ITK Daily | April 26
America vs China, USC, Honda, Taylor Swift, Bears, 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 ***
IEA sees electric car boom displacing up to 12 million b/d of oil by 2035: New emissions standards adopted in the US, EU, and Canada over the past year mean oil demand displacement from electric vehicles (EVs) will amount to 6 million b/d by 2030 and 11 million b/d by 2035 based on current policies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest annual Global Electric Vehicle Outlook.
Climate change is slowing Earth’s rotation: This simplifies things for the world’s timekeepers. Economist
How strong is India’s economy? It isn’t the next China, but it could still transform itself and the world. Economist
Japan, UK, and Italy aim for next-gen fighter prototype in 2026: Nikkei reports the Japanese parliament begins deliberations on treaty to establish management body.
Taiwan is about to get $1.9 billion in military hardware after President Joe Biden signed into law a foreign aid package that included $8 billion in Indo-Pacific defense support — all in an effort to forestall conflict between China and Taiwan.
US wants allies to cut chip-related China exports amid Huawei alarm: FT reports Washington urges Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands to tighten supply of tools and technology.
The tech wars are about to enter a fiery new phase: America, China and the battle for supremacy. Economist
WP: Blinken set to meet Chinese leaders as superpowers manage rivalry
US accuses China of backing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: Beijing is “picking a side” and can’t claim to be neutral any more, the US ambassador to NATO tells Politico.
China’s ties with Russia are growing more solid: Our columnist visits a future Russian outpost in China’s most advanced spaceport. Economist
Reuters: China harbors ship tied to North Korea-Russia arms transfers, satellite images show
China said it remains on track for a 2030 crewed lunar landing.
China's Tiangong space station damaged by debris strike: report: Space reports astronauts repaired the damage during two spacewalks this winter.
China prepares UN resolution to tap AI for good: Bloomberg reports China is preparing a United Nations General Assembly resolution that it says is intended to help close gaps between rich and developing countries in the advance of artificial intelligence, an initiative that follows an extensive and ambitious campaign by the US, its biggest AI competitor.
+ “The rapid development of AI technology has not fully benefited the vast majority of developing countries.” -- Tao Wang, a spokeswoman for the Chinese mission to the UN.
EU to China: Open your public markets or we’ll close ours: Politico reports the European Commission has launched a probe into how Beijing grants public contracts for medical devices.
Germany's China envoy summoned by Beijing over spying claims: DW reports Germany's ambassador to China says she was summoned by Chinese authorities after four Germans were arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing.
Protests as Venice becomes first city to charge tourist entry fee: The Times reports day-trippers are now required to pay €5 for access on 29 days of the year in an effort to cut overcrowding.
An optimist’s guide to the next Labour government: Political stability, catch-up growth, and better luck would make 2024 a good election to win. Chris Giles
Labour has promised to renationalize most of Britain’s railways in five years if it wins the next general election. Private companies took over the lines in the 1990s.
Emmanuel Macron said Europe should remain ‘sovereign’ from the United States, in a speech at Sorbonne University. He said the continent should ‘talk to all the other regions of the world.’
WP: Europe needs to be stronger, not a U.S. ‘vassal,’ says France’s Macron
The Times: Macron calls for defence boost to stop EU from ‘dying’
In an EU speech, Macron says Europe is 'mortal' and 'can die': Le Monde reports that a few weeks ahead of the June European elections, the French president outlined his vision of Europe in a speech at the Sorbonne in Paris.
Sorbonne speech: Will Macron's European plea be heard? French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a paradigm shift in a Paris speech on European integration. That might not necessarily inspire voters at home. DW
DR Congo accuses Apple of using 'blood minerals' from war-torn east: AFP reports the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is accusing Apple of using "illegally exploited" minerals extracted from the country's embattled east in its products, lawyers representing the African country said Thursday.
US to withdraw troops from Chad, dealing another blow to Africa policy: The departure of US military personnel in Chad and Niger comes as both countries are turning away from years of cooperation with the United States and forming partnerships with Russia. NYT
US vs. Russia: Why the Biden strategy in Africa may be failing: The US is expected to lose access to a critical drone base in Niger that it uses to fight ISIS in the Sahel. Politico
US troops to leave Chad, as another African state reassesses ties: WP reports dozens of American personnel will leave the Central African nation, at least temporarily, as the two governments negotiate their security agreement.
NYT: Army begins building floating aid pier off Gaza’s coast, Pentagon says
Caught between the US and China, a powerful AI upstart chooses sides: Abu Dhabi-based G42 found it could no longer play for both teams. Bloomberg
‘To the future’: Saudi Arabia spends big to become an AI superpower: The oil-rich kingdom is plowing money into glitzy events, computing power, and artificial intelligence research, putting it in the middle of an escalating US-China struggle for technological influence. NYT
New Haitian transition council takes office, but long road awaits: WSJ reports former Prime Minister Ariel Henry formally resigns after nearly three-year rule marked by escalating violence; transition council to decide on a new prime minister, prepare for elections.
Bloomberg: Javier Milei fuels wild rally that makes peso No. 1 in world
+ The peso is key to Milei’s push to tame soaring inflation
+ But the economic pain from fiscal austerity is mounting
Amid Argentina's protests, are Javier Milei's days numbered? DW reports the ultra-libertarian president has proposed harsh austerity measures to tame Argentina's budget and boost its economy. But with hundreds of thousands protesting proposed education cuts, has he gone a step too far?
WP: New channel lets long-trapped ships escape from Baltimore Harbor
TikTok and the US government dig in for legal war: The Biden administration has worked to distance itself from past ill-fated TikTok ban attempts. Legal scholars say the new law might be just as legally flawed. WP
How TikTok’s Chinese owner tightened its grip on the app: Insiders say ByteDance exerting increasing influence over platform despite US pressure over ownership. FT
In the case of TikTok, the US risks losing some of its moral high ground: The dispute between Beijing and Washington over control of the social media network, which is used by 170 million Americans, marks a further step back from the concept of an 'open' internet. Harold Thibault
The US fertility rate declined by 2% to a record low of 1.62 last year, according to new provisional figures.
*** US Politics + Elections ***
A day all about Trump: Mostly out of sight, but still ubiquitous: NYT reports from the Supreme Court to a Manhattan courtroom, Thursday showed how much of the 2024 campaign centers on Trump’s legal dramas.
Ex-Enquirer publisher says he and others around Trump feared his anger: NYT reports they called Donald J. Trump “the boss.” The desire to avoid his fury drove many decisions made by those around him.
Utah: The first-in-the-nation law imposing regulations on the deployment of generative artificial intelligence in the private sector is set to go into effect on May 1.
+ The AI Policy Act, SB 149, amends the state’s consumer protection and privacy laws by imposing transparency requirements on companies that use AI.
+ The law puts all the responsibility on companies deploying AI, and does little to regulate the technology itself. That means a company using someone else’s model (think ChatGPT or Gemini) will be at fault if that model violates the law.
California: The Assembly Privacy + Consumer Protection Committee will next week take up a bill that would require disclosure of data used to train AI models, seen by advocates as a step toward compensating creators for their contributions to AI.
+ More than 400 AI-related bills have been introduced across more than 40 states
USC cancels its main graduation ceremony, citing security concerns: NYT reports there have been student protests and arrests, as well as controversy over the school’s decision to cancel the speech of its valedictorian.
*** Disruption + Innovation ***
IPO activity has also slowed: The first quarter of 2024 saw the lowest number of IPOs since the COVID-19-restricted market of 2020, and IPOs are down almost 70% since 2021.
Nuclear fusion experiment overcomes two key operating hurdles: Two important barriers to a stable, powerful fusion reaction have been leapt by an experiment in a small tokamak reactor, but we don’t yet know if the technique will work in larger devices. New Scientist
Can Elon Musk pull off a Mark Zuckerberg? Kevin T. Dugan
Bloomberg: Elon Musk’s xAI startup closes in on $6 billion fundraising
Generative AI is still a solution in search of a problem: Axios reports the gigantic and costly industry Silicon Valley is building around generative AI is still struggling to explain the technology's utility.
+ AI chatbots and image generators are making headlines and fortunes, but a year and a half into their revolution, it remains tough to say exactly why we should all start using them.
AI shakes up corporate boards: Axios reports AI is forcing corporate boards to change how they operate, with the most aggressive companies appointing AI bots as observers to their boards and putting tech at the center of their board strategy work.
+ The world's largest companies are increasingly obsessed with AI — mentioning it repeatedly in 2024 earnings calls — but most boards lack the expertise to effectively guide AI strategies.
What is an AI anyway? Mustafa Suleyman @ TED
It’s not only AI that hallucinates: Human memory is also fallible but people and machines can learn to complement each other. John Thornhill
Bloomberg: Alphabet beats revenue estimates as AI fuels cloud growth
Alphabet set to surge past $2tn valuation as search giant announces first dividend: FT reports shares of Google’s parent company jump after first-quarter earnings beat expectations and $70bn stock buyback.
Microsoft earnings jump on AI demand: WSJ reports the software giant is spending billions of dollars to integrate AI into many of its products.
Meta’s gamble on chatbots opens new wave of tech competition: Zuckerberg’s AI plans may have knocked its stock market value, but he hopes his next venture will have dramatic impact. FT
The AI hype bubble is deflating. Now comes the hard part. The tech industry got the world’s attention with AI. Now it’s busy persuading people to pay for it. WP
Big Tech keeps spending billions on AI. There’s no end in sight. Much of the money is going to new data centers, which are predicted to place huge demands on the US power grid. WP
OpenAI wants you to see AI as the next "critical infrastructure" and aims to showcase how its tech helps "everyday people" and can tackle big challenges in health care, education, and climate.
+ "My historical analogy here is the New Deal." -- Chris Lehane
AI could kill off most call centers, says Tata Consultancy Services head: FT reports chatbots will soon take over much of the work of human agents, forecasts chief of Indian IT group.
Toyota + Nissan are partnering with tech companies Tencent and Baidu to introduce AI in their cars.
Bloomberg: Most global tech leaders see their companies unprepared for AI
+ Lenovo survey of CIOs reveals biggest pain points for AI use
+ Many don’t expect return on AI investment for next two years
Apple moves closer to China despite supply chain shifts: Japan, Taiwan and US supplier numbers dip as iPhone maker expands in Southeast Asia. Nikkei
Can 400 comedians convince you to keep Netflix? NY Mag
Billionaire Stephen Ross believes in South Florida—and is spending big to transform it: The Related Cos. founder is following the money flowing south by bringing his influence to everything from real estate to schools and health care. Bloomberg
Global wine consumption continues to decline in 2023: Le Monde reports according to the International Organization of Vine and Wine, consumption fell by 2.6% year-on-year to 221 million hectoliters. Similarly, on the production side, indicators are also negative.
Coffee prices are expected to extend their meteoric surge with the hoarding of beans and poor weather set to exacerbate a supply crunch in Vietnam, the world’s biggest producer of the robusta variety.
$330bn: The amount that Tesla has lost in stock market value since January.
Honda announces US$11 bn EV battery and vehicle plant in Canada: AFP reports Japanese auto giant Honda announced Thursday the largest automotive investment in Canada's history, worth Can$15 billion (US$11 billion), for a massive new EV battery and vehicle assembly plant.
The ambitions of China’s BYD stretch well beyond electric vehicles: The company’s global plans range from solar modules and electric buses, trucks, and trains to complex transport systems. But is it trying to do too much? FT
*** Culture ***
Has Taylor Swift peaked? The musician is at the height of her commercial, but not her creative, power. Economist
There's Still Tomorrow: The film which beat Barbie at the box office in Italy: Greta Gerwig's Barbie may be the most financially successful movie ever to be directed by a female filmmaker, and the highest-grossing film of 2023. But it was beaten at the box office in Italy by another film, also made by a woman and speaking directly about the female experience. BBC
*** Sport ***
Amazon, YouTube vie for NBA streaming rights as league’s media talks heat up: WSJ reports the league is advancing toward lucrative deals with incumbent partners and is in talks with tech giants as well as NBCUniversal.
Bloomberg: Chicago Bears face long-shot push for $3.2 billion stadium
+ Team seeks aid from state financing authority for new stadium
+ State leaders skeptical about using tax dollars for project
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
ITK Daily | April 26
