swathe of industries and in everyday life.
CNBC: World’s first major act to regulate AI passed by European lawmakers
European Parliament adopts 'historic' AI Act: Le Monde reports the far-reaching regulation aims to both protect citizens from the possible risks of a quickly-developping technology and foster innovation on the continent.
Europe’s world-first AI rules get final approval from lawmakers. Here’s what happens next AP
ITA AI: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that the nation plans to set up an endowment of €1B ($1.09B) to promote AI startups.
AI action plan outlines how to place France 'at the cutting edge': This technology represents a potential source of growth and jobs, according to the report submitted to Emmanuel Macron on March 13. Focusing on investment, sovereignty and training, some of the recommendations could prove controversial. Le Monde
UK moves to bar foreign state ownership of newspapers, a blow to Telegraph bid: NYT reports a roughly $1 billion bid from the former CNN chief Jeff Zucker and his Emirati backers raised concerns among lawmakers over a storied conservative newspaper.
How Britain’s Tory establishment fought Jeff Zucker’s Abu Dhabi-backed Telegraph takeover FT
Britain will sign a memorandum of understanding on trade with Texas, the biggest US state so far to agree to such a pact which is aimed at boosting investment.
UK agrees closer Texas trade ties as US talks stall: AFP reports Britain signed a trade agreement with Texas on Wednesday after it failed to secure a post-Brexit deal with the wider United States.
UK votes: The Tories have sunk to their lowest level in the polls (25%) since Liz Truss’s final week as prime minister, according to Savanta.
Geert Wilders, whose anti-immigrant Freedom Party won the most votes in the Dutch election in November, appeared to take himself out of the running for prime minister.
Brazil revs up for jolt of hybrid car investments: AFP reports Brazil is charging up for a hybrid revolution as global car manufacturers race to pump billions of dollars into the development of green vehicles in Latin America's biggest economy.
Politico: Florida braces for surge in Haitian migrants amid humanitarian crisis
+ @laraseligman: BREAKING: At the request of the Department of State, @Southcom deployed a U.S. Marine Fleet-Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST) to the U.S. Embassy in Haiti as the situation continues to deteriorate, per DOD statement
Who is Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, Haiti’s most prominent gang leader? The warlord is one of the country’s most powerful men—for now. Economist
*** US Politics + Elections ***
FT: Biden set to voice concerns over Nippon Steel takeover of US Steel
No Labels to appoint a panel Thursday to pick presidential candidate: WP reports the group is considering a conservative or Republican to lead the ticket, with the option of ending the effort if a candidate fails to gain traction after a few months.
Aaron Rodgers on politics: ‘I’m laughing at both sides’: WP reports as his name pops up in the discussion of potential running mates for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the NFL quarterback’s political views -- which include prioritization of bodily autonomy despite a self-professed leaning toward being ‘pro-life’ -- come into focus.
Google restricts AI chatbot Gemini from answering questions on 2024 elections: The Guardian reports the change, made out of ‘abundance of caution’, now applies to US and India and will roll out in nations where elections are held this year.
*** Disruption + Innovation ***
Reuters: Space One's Kairos rocket explodes on inaugural flight
The FAA grants SpaceX a license ahead of third Starship launch attempt: WP reports SpaceX said it has learned a great deal from the previous two attempts, both of which ended in explosions.
SpaceX plans to launch Starship 6+ times this year, per Elon Musk.
This company intends to be the first to mine the moon: Founded by former Blue Origin executives and an Apollo astronaut, Interlune says it intends to extract Helium-3 and return it to Earth. WP
NPR: Authors push back on the growing number of AI 'scam' books on Amazon
Bloomberg: OpenAI inks deals with European publishers Le Monde, Prisa
Le Monde and Open AI sign partnership agreement on artificial intelligence: This multi-year agreement, the first between a French media organization and a major AI player, will enable OpenAI to draw on our newspaper's corpus to establish and enhance the reliability of the answers of its ChatGPT tool, in return for a significant source of additional revenue. Le Monde - Editorial
OpenAI had to raise funding because Musk ‘reneged,’ Khosla says: Bloomberg reports an early OpenAI investor says the AI startup had to seek outside capital in order to survive after the Tesla CEO withheld funding.
UK researchers seek to slash AI computing costs by a factor of 1,000: FT reports the £800mn Advanced Research and Invention Agency launches £42mn plan to find cheaper alternatives.
OpenAI’s videos are so good. Its CTO won’t say what they were trained on. In an exclusive interview, WSJ’s Joanna Stern sat down with the company’s CTO, Mira Murati, who explained how the text-to-video AI model works but ducked questions about how it was trained. WSJ
AI explores ‘dark genome’ to shed light on cancer growth FT
Cerebras Systems announced a new version of its dinner-plate-sized chips on Wednesday, claiming the hardware will offer twice the performance for the same price as its predecessor.
What’s behind the Bitcoin price surge? Vibes, mostly: The price of bitcoin has climbed to a new all-time high. But assigning the cryptocurrency a value is anything but trivial. Wired
Spotify is rolling out full-length music videos in a limited beta launch for premium subscribers, venturing into an arena that YouTube has dominated for nearly two decades.
EV startup Fisker prepares for possible bankruptcy: WSJ reports the company has struggled with growing its sales amid stagnant demand for electric vehicles in the US and last month issued a going-concern warning.
Nissan weighs EV partnership with Honda: NIkkei reports the tie-up could include development of shared electric vehicle platform.
VinFast spies room for a newcomer as EVs upend car sector: Nikkei reports the Vietnam automaker has shot at grabbing market share before brand loyalties harden.
Volkswagen Group China said on Wednesday that the first model by its only majority-controlled joint venture, Volkswagen Anhui, has received Chinese government approval.
Italy in talks with China's Chery on car plant: Two sources told Reuters that the Italian government is holding talks with China's Chery Auto as part of efforts to attract another major automaker to the country in addition to Stellantis and increase national car production.
Dollar Tree missed Wall Street expectations for quarterly sales and profit on Wednesday and laid out plans to shutter 970 of its Family Dollar stores.
*** Culture ***
Bloomberg: Musk’s X cancels partnership with Don Lemon after interview
QAnon for wine moms: Kate Middleton needed privacy. The public had other ideas. Helen Lewis
Kate Middleton’s story is about so much more than Kate Middleton Zeynep Tufekci
Kate Middleton photo calls royal family’s PR strategy into question Axios
The CIA’s former master of disguise tells her story: Pathbreaking CIA officer Jonna Mendez takes off her mask for her autobiography, ‘In True Face.’ WP
Christopher Nolan will reportedly receive nearly $100 million for directing “Oppenheimer.”
Bloomberg: Global art sales dropped 4% last year, UBS market report finds
*** Sport ***
Next frontier for college sports: Cornhole scholarships: Winthrop University in South Carolina lands a celebrated beanbag duo from Colorado. ‘This is history,’ says their coach, a cornhole pro. Jason Gay
Victor Wembanyama keeps losing. The NBA is still terrified. The San Antonio Spurs have won fewer than a quarter of their games, but their superstar rookie has cemented himself as basketball’s next big thing. WSJ
Why are footballers cutting holes in their socks? The relentless cutting up of socks by superstitious players has baffled fans and pundits – but, as I can attest to myself, the real benefits are all in your head. The Times
Paris 2024 Olympics: Russia should not boycott, says its sports minister: Le Monde reports with Russian athletes allowed only to compete as neutrals, Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said his country 'should as much as possible keep the possibility of dialogue and take part in competitions.'
McIlroy wants to 'speed up' PGA-PIF deal to reunite stars: AFP reports the four-time major champion Rory McIlroy wants talks on a PGA Tour merger deal with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) to conclude quickly, saying fans want star golfers reunited.
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
ITK Daily | March 14
