ITK Daily | April 25
Spycatchers, Thunder Run, Meta, Davos, Reggie Bush, 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 ***
AP: Biden says the US is rushing weaponry to Ukraine as he signs a $95 billion war aid measure into law
The race is on: Will US aid arrive in time for Ukraine's fight to hold off Russia's army? NBC News reports for many in Kyiv, the news that the aid package had finally passed Congress offered relief and renewed hope of victory. But a long and difficult fight is still ahead.
European-trained Ukrainian F-16 pilots will not be ready until late 2024: Le Monde reports between the ages of 21 and 23, with very little experience, the 10 soldiers in training will have to spend several more months on the Old Continent before they acquire the knowledge and experience required for combat aviation.
The US secretly sent long-range ATACMS to Ukraine — and Kyiv used them: Politico reports the transfer of Army Tactical Missile Systems with a nearly 200-mile range ends a yearslong drama between Washington and Kyiv.
+ Russia vetoed a resolution introduced by the U.S. and Japan aimed at nuclear nonproliferation in space Wednesday afternoon.
TikTok sell-or-ban law gets Biden's approval, starting 9-month countdown: Nikkei reports the Chinese-owned video platform vows to prevail in a court challenge.
+ Shou Zi Chew, TikTok’s CEO, told users that the app isn’t “going anywhere” and that the company will challenge America’s latest crackdown, which President Joe Biden signed on Wednesday, in court.
Europe shrugs off Washington’s TikTok fears: Politico reports though it was previously willing to follow in America’s footsteps, Europe’s response is muted this time around, largely avoiding debate about the app as the EU election looms.
Bloomberg: TikTok halts ‘lite’ rewards program, fending off EU suspension
How a second Trump presidency could tear Europe apart: The former president’s return would cement a shift in the US as a fact that can no longer be ignored. Politico
Trump 2.0: How US allies are preparing for a second term: Reuters reports Germany is waging a charm offensive inside the Republican Party. Japan is lining up its own Trump whisperer. Mexican government officials are talking to Camp Trump. And Australia is busy making laws to help Trump-proof its US defense ties.
Analysis: The ulterior motive behind Xi Jinping's latest military reforms: Reorganization of Strategic Support Force shows Xi preparing for a fourth term. Nikkei
NHK: US Secretary of State Blinken arrives in Shanghai
US top diplomat Blinken visits China for tough talks: DW reports Antony Blinken arrived in China for his second visit in a year to discuss a range of issues amid rising tensions between the two countries.
Bloomberg: TikTok ultimatum makes US firms a target for China retaliation
+ Beijing could use market access to as weapon to retaliate
+ President Xi has to balance looking strong with economic needs
Japan and Brazil to sign decarbonization deal at May summit: Nikkei reports the countries eye cooperation on biofuel technology and Amazon protection.
Spanish PM Sanchez considers resigning after wife's graft probe: Le Monde reports the preliminary investigation into Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's wife, Begona Gomez, concerns 'the alleged offense of influence peddling and corruption,' according to a Madrid court.
German spycatchers raise game against China and Russia: Recent arrests only ‘tip of the iceberg’, with hundreds more operatives believed to be ‘up to mischief’ in Germany. FT
UK regulator examines Microsoft and Amazon’s AI dealmaking: FT reports a request for comments into Big Tech’s alliances with artificial intelligence start-ups follows CMA study into fast-growing market.
Bloomberg: Microsoft, Amazon AI deals get UK antitrust scrutiny
+ CMA to look at Anthropic, Mistral and Inflection investments
+ Amazon says the investigation by CMA is unprecedented
The rare earths mine becoming a bellwether for US minerals policy: Future of South Africa’s Phalaborwa site may depend on strength of Washington’s support. FT
*** US Politics + Elections ***
A very tight presidential race: A new Pew Research poll finds Donald Trump barely edging Joe Biden in the presidential race, 49% to 48% among registered voters.
Biden’s gains against Trump vanish on deep economic pessimism, poll shows: Bloomberg reports the president is trailing Donald Trump in six of seven swing states as a majority of poll respondents see the economy worsening by the end of the year.
How Trump turned the 2016 primary into a supermarket tabloid gutter fight WP
Bloomberg: Trump to convene donors, vice president hopefuls in Palm Beach
+ Tim Scott, Kristi Noem among those slated to attend event
+ Trump has spent past two weeks in New York courtroom
Trump is a co-conspirator in Michigan's 2020 false electors plot, state investigator says: Detroit News reports Michigan prosecutors consider former President Donald Trump and some of his top aides co-conspirators in the plot to submit a certificate falsely claiming he won Michigan's 2020 election, an investigator for Attorney General Dana Nessel's office testified Wednesday in court.
Meadows, Giuliani, and other Trump allies charged in Arizona 2020 election probe: WP reports the indictments cap a year-long investigation by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) into how the 2020 pro-Trump elector strategy played out in Arizona, which Joe Biden won by 10,457 votes.
So, 112 ignoble, infantile Republicans voted to endanger civilization George Will
‘Thunder Run’: Behind lawmakers’ secretive push to pass the TikTok bill: A tiny group of lawmakers huddled in private about a year ago, aiming to keep the discussions away from TikTok lobbyists while bulletproofing a bill that could ban the app. NYT
Reuters: US TikTok bill sets up fight over free speech protections
Biden signed a bill to force a sale of TikTok or ban it. What’s next? TikTok says it will fight the law in court, while young voters warn targeting the app is “an unforced error.” Politico
Biden campaign plans to keep using TikTok through the election: NBC News reports the possible ban that the president signed into law Wednesday won't go into effect until January, at the earliest, and his campaign told NBC News it will keep using TikTok for now.
Bloomberg: Biden makes $11 billion push to beat China at chip research
+ “We need to find out ways to make it easier for people to get into chip design in this country, rather than developing yet another app or yet another piece of AI software.” -- Deirdre Hanford, who leads the new government-backed National Semiconductor Technology Center, or NSTC.
*** Disruption + Innovation ***
BHP proposes takeover of Anglo American in mining mega-deal: FT reports the combination would bring together two of the industry’s largest companies.
Bloomberg: Netflix Is Betting Big on Latin America
Why Detroit’s Black Tech Saturday matters: Black Tech Saturday is part of a broader renaissance centered around Michigan Central Station, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Co. and part of the automaker’s commitment to rebuild and repurpose the 111-year-old Detroit train station that lay in near ruin for decades. Bloomberg
+ Over a third of US workers fear losing their jobs or facing hour or pay cuts due to AI, according to YouGov. Conversely, nearly 60% of workers are not concerned about AI impacting their jobs.
Meta’s costs rise rapidly as Zuckerberg vows to keep spending on AI arms race: WSJ reports Meta reported record first-quarter sales, but investors soured on forecasts of rising costs related to AI. Shares fell about 15% after hours.
Meta says it plans to spend billions more on AI: NYT reports along with the higher spending, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp projected lighter-than-expected revenue, causing its stock to plummet.
Meta profits soar but costs of AI cause worry: AFP reports Facebook-owner Meta on Wednesday said its quarterly profits soared last quarter, but worries about the cost of artificial intelligence saw its share price take a hit on Wall Street.
Meta’s AI assistant is fun to use, but it can’t be trusted: Despite Mark Zuckerberg’s hope for the chatbot to be the smartest, it struggles with facts, numbers and web search. NYT
Apple released large language models called OpenELM, or Open-source Efficient Language Models. The model family is designed to run on devices instead of in the cloud.
Amazon will allow companies to use DIY models inside its Bedrock platform for creating AI apps.
Founders Fund led a $175M funding round in Cognition Labs, valuing the AI startup at $2B.
Pharma startup uses AI to test old drugs to treat rare diseases: Bloomberg reports Transcripta Bio’s AI software analyzes rare diseases to see if existing pharmaceuticals can help.
Sony installs AI cameras in 500 Japan 7-Elevens for consumer analysis: Nikkei reports the setup measures viewership of in-store signs and subsequent purchases.
How GM tricked millions of drivers into being spied on (including me): This privacy reporter and her husband bought a Chevrolet Bolt in December. Two risk-profiling companies had been getting detailed data about their driving ever since. NYT
Why chipmakers are investing billions into ‘advanced packaging’: The technique of stacking multiple chips closely together is crucial to improving the performance of semiconductors. FT
Bloomberg: AI memory boom propels SK Hynix's fastest sales growth since 2010
+ High-end memory, NAND rebound help chipmaker log record growth
+ Memory makers locked in race to supply AI-powering chips
Nvidia is acquiring Run:ai, an Israeli software company that helps companies manage and optimize AI hardware infrastructure.
*** Culture ***
Amid the posers and the prosecco, Milan remains the true design capital: The annual Salone del Mobile is a vast display of slick superfluousness, but at its heart is a deep regard for tradition and craftsmanship. Edwin Heathcote
‘Not Davos again!’ - The new billionaire retreats: For plutocrats who have everything the Swiss resort is no longer the ne plus ultra for invitation-only networking events. The Times
‘Miss AI’ is billed as a leap forward – but feels like a monumental step backwards: AI models take every toxic gendered beauty norm and bundle them up into completely unrealistic package. Guardian
*** Sport ***
WP: Reggie Bush gets his Heisman Trophy back after it was stripped in 2010
How next-gen data analytics is changing American football: At the NFL’s Big Data Bowl, scientists compete to develop new stats that better capture player performance. Knowable
The Olympic Games, an ancient geopolitical forum: Since Athens in 1896, the Games have always echoed the upheavals of history. The 'Olympism: a History of the World' exhibition at the Palais de la Porte-Dorée in Paris explores this 130-year epic. Le Monde
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
ITK Daily | April 25
