ITK Daily | March 22
Javier Milei, Robocalls, Supercommunicators, Truman Capote, Shohei Ohtani, 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:
*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***
At a moment of military might, Israel looks deeply vulnerable: America should help it find a better strategy. Economist
Blinken says he will tell Israelis Rafah invasion would be a ‘mistake’: WP reports the secretary of state expressed optimism that a cease-fire deal could be reached and said an Arab-backed post-war plan for Gaza is close.
From ‘I love you’ to ‘asshole’: How Joe gave up on Bibi: After decades of building a “close, personal” friendship with Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden has had it with the Israeli prime minister. Now he’s hitting him hard — and it may be working. Politico
US Draft Resolution Would Call for ‘Immediate and Sustained Cease-Fire’: NYT reports a resolution for the UN that American diplomats are circulating was notable for its strong language in seeking a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
US will pitch Gaza-Egypt border security plan in lieu of Rafah offensive: Politico reports the proposal will be one of many US officials will suggest to an Israeli delegation expected next week.
CIA director heads to Doha for more cease-fire and hostage negotiations: Politico reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending an Israeli delegation — led Mossad chief David Barnea — to the region to meet with Burns and other officials.
Reuters: Somali pirates return, adding to global shipping crisis
Chinese and Western scientists identify ‘red lines’ on AI risks: Top experts warn that the existential threat from AI requires collaboration akin to Cold War efforts to avoid nuclear war. FT
Von der Leyen to hold Armenia crisis talks with US amid war fears: Politico reports the meeting comes as Yerevan turns its back on former ally Moscow.
AP: Russia fires 31 missiles at Kyiv in the first attack in weeks as people scramble for cover in subway
Bloomberg: IMF approves $880 million for Ukraine with US assistance stalled
+ Disbursement comes from $15.6 billion loan approved last year
+ Loan installment is first tranche of $5.3 billion for 2024
Europe battles ‘avalanche of disinformation’ from Russia: Online fake news and hybrid campaigns increase ahead of European elections. FT
The EU AI Act is done. Here’s what will (and won’t) change: The hard work starts now. Melissa Heikkilä
NHS AI test spots tiny cancers missed by doctors: BBC reports the tool, called Mia, was piloted alongside NHS clinicians and analysed the mammograms of over 10,000 women.
UK votes: The Reform party is polling just four points behind the Conservatives, who have fallen to 19%, according to the latest YouGov polling.
The UK is still sending an estimated £8.2m in aid a year to China, the world’s second-largest economy.
Kenya has demanded that TikTok show it is adhering to local privacy and user verification laws, the interior minister said on Thursday, saying the platform has been used to spread propaganda, carry out fraud and distribute sexual content.
After 100 brutal days, Javier Milei has markets believing: Argentines have not given up on him either. Economist
*** US Politics + Elections ***
No Labels, no candidate: Rejections pile up as time runs short: NYT reports the group’s quest to find a candidate to take on President Biden and Donald Trump has members frustrated.
The ex-Democrat catching Trump's and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s eyes: NBC News former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has gone from running for president as a Democrat in 2020 to interest in the open VP slots for Trump and Kennedy in 2024.
Biden camp feels a reprieve from Democratic unease: Politico reports Democrats who had been vocal about their concerns say the president, and his State of the Union address, has calmed those anxieties.
Inside Garland’s effort to prosecute Trump: In trying to avoid even the smallest mistakes, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland might have made one big one: ending up in a race against the clock. NYT
Joint committee allows Trump to raise money for legal bills, huge checks for RNC: The Trump 47 Committee can raise up to $814,600, according to a donor form obtained by The Washington Post.
Trump is in a race against time to protect his fortune: WSJ reports the former president’s personal finances and campaign fund are both under stress, but a big potential windfall has emerged.
Trump’s VP prospect Tim Scott sets summer wedding date after GOP convention: WP reports the timing would mean Scott would be married by Election Day, with minimal disruption to the campaign schedule if he is selected as Trump’s running mate.
‘Fear’ and farmland in the Montana Senate race: Chinese companies own a fraction of a percent of farmland in Montana. Yet the issue has been a major focus of one of the country’s most competitive Senate races. Politico
Reuters: Republican trading firm owner and TikTok investor Yass emerges as top donor in US election
+ Philadelphia-based Yass has donated more than $46 million to Republican causes so far in the 2024 election cycle, data from political donations tracker OpenSecrets shows.
WSJ: Apple accused of monopolizing smartphone markets in US antitrust lawsuit
Robocalls are the least of our AI worries: President Biden’s use of the phrase “artificial intelligence” in his State of the Union address this month is a historic first. AI has entered Americans’ living rooms through astonishing tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E, and the president correctly determined that AI is too important to ignore. What’s less clear is whether Biden really understands the scale of the risks posed by advanced AI. Jason Green-Lowe
DoD opens line of communication to VCs Payload
*** Disruption + Innovation ***
Reddit raised $748 million in its initial public offering.
Fortune: Jensen Huang unveils new Nvidia super-chip before robots come onstage: ‘Everything that moves in the future will be robotic’
Nvidia announces “moonshot” to create embodied human-level AI in robot form: ARS Tech reports as companies race to pair AI with general-purpose humanoid robots, Nvidia's GR00T emerges.
Nvidia’s rise surprises even the researchers who started AI boom Bloomberg
Samsung plans to launch an AI accelerator chip in early 2025.
BBC develops AI plans and talks to Big Tech over archives access: FT reports UK broadcaster seeks to build artificial intelligence models and negotiates with companies on content deal.
Elon Musk just added a wrinkle to the AI Race: Transparency, or the appearance of it, is the technology’s new norm. Matteo Wong
Mustafa Suleyman: The new head of Microsoft AI with concerns about his trade: The son of a Syrian taxi driver and an English nurse torn between AI’s potential and problems. Guardian
US standards body says ByteDance researcher wrongly added to AI safety groupchat: Reuters reports a researcher from TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance was wrongly added to a groupchat for American artificial intelligence safety experts last week, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) said.
+ The researcher was added to a Slack instance for discussions between members of NIST's US Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium
Neuralink video shows patient using brain implant to play chess on laptop: The Verge reports The company’s first human patient said the technology has changed his life but that ‘there’s still a lot of work to be done.’
The bug in Sam Altman’s industrial revolution: We are losing our grip on material reality. Michael Cuenco
The drama kings of tech: Just stop. Ross Andersen
I found the smartest politician on AI. It’s no one you’d expect. Josh Tyrangiel
Artificial intelligence will radically improve health care, but only if managed carefully Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC-03)
Nielsen + Lyft have signed an agreement to measure advertisements on the ride-hailing company's mobile app.
Global recorded music revenues grew for the ninth year running in 2023, increasing 10.2% to $28.6 billion mainly thanks to a rise in paid streaming subscribers, a report said on Thursday.
The 5 spacecraft behind China’s Moon rock sample mission: Chang’e-6’s trip to the lunar far side and back is no easy task. IEEE Spectrum
Iberdrola said on Thursday it plans to invest 41 billion euros ($44.83 billion) over the next three years, with a focus on upgrading and expanding power grids in the United States.
‘Supercommunicators’ are made, not born: The best leaders communicate effectively – and that means listening well. FT Podcast
*** Culture ***
Truman Capote’s ultimate weapon: FX’s Feud showed how attention can be wielded to comfort—and to wound. Paula Mejía
Universties have a computer-science problem: The case for teaching coders to speak French. Ian Bogost
*** Sport ***
The nightmare start to Shohei Ohtani’s Dodgers career: What was supposed to be a triumphant week for the Japanese sensation has been consumed by an awkward scandal involving his longtime interpreter. WSJ
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
ITK Daily | March 22
