Caracal Daily | July 31

Caracal Daily is geopolitical business news + intelligence for comms pros.

Geopolitics is disrupting every business and industry. Caracal is here to help.

Always Be Communicating.

Happy Wednesday.

Here’s today’s Caracal Daily:

*** Ross Rant ***

AI-generated political content: A wake-up call for communications pros

A blog post for communications pros on a parody political ad using an AI-created voice of Kamala Harris that Elon Musk shared with his global Twitter audience.

Actionable insights + ideas:

1. Using artificial intelligence to mimic Vice President Kamala Harris's voice raises concerns about AI's impact on elections.

2. Elon Musk sharing the AI-generated video without initially clarifying its nature demonstrates how easily such content can spread on social media platforms.

3. There is a growing gap between technological advancements in AI and how we address parody vs. fake news content.

4. America needs to reserve political satire while guarding against malicious fraud, especially as AI makes it harder to distinguish between the two.

5. Tech companies, policymakers, and educators must cooperate to develop AI detection tools, clear guidelines, and digital literacy programs. 

Full post - click here. 

*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***

World leaders, ordinary Venezuelans protest Maduro’s reelection claim: WP reports authoritarian socialist Nicolás Maduro claimed reelection despite exit polling that showed challenger Edmundo González captured twice as many votes. The United States and others called for transparency.

Protests erupt in Venezuela as nations denounce election result: NYT reports President Nicolás Maduro’s government ejected seven diplomatic missions from countries that condemned his claim of victory, which he made despite reports of fraud.

Bloomberg: Maduro tells Brazil he’ll release Venezuela ballot records in coming days

+ Delay due to ‘attack’ on electrical grid, he tells Lula aide

+ Brazil among nations calling for transparency around vote

Israel strikes Beirut, targeting Hezbollah commander: Politico reports Israel was retaliating for an attack on a football pitch on Saturday that killed 12 children and youths.

European capitals scramble to avoid Middle East escalation: Politico reports France, Germany, Italy, and the UK are reaching out to Middle Eastern counterparts to urge calm.

Iran is working to undercut Trump in presidential election, US spy agencies say: WSJ reports Tehran’s preference is rooted in concerns about a Trump presidency fanning tensions with US.

Algeria said that it would withdraw its ambassador from France after Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, recognized Morocco’s claim to the disputed territory of Western Sahara. 

China is itching to mine the ocean floor: It wants to dominate critical-mineral supply chains. Economist

US pledges $500 million in new military aid to the Philippines, as China asserts sea claims: NYT reports Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III warned Beijing against engaging in hostilities with US allies in the South and East China Seas.

AP: North Korean officials seek medicine for Kim’s health problems related to obesity, Seoul says

Singapore’s minister says AI is not the new oil—it’s way better Fortune

US to arm Ukraine’s F-16 jets with advanced weapons: WSJ reports the Biden administration says it will provide missiles and bombs for the American-made aircraft.

Britons still view US-UK relationship as ‘special’ – despite Trump Lee Cain

Bloomberg: Google’s Anthropic AI deal gets closer UK regulator scrutiny

+ CMA will review whether investment causes competition issues

+ Google committed to investing $2 billion into the AI startup

WTO members reach ‘historic' e-commerce deal without US: Politico reports US Ambassador to the WTO María Pagán made clear the United States was not yet prepared to join the new "plurilateral" pact.

***  US Politics + Elections ***

Kamala Harris wipes out Trump’s swing-state lead in election dead heat: The vice president is polling better than Biden was before he dropped out, according to the latest Bloomberg News/Morning Consult survey. Bloomberg

Harris and her VP pick will tour battleground states next week - sources: Reuters reports Vice President Kamala Harris will tour battleground states next week with her vice presidential candidate, two sources familiar with the planning said on Tuesday, a signal the selection process for her running mate is coming to a close.

Harris plans to campaign next week with her running mate: NYT reports the draft travel schedule, according to two people briefed on her plans, suggests that Vice President Kamala Harris will name her running mate a little earlier than her team had planned.

New KH ad: Fearless. Watch here.

Rising from Biden’s shadow, Harris faces crucial test on foreign policy: As vice president to a longtime statesman, she was given a limited portfolio. Republicans see a weakness. Aides say she’d confront crisis with a prosecutor’s tenacity. WP

Kamala Harris collapsed in 2020. Here’s how to avoid a repeat. The vice president’s shaky 2020 presidential run tarnished her image. She’ll need to sharpen her message and clean up her org chart this time. Politico

What Democrats can learn from Gretchen Whitmer Ezra Klein

The 2024 presidential debate plan was set. Now it’s chaos. Harris and Trump campaigns are discussing whether and how often to face off, with TV networks competing to host. WSJ

The Hill: Trump says he’ll ‘probably’ debate Harris: ‘I can also make a case for not doing it’

Bloomberg: Trump says he will ‘probably end up’ debating new rival Harris

+ Campaign previously declined to commit to scheduled forum

+ Trump says debates should happen before votes are being cast

WP: Project 2025 to end policy work after Democratic attacks angered Trump

Trump campaign attacks Kamala Harris in a new immigration-focused ad: WP reports the spot provides an early glimpse of how the former president’s campaign plans to cast the likely Democratic nominee.

New DJT ad: I Don't Understand. Watch here.

Politico: Vance had a bad week. But Trump is still counting on him to court donors and attack Kamala.

Vance tells donors Harris change was a ‘sucker punch,’ at odds with campaign: WP reports: “The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden,” Trump’s running mate acknowledged at a private event.

With Vance’s rocky debut, Republicans ask if Trump’s VP bet will pay off: Sen. JD Vance has had a challenging start as the GOP’s vice-presidential nominee, leaving the Trump campaign to try to clean up his controversial past comments. WP

Harris vs. Trump: 2 ways their AI policy differs: Trump has vowed to repeal Biden’s AI executive order. AP

It’s Silicon Valley vs. Silicon Valley as political fights escalate: Elon Musk, Reid Hoffman and other tech billionaires, many of whom are part of the “PayPal Mafia,” are openly brawling with one another over politics as tensions rise. NYT

AP: A parody ad shared by Elon Musk clones Kamala Harris’ voice, raising concerns about AI in politics

+ @GavinNewsom: Manipulating a voice in an “ad” like this one should be illegal. I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is.

+ No owner or CEO of a major tech platform has ever endorsed a political candidate and then used their soapbox to promote that campaign using content many view as deceptive.

Welcome to the shitpost election: Forget what’s true and false. Did you hear about JD Vance and the couch? Casey Newton

New US Commerce Department report endorses ‘open’ AI models: TC reports the US Commerce Department on Monday issued a report in support of “open-weight” generative AI models like Meta’s Llama 3.1, but recommended the government develop “new capabilities” to monitor such models for potential risks.

+ Authored by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the report said open-weight models broaden generative AI’s availability to small companies, researchers, nonprofits, and individual developers.

+ For more information, see a fact sheet on the report and the full text of the report.  

+ The Biden administration is instructing the government not to restrict the widespread availability of large, open source AI models.

Bloomberg: TikTok’s survival is at stake in all-out fight against US ban

+ Lobbying, lawsuits and ad campaign are deployed to fight law

+ The popular app seeks to avoid US ban over its Chinese ownership

The Kids Online Safety Act passes: The US Senate overwhelmingly passed the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children’s and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act 91-3. 

+ Senators Wyden, Paul, and Lee voted no. 

+ The legislation is now headed to the House.

Bloomberg: Microsoft pushes US lawmakers to crack down on deepfakes

+ Law enforcement needs a clear legal framework, Brad Smith says

+ Elon Musk recently shared manipulated clip of Kamala Harris

Microsoft calls for new laws on deepfake fraud, AI sexual abuse images: WP reports tech giant Microsoft is calling on Congress to pass laws that make it illegal to use AI-generated voices and images to defraud people and require AI companies to build tech to identify fake AI images made with their products. The recommendations came as part of a 50-page document Microsoft released Tuesday laying out its broad vision for how governments should approach AI.

Meta agrees to $1.4 billion settlement with Texas over privacy violations: FC reports Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton brought the suit against Meta in February 2022 for unlawfully capturing Texas users’ biometric data without obtaining their informed consent as required by law.

Norah O’Donnell to step down as the anchor of ‘CBS Evening News’: WSJ reports the journalist plans to take new role at the network after 2024 election.

*** Disruption + Innovation ***

$105bn: The total value of chips and other AI equipment Nvidia is expected to sell this year. 

BI: Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg traded jackets and compliments while talking about AI

Silicon Valley’s trillion-dollar leap of faith: Tech companies are spending as if AI’s transformative uses are a foregone conclusion. They’re not. The Atlantic

Google taps AI to revamp costly healthcare push marred by flops: Bloomberg reports after spending billions trying to transform the industry, Alphabet sees opportunity in artificial intelligence. Providers say the technology is still lacking.

Google is using AI in an attempt to improve traffic flow: At the intersection of traffic and technology, Google is attempting to time stoplights and reduce gridlock in a program powered by AI. Boston, ranked the fourth worst traffic city in the nation, is partnering with Google to put the project in the fast lane. NBC News’ Steven Romo reports.

AI startup Perplexity partners with Time, Fortune after plagiarism claims: Bloomberg reports the AI search company has inked revenue-sharing deals with several big publishers and hopes to add more this year. 

OpenAI rolls out voice assistant after delay to address safety issues: The product has added guardrails to combat impersonation and copyright infringement. Bloomberg

Apple Intelligence: Here’s when the new AI features come to the iPhone and iPad: The new Siri and other tools won’t be available until iOS 18.1 is released later this fall. This is the timeline. Joanna Stern

AI start-up Anthropic accused of ‘egregious’ data scraping: FT reports web publishers say developer is swarming their sites, collecting content to train models and ignoring orders to stop.

OnlyFans stars leave the sexting to AI: FC reports that “chatters,” who impersonate porn stars on sexting threads, are increasingly AI bots.

Tech governance startup Credo AI gets $101 million valuation: Artificial intelligence risk and regulation is increasingly big business. Bloomberg

Inside the race to make the world’s fastest running shoes: CT scans reveal the technology propelling record-breaking long-distance runners. FT

Detroit Auto Show announces 2025 show dates in January: DFP reports the show, formerly called the North American International Auto Show, will be held at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit, and will be spread over 11 days from Friday, Jan. 10, to Monday, Jan. 20. 

Chinese companies just set a record for EV sales in Europe: Manufacturers including SAIC Motor, which owns MG, and BYD accounted for 11 percent of all sales in June, according to Dataforce.

*** Culture ***

Open spaces provide a rare perspective on the crowded, anxious world Mitch Albom

Eminem beefs with his young Slim Shady alter ego in new AI-generated video: In a novel, AI-assisted video released Tuesday, Eminem engages in a 12-minute verbal showdown with his Slim Shady persona — and gets the best of his old alter ego. DFP

*** Sport ***

WSJ: Simone Biles leads Team USA back to Olympic gold

Rugby has last shot to crack United States – and reap riches it offers: Awarding of 2031 and 2033 World Cups to America is now-or-never moment in bid to tap into huge commercial market that would significantly change sport’s fortunes. The Athletic

Olympic mind games: 10 ways athletes try to gain a psychological edge Peter Collett

It’s called the place of skulls. It’s the most terrifying venue in Olympic history. Teahupo’o is one of the world’s deadliest waves. Winning gold means pushing its boundaries. WSJ


Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc