ITK Daily | April 2
Syria, Florida, Taco Bell + Pizza Hut, Dogs, Liberty Media, plus 1,000 more actionable insights.
ITK Daily is geopolitical business news + intelligence for comms pros.
Always Be Communicating.
Happy Tuesday.
Here’s today’s ITK Daily:
*** Ross Rant ***
Dropping this week...
Always Be Communicating. The Manifesto.
Secure your advance copy by sending an email to marc@carcal.global.
*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***
Airstrike in Syria kills several top Iranian commanders, Iran says: NYT reports seven officers were reported killed in the attack on a building in Damascus, which both Iran and Israeli officials said was carried out by Israel.
Israel blamed for missile attack killing Iranian general in Syria: WSJ reports Iranian state media said a missile strike killed a senior leader in Iran’s Quds Force. The attack represents a possible escalation of a shadow war between Israel and Iran.
Israel ‘kills Iranian commander with strike on consulate in Damascus’: The Times reports Tehran has promised a ‘decisive response’ after blaming Israel for the missile attack which flattened a building near the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital.
US weighs selling new fighter jets, missiles and guidance kits to Israel: Politico reports some of the weapons could take years to arrive in Israel, but the move comes as the administration faces pressure to condition arms transfers.
Trump’s call for Israel to ‘finish up’ war alarms some on the right: NYT reports recent remarks he made urging an end to the Gaza conflict, with no insistence on freeing Israeli hostages first, were another departure from conservatives’ support for Benjamin Netanyahu.
The celebrity chef who beat the US military at getting aid into Gaza: José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen is already delivering food by sea to enclave where many are starving. WSJ
WP: IDF launches inquiry into reports of deaths of World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza strike
Netanyahu vows to ban Al Jazeera broadcasts in Israel: Le Monde reports this Israeli prime minister vowed to shut down the 'terrorist channel,' which Israel has regularly targeted since the start of the war in Gaza, after a vote passed 70-to-10 granting him the authority to ban their broadcasts and close their offices in his country.
Ireland, Europe's most pro-Palestinian nation: 'We too have known oppression and famine': Irish mobilization in support of Palestine has taken on unprecedented proportions since October 7, solidarity that is rooted in a shared past of British occupation and armed struggle. Le Monde
Putin is waiting for Washington to go silent: The Russian leader sees an opportunity to re-establish a sphere of influence in Europe. Gideon Rachman
Why is Ukraine struggling to mobilize more troops? The wartorn country needs more troops to help its exhausted soldiers on the front line, but the issue is politically sensitive and has faced multiple setbacks. Le Monde
Ukraine says Russia has fired five Zircon missiles at Kyiv this year: Reuters reports the sea-based Zircon missiles have a range of 1,000 km (625 miles) and travel at nine times the speed of sound, Russia says.
France to provide new missiles, used armored vehicles to Ukraine, defense minister says: Politico reports Paris would send ‘hundreds’ of vehicles over the next year, Sébastien Lecornu tells La Tribune Dimanche.
France wants China to send ‘clear messages’ to Russia over Ukraine war: Politico reports French foreign minister made comments during visit to China.
China’s advancing efforts to influence the US election raise alarms: China has adopted some of the same misinformation tactics that Russia used ahead of the 2016 election, researchers and government officials say. NYT
Who is up and who is down on China’s economic team: Xi Jinping is in charge. The rest need sorting. Economist
How Xi Jinping plans to overtake America: Digital twins, nuclear fusion and the small matter of fixing China’s economy. Economist
China’s hypocrisy on trade: Complaining about US protectionism to the WTO while protecting your own economy is rich indeed. Rana Foroohar
Ma Ying-jeou, a former president of Taiwan, began an 11-day visit to China, during which he is widely expected to meet with the country’s president, Xi Jinping.
Indonesia's Prabowo meets Xi in rare pre-inauguration China visit: Nikkei reports the president-elect hopes to cement ties with Beijing, also plans to visit Japan.
Brunei firm pitches 1,600 km high-speed rail linking Indonesia, Malaysia: Nikkei reports the trans-Borneo project seeks connections to Kota Kinabalu and Nusantara.
Bloomberg: Japan approves $3.9 billion in aid to chip venture Rapidus
+ Tokyo’s committed billions to regain lost semiconductor lead
+ Chip startup will buy gear and develop manufacturing knowhow
Bloomberg: North Korea fires ballistic missile ahead of South Korea’s vote
+ Test appears to be of an intermediate-range ballistic missile
+ South Korea holds national elections for parliament April 10
How India could become an Asian tiger: The world’s most selective bureaucracy is struggling to make it happen. Economist
How Labour wants to change the British economy: Their plans should not make things worse. But can they make them better? Martin Wolf
Tory faction plots ‘Truss-style’ leader if party loses general election: The ‘Pop Con’ group wants a free-market, libertarian MP to replace Rishi Sunak, with Priti Patel, the current favourite. The Times
Is AI the biggest Brexit benefit? One of the most advanced models is avoiding the bloc. Sean Thomas
US and UK sign landmark agreement on testing safety of AI: Allies reach world’s first bilateral deal as global governments seek to assess and regulate risks from emerging technology. FT
+ UK Science Minister Michelle Donelan and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo signed the agreement on Monday.
+ Under the terms, the UK's new AI Safety Institute and its yet-to-begin US equivalent will share knowledge and exchange researchers for temporary assignments.
Space is the new ‘Wild West.’ The EU is dying to step in and regulate. The European Commission is gearing up to publish the world’s first comprehensive space law. Politico
WP: Germany becomes biggest EU country to legalize marijuana possession
The new geography of Paris: Reshaping the French capital and its banlieues. Economist
The mis-steps behind Erdoğan’s electoral defeat: Turkey’s strongman leader misjudged voter anger over economy and threat from opposition in local polls. FT
The trouble with “the Global South”: What the West gets wrong about the rest. Comfort Ero
Can Haiti’s police hold on? Help is taking time to arrive, as politics delays an international security mission. Economist
Bloomberg: Caribbean golden passport cost soars to $200,000 on EU crackdown
+ Citizenship sales seeing a boom amid rising crypto prices
+ Four Caribbean nations agree to price increases, audits
+ Demand for the Caribbean passports is soaring, said Kara Doherty, managing director at Antigua-based Apex Capital Partners, a firm that advises on second citizenship. Interest has increased almost 300% during the first two months of the year, she said, pinning it on the rise of Bitcoin and other tokens.
US, Mexico to partner on semiconductor supply chain development: Reuters reports the United States will partner with Mexico to explore semiconductor supply chain opportunities, the State Department said, as the Biden administration pushes to reduce reliance on China and Taiwan for the technology.
*** US Politics + Elections ***
Trump posts $175M bond to keep NY authorities from seizing property: NYT reports the former president’s posting of the bond was necessary to keep New York Attorney General Letitia James from initiating legal steps to take over his properties, including Trump Tower.
Democrats spar over registration as worries over young and minority voters grow: WP reports the rise in Trump support among nonregistered voters has run up against a long-held Democratic policy priority of growing the voter rolls.
Nervous about November? Imagine being Biden’s campaign manager. Julie Chavez Rodriguez seems pretty calm, all things considered. WP
WP: Biden visit to bridge collapse announced as channel opens to Baltimore port
How Republicans texted and emailed their way into a money problem: Small-dollar donations to Trump and the GOP are way down since 2019 and 2020. But the former president’s team says they see a turnaround. WP
Florida Supreme Court allows six-week abortion ban but permits vote on expanding access: WSJ reports the decision puts abortion front and center in the state in a presidential election year.
First human case of avian flu in Texas raises alarm: Politico reports the potential cow-to-cow avian flu transmission in Idaho is worrying pandemic experts.
Moves to ban lab-grown meat intensify in Republican US states: FT reports the party spearheads legislation as one lawmaker vows not to ‘eat bugs with Bill Gates.’
California is gripped by economic problems, with no easy fix: Rising unemployment, a growing deficit and persistent outmigration are a painful trinity. Economist
Here’s why Americans under 40 are so disillusioned with capitalism Heather Long
*** Disruption + Innovation ***
How to define artificial general intelligence: Academics and tech entrepreneurs disagree. A court may soon decide. Economist
'Godfather of AI' speaks on threat of tech surpassing humanity: Geoffrey Hinton believes AI is already having experiences akin to humans.' Nikkei
How one tech skeptic decided AI might benefit the middle class: David Autor, an MIT economist and tech contrarian, argues that AI is fundamentally different from past waves of computerization. NYT
AI chatbots are improving at an even faster rate than computer chips: The large language models behind AI chatbots are developing so rapidly that after eight months, a model only needs half the computing power to hit the same benchmark score - which is much faster than the rate at which computer chips improve. New Scientist
How Silicon Valley’s ‘Oppenheimer’ found lucrative trade in AI weapons: Anduril Industries’ Palmer Luckey is leading the start-ups infiltrating the US government’s war machine. FT
For data-guzzling AI companies, the internet is too small: Firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic are working to find enough information to train next-generation artificial-intelligence models. WSJ
Why unicorn AI startups are suddenly dying: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is poaching top talent in the AI industry. Observer
Just how rich are businesses getting in the AI gold rush? Nvidia and Microsoft are not the only winners. Economist
Reuters: Microsoft to separate Teams and Office globally amid antitrust scrutiny
OpenAI is reportedly planning to open its first Asian office in Japan later this month.
Apple researchers developed an AI system that can facilitate more natural interactions with Siri.
A Peter Thiel-backed AI startup, Cognition Labs, seeks $2 billion valuation: WSJ reports funding round could increase startup’s valuation nearly sixfold in a matter of weeks, reflecting AI frenzy.
Google pledged to destroy millions of users’ web-browsing data after being accused of misleading its customers.
I tried the new Google. Its answers are worse. Google’s AI-‘supercharged’ Search Generative Experience, or SGE, sometimes makes up facts, misinterprets questions and picks low-quality sources — even after nearly 11 months of public testing. Geoffrey A. Fowler
The chess master trying to propel Google’s AI push: Demis Hassabis is tasked with keeping Google ahead on a technology that its CEO has called more profound than the invention of fire or electricity, WSJ
Huge AI funding leads to hype and ‘grifting’, warns DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis: British AI pioneer says the billions of dollars being poured into start-ups is obscuring scientific progress in the field. FT
Taco Bell and Pizza Hut are going ‘AI-first,’ Yum’s new tech chief says: NYT reports the fast-food giant’s chief digital and technology officer calls data shared by restaurants ‘secret sauce’ for enabling AI and digital sales.
Wendy's launched an AI loyalty platform that analyzes customer data to deliver personalized rewards.
Will AI boost productivity? Companies sure hope so. Economists doubt that artificial intelligence is already visible in productivity data. Big companies, however, talk often about adopting it to improve efficiency. NYT
It’s time to hand cybersecurity over to the computers: A healthcare-industry hack shows the need for autonomous databases and operating systems. Larry Ellison + Seema Verma
He turned 55. Then he started the world’s most important company. Morris Chang had decades of experience before he founded a business that’s indispensable to the global economy. What can other middle-aged entrepreneurs learn from him? WSJ
With Intel tie-up, Taiwan chipmaker UMC makes US push: Nikkei reports the company fights for market share in mature chips against TSMC, Chinese rivals.
How to stop technology leading to anarchy: Free societies are going to have to strike a balance between liberty and control — it’s difficult but it’s also urgent. William Hague
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried speaks out after sentencing: 'I'm haunted, every day, by what was lost': "It's most of what I think about each day," he said. ABC News
Elon Musk is now officially Austin’s largest private employer.
*** Culture ***
The simple pleasures of an urban ramble: In London, ramblers are finding friendship and fitness by strolling the city together. NYT
Dogs even smarter than previously thought: study: Researchers in Hungary put some pups to the test to see how their brains reacted to familiar words. The study found they could identify many more words than most owners ever realized. DW
*** Sport ***
You can bet on Caitlin Clark making threes. The NCAA isn’t happy. NYT reports Americans will wager $2.7 billion on the NCAA basketball tournaments this year, raising concerns about what happens to sports when people bet on the performances of student-athletes.
Bloomberg: NFL’s Kelce, Mahomes urge Kansas City to seal $2 billion subsidy
+ Missouri county will hold vote on sales-tax for stadiums
+ Opponents say the measure is a tax on the working class
+ “We need you,” declares Travis Kelce. “Let’s keep this rolling,” commands Patrick Mahomes.
Liberty Media Corp., the parent company of Formula 1, is buying the MotoGP World Championship from Dorna Sports for $3.8 billion.
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
ITK Daily | April 2
