ITK Daily | April 5
India, No Labels, YouTube, Godzilla, Oakland A’s, 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:
*** Ross Rant ***
Dropping this week...
Always Be Communicating. The Manifesto.
Secure your advance copy by sending an email to marc@carcal.global.
*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***
The Times: Joe Biden calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza to protect innocent civilians
A blinking red light for Israel in American politics: Politico reports the shift has come amid rising internal frustrations inside the administration about the war.
Israel to add Gaza aid routes as Biden hinges support on civilian protection: NYT reports the president denounced the killing of seven aid workers in a tense call with Israel’s prime minister. Within hours, White House officials said Israel had agreed to more aid routes into Gaza.
Israel says it will allow 'temporary' delivery of Gaza aid after stern Biden warning: Le Monde reports the US president cautioned Netanyahu on Thursday that US backing for Israel's Gaza war hinged on new steps to protect civilians. Early Friday, Israel agreed to open up a key crossing that would increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
US approved more bombs to Israel on day of World Central Kitchen strikes: WP reports the Biden administration signed off on thousands more bombs to Israel despite global condemnation of the IDF’s killing of seven World Central Kitchen employees.
‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets: Israeli intelligence sources reveal use of ‘Lavender’ system in Gaza war and claim permission given to kill civilians in pursuit of low-ranking militants. Guardian
AP: US treasury secretary is in China to talk trade, anti-money laundering and Chinese ‘overproduction’
Xi Jinping’s misguided plan to escape economic stagnation: It will disappoint China’s people and anger the rest of the world. Economist
US to press Dutch next week to curb ASML's work servicing tools for China, sources say: Reuters reports the Biden administration plans to press the Netherlands next week to stop its top chipmaking equipment maker ASML from servicing some tools in China, two people familiar with the matter said, as the US leans on allies in its bid to hobble Beijing's tech sector.
To contain China, the US bets on a 40-year-old ship: The Coast Guard’s Harriet Lane arrived in the Pacific in December after a $21 million overhaul. WSJ
Asahi: US to deploy medium-range missile system in Asia-Pacific
+ “I’m not going to discuss what system and I’m not going to say where and when,” Gen. Charles Flynn, US Army Pacific commanding general, told The Asahi Shimbun and other media organizations at the US Embassy in Tokyo on April 3. “I’m just saying that there will be a long-range precision fire capability that will come to the region.”
‘China will continue to harass us’: The Filipino fishermen battling with Beijing: A dispute in the South China Sea is leading to environmental damage and fears of a military conflict. Shayma Bakht joined fishermen in the Scarborough Shoal. The Times
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/china-will-continue-to-harass-us-the-filipino-fishermen-battling-with-beijing-fjx8pqbsw
The political lessons from Australia’s defiance of China: Consistency and bipartisanship have helped Canberra resist trade coercion by Beijing. Alan Beattie
JPN-PHI-USA: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines meet with President Joe Biden at the White House on April 11.
UK’s Cameron tells Europe: Pressure House Speaker Johnson on Ukraine: Politico reports European foreign ministers have ‘a real role to play’ in lobbying the senior US Republican, Britain’s top diplomat says.
‘A lot of grim realism’: What WP columnists heard in Ukraine David Ignatius, Jim Geraghty + Charles Lane
The Times: Cost of Putin’s war in Ukraine is half a million disabled Russians
Bloomberg: US pressures Russia to embrace UN push against nukes in space
Germany announced structural changes to its armed forces. The plan involves creating a central command to replace the separate entities that currently oversee domestic and foreign operations.
FT: Germany considers revival of national service in ‘landmark’ military reforms
Reform UK ‘could cost Conservatives 41 seats’: The Times reports YouGov analysis shows the Tories could win 196 seats in the general election if Richard Tice’s party decided not to run, keeping several cabinet ministers in place.
François Hollande gears up for comeback 10 years after l’affaire du scooter: The Times reports as the moped he rode to deliver sunrise croissants to his secret lover goes up for auction, France’s least popular leader savours an unlikely renaissance.
Macron says France and its allies 'could have stopped' the 1994 Rwanda genocide: Le Monde reports the French president made his comments in a video message due to be published on Sunday, the 30th anniversary of the genocide during which Hutu extremists targeted the Tutsi minority, slaughtering around 800,000 people in a massacre lasting 100 days.
How India can become the world’s economic heavyweight: In this Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary, we explore the obstacles the planet’s most populous nation must overcome to catch China. Bloomberg
Giving up China is hard, even for Argentina’s anarcho-capitalist: President Javier Milei is taking a softer tone than he did as a candidate, saying he won’t touch existing trade agreements with Beijing. Bloomberg
Dina Boluarte, Peru’s president, survived two votes in congress that would have begun impeachment proceedings against her. Boluarte is under investigation for self-dealing, prompted by her collection of Rolex watches and Cartier jewelry.
Peru’s problems run deeper than Rolexes: Corruption has discredited an entire political class. Michael Stott
The number of migrants apprehended along the US-Mexico border dropped in March, which American officials say is mainly because of a crackdown by the Mexican government, CBS News reports.
OTD: In 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death in the US for passing atomic secrets to Russia. They were executed on June 19, 1953, by electric chair.
*** US Politics + Elections ***
The Hill: No Labels abandons 2024 presidential effort
What are we told about the health of Biden and Trump? They decide. President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump are the oldest people ever to seek the presidency, challenging norms about what the public should know about candidates’ health. NYT
Politico: Melania Trump is back, set to hold event for Log Cabin Republicans
RFK Jr. campaign disowns its fundraising email calling Jan. 6 rioters 'activists': NBC News reports his campaign blamed the email, which said the "activists" had been "stripped of their Constitutional liberties," on an "error" inserted by a "marketing contractor."
Are American progressives making themselves sad? Conservatives seem more excited about change. Economist
Former President Bill Clinton will release a new memoir, Citizen, on Nov. 19. The book is about his personal and political life after Jan. 20, 2001.
Little-known NTIA takes on massive job of internet connectivity: Agency has reputation for ‘punching above its weight,’ former administrator says. Roll Call
Music industry raises tempo in battle against AI: Global trade body launches website that makes it easier for artists to challenge tech companies that scrape their work to train artificial intelligence models. The Times
Incentives first: A critique of current AI governance models Ikenna Ogbogu
Practical quantum computing is coming in 3 to 5 years, but will be cloud based, NSA official predicts: NextGov reports Neal Ziring, the NSA’s cybersecurity directorate’s technical director, said that quantum computing systems — which use the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems at an exponentially faster rate than traditional computers and are still largely theoretical — will likely be accessed via cloud computing platforms rather than on-premise installs, due to cost and practicality considerations.
Washington state judge blocks use of AI-enhanced video as evidence in possible first-of-its-kind ruling: NBC News reports lawyers for a man charged with murder in a triple homicide had sought to introduce cellphone video enhanced by machine-learning software.
*** Disruption + Innovation ***
CNBC: Steve Cohen says his financial firm can already save $25 million by using AI
Big Tech usually dismisses fears that AI kills jobs. Now it’s studying them. Microsoft, Google, IBM, Cisco, and others will produce a report on how artificial intelligence might change tech jobs. WP
AI has lost its magic: That’s how you know it’s taking over. Ian Bogost
Deepfakes are coming for the financial sector: WSJ reports companies using photos or audio to verify customers’ identities are preparing for bad actors gaming the system with generative AI.
YouTube says OpenAI training Sora with its videos would break rules: Bloomberg reports that using YouTube videos to train OpenAI’s text-to-video generator would be an infraction of the platform’s terms of service, YouTube Chief Executive Officer Neal Mohan said.
Nvidia Corp. and Indonesian telecommunications firm PT Indosat Tbk. are planning to jointly build a $200 million artificial intelligence center in the country, according to a government official.
Google parent Alphabet weighs offer for HubSpot: Reuters reports the potential acquisition would be Alphabet's largest ever and allow it to put some of its cash pile, which reached $110.9 billion at the end of December, to work.
CNBC: Waymo self-driving cars are delivering Uber Eats orders for first time
AI is changing our phones, and it's just getting started: From the new Circle to Search feature to interfaces that remake themselves on the fly, a new age of truly intelligent phones is nearly upon us. CNET
A stealth attack came close to compromising the world’s computers: The cyber-scare shows why the internet’s crowdsourced code is vulnerable. Economist
Did one guy just stop a huge cyberattack? A Microsoft engineer noticed something was off on a piece of software he worked on. He soon discovered someone was probably trying to gain access to computers all over the world. NYT
MyCity chatbot: New York City's chatbot remains online despite sometimes generating incorrect and potentially illegal advice.
Brands are growing more concerned about how they are perceived by ChatGPT: As chatbots and AI-native search increasingly become the arbiters of the web’s information, companies may need a new SEO for the AI age. FC
Why is technology mean to me? David Brooks
AI energy crisis boosts interest in chips that do it all: So-called in-memory computing is drawing new funding—and even inspiring some geopolitical maneuvering. Bloomberg
Jigar Shah is on a multi-billion dollar mission to upgrade US energy for the AI age: The director of the Loan Programs Office is helping upgrade the US energy economy with a record-setting pot of cash, while Republicans—and AI—nip at his feet. FC
The Times: Disney+ loses its magic in crackdown on password sharing
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. escalated a legal battle with Boeing Co. over their broken partnership on a space tourism project.
NASA picks 3 companies to help astronauts drive around the Moon: The agency’s future moon buggies will reach speeds of 9.3 miles per hour and will be capable of self-driving. NYT
A tantalizing ‘hint’ that astronomers got dark energy all wrong: Scientists may have discovered a major flaw in their understanding of that mysterious cosmic force. That could be good news for the fate of the universe. NYT
*** Culture ***
On his 70th birthday, Godzilla has roared back to relevance: The monster made his first appearance in 1954 as a symbol of nuclear weapons. Economist
Travel will add a record $11.1 trillion to the global economy in 2024: Bloomberg reports data from the World Travel & Tourism Council reveals global tourism’s record-setting growth this year and over the next decade.
The mafiosi of Naples turn white-collar: They run restaurants and bars and rent out apartments these days. Economist
*** Sport ***
Oakland A’s to play in Sacramento for next three seasons: WSJ reports the team will share a minor-league ballpark with the Sacramento River Cats ahead of a planned relocation to Las Vegas in 2028.
Paris 2024: 'It's essential that Russian athletes don't feel welcome in France,' says Ukrainian sports minister: Le Monde reports visiting Paris on April 2 and 3, Matvi Bidny told 'Le Monde' that Ukraine was closely monitoring the International Olympic Committee's assessment of athletes eligible to compete in the Olympic Games.
Angel Reese declares for the WNBA draft … in Vogue: NYT reports athletes like Reese and Serena Williams know that fashion is now part of the game.
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
