Caracal Daily | September 25

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

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Always Be Communicating.

Happy Wednesday.

Here’s today’s Caracal Daily:

*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***

Biden’s final UN address: ‘There is so much more I want to get done’: Politico reports Biden huddles with world leaders as foreign policy crises escalate.

Biden urges Israel and Lebanon to step back from all-out war: WP reports as the president delivered his final talk to the United Nations on Tuesday after decades in foreign policy, the Israel-Lebanon conflict hung over his remarks.

Netanyahu’s ‘rope-a-dope’ war strategy with White House: FT reports that US President Biden has struggled to constrain Israeli leaders from escalating conflict in the Middle East. 

Israel widens air strikes after Hezbollah fires at Tel Aviv: Bloomberg reports the US, European, and Arab governments are trying to calm the situation and prevent an Israeli ground offensive on Lebanon.

On the cusp of all-out war against Hezbollah, Israel weighs next move: WP reports some in Israel have long advocated for a ground invasion, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been reluctant.

Iran’s dilemma: How to preserve its proxies and avoid full-scale war: Iran says Israel wants to trap it into a direct conflict by bombing Hezbollah, even as a new Iranian president tries outreach to the West. NYT

Debate over Ukraine weapons restrictions divides allies, administration: WP reports the discussion over weapons restrictions is ongoing in Washington, splitting the Biden administration and Capitol Hill and confounding America’s partners in Europe.

Russia captures more Ukrainian territory as Volodymyr Zelenskyy goes to US: FT reports Ukraine’s president to present a Victory Plan to Joe Biden on Thursday.

‘Precious genius’ Elon Musk love-bombs ‘beautiful’ Giorgia Meloni at think tank awards: Politico reports the tech billionaire and the Italian PM exchange pleasantries at glitzy Washington gala dinner, while Atlantic Council staffers fume.

How to make European industrial policy work: The key is to ensure that regulation doesn’t stifle growth. Martin Wolf

Japan’s departing prime minister offers a warning and plea to Americans: He helped make Japan a world leader. Now, Fumio Kishida calls for the US to double down on Asia. Josh Rogin

China tests intercontinental ballistic missile in Pacific for first time since 1980: FT reports the first major missile launch since hypersonic tests in 2021 comes ahead of anticipated Biden-Xi phone call.

China cuts one-year policy rate by most ever in stimulus drive: Bloomberg reports China’s central bank kicks off a sweeping program to revive confidence in the world’s second-largest economy.

FBI probes whether Silicon Valley venture firm passed secrets to China: Hone Capital became one of the most prolific early investors in US tech start-ups. FT

Africa’s youngest elected leader wants a new world order: In his first interview with Western media since becoming president of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye said the United Nations has to change to reflect changing world demographics. NYT

Reuters: US to donate 1 million mpox vaccine doses to halt outbreak in Africa

Biden administration revives oil sanctions on Venezuela, saying Maduro reneged on democracy deal: Politico reports officials said the administration determined that Venezuela’s government failed to fulfill an agreement that offered a temporary easing of sanctions in exchange for promises of democratic reforms.

Argentina’s Javier Milei denounces UN’s ‘socialist’ agenda: FT reports the libertarian leader accuses organisation of restricting members’ freedom in debut address to General Assembly.

Milei’s austerity ravages a factory hub at the end of the world: The island province of Tierra del Fuego is Argentina’s electronics base thanks to a quirk of history. Islanders’ natural resilience is being severely tested by the president’s economic policies. Bloomberg

If you think Biden has troubles, just look at Trudeau: The Canadian prime minister’s grim poll numbers stoke speculation about his future. Politico

How Canadians fell out of love with Justin Trudeau: Canada’s Liberals are reeling from a string of setbacks, as the party faces a confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday. NYT

The end of the popular politician: A once-common type is vanishing from the West, and it is a problem of demand, not supply.Janan Ganesh

***  US Politics + Elections ***

The Hill: Johnson rolls out plan B to avert government shutdown

Congressional leaders reach deal to avert shutdown, boost Secret Service funds: WP reports the agreement extends federal funding until Dec. 20 and includes support for natural disaster victims.

+ Both parties have been told that due to an approaching hurricane near Florida, lawmakers may be sent home Wednesday night, per Punchbowl’s Max Cohen.

Trump’s edge on the economy is shrinking, polls show: WP reports voters are feeling better about Kamala Harris’s handling of the economy, narrowing Donald Trump’s lead on the key issue.

Harris to pitch US manufacturing revival in new economic speech: WP reports the vice president also recently signaled support for the cryptocurrency industry, in a move meant to appeal to big donors and young men.

+ In a speech on the economy slated for Pittsburgh, Harris will try to contrast former President Donald Trump’s plans to impose trillions of dollars in new tariffs with her proposals to spur US production through targeted tax incentives. 

Kamala Harris set to outline ‘pragmatic’ and ‘capitalist’ economic philosophy: FT reports the Democratic presidential candidate has been under pressure to offer more details on plans.

+ “Maybe we’ll pay off the $35 trillion US debt in crypto. I’ll write on a little piece of paper ‘$35 trillion crypto we have no debt.’ That’s what I like.” -- Donald Trump, floating a plan to address the federal budget deficit.

US SEC, Coinbase clash in court over crypto rulemaking: Reuters reports Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange, sued the Securities and Exchange Commission last year to compel the regulator to act on a petition for rulemaking Coinbase filed in 2022.

Caroline Ellison was sentenced to 24 months in prison by a federal judge for her role in the FTX collapse despite helping prosecutors in the conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried, her former boss and boyfriend.

Feds turn to NFL stadiums for shelters as climate change increases severity of natural disasters: WP reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the NFL are partnering to turn football stadiums across the country into emergency shelters, temporary hospitals, and other venues needed during disasters.

House GOP moves toward holding Blinken in contempt of Congress: Politico reports the secretary of State failed to appear for a hearing on the Afghanistan withdrawal Tuesday, telling House Republicans he would be in New York for events surrounding the UN General Assembly.

Congress grills CrowdStrike about multibillion-dollar July outage: WP reports a computer security company executive apologized for the flawed software update that triggered catastrophic system failures and said practices have improved.

NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks to step down amid federal probe: Politico reports Banks’ departure comes after federal agents seized his cell phones.

LAT: Mark Hamill, Jane Fonda, JJ Abrams urge Gov. Newsom to sign AI safety bill

*** Disruption + Innovation ***

How Americans’ trust in ig Business went from bad to worse: There was a time when the growing economy lifted everyone. These days, only the rich seem to be rising. Bloomberg

Saab is planning a $75 million munitions facility in Grayling Township, an investment expected to use testing at Camp Grayling.

AI is evolving faster than experts imagined, including for Bill Gates CNET

OpenAI rolls out new voice assistant to all paid ChatGPT users: Bloomberg reports the startup previously delayed the feature to work through potential safety issues.  

Snap will start using Google’s generative artificial intelligence model to help power Snapchat’s AI chatbot, part of a broader plan to boost engagement and increase user time spent on the messaging app.

A chatbot is now cleared to give buy, sell investment advice: Bloomberg reports an  Israeli regulator has cleared an artificial intelligence startup to launch a chatbot that offers stock-picking advice in partnership with a large bank, even as other governments have raised alarms that AI might destabilize financial markets if used widely in investing.

The man tasked with rebooting Amazon AI: The company turns to Rohit Prasad to make it a stronger rival to the likes of OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. WSJ

Yahoo: Intel launches new AI chips as takeover rumors swirl

The Biden administration has finalized its first binding award under the Chips and Science Act: a $123 million grant to Polar Semiconductor that officials say could double the company’s US manufacturing capacity within two years.

US nuclear plants won't power up Big Tech's AI ambitions right away: Reuters reports Constellation Energy and Microsoft plan to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, hoping they have scored a quick source of enough climate-friendly energy to power rapidly expanding data centers for artificial intelligence (AI).

+ US power generation capacity through the end of the decade could rise by about 2.4% to 2.7%, according to an analysis of the most recent US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data from late 2022. Data center power use is expected to more than double by 2030 to consume about 9% of all the country's electricity.

To compete with China on AI, we need a lot more power: A ChatGPT query uses 10 times the wattage of a Google search. It may already be impossible for the U.S. to match China’s centralized energy system. Daniela Rus + Nico Enriquez

+ Daniela Rus is the director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Nico Enriquez, a Stanford Graduate School of Business student, has been a Technology-to-Market Scholar at the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Google files Brussels complaint against Microsoft cloud business: FT reports the search giant seeks antitrust probe of Big Tech rival over dominance of Azure platform.

Uber’s next act: Taking on Amazon: On top of ride-sharing and takeaways, the company’s couriers now transport goods for many retailers. But is it trying to do too much? FT

*** Culture ***

Here’s what it’s like to retire in rural America: Seven retirees open up about their finances and how they spend their time. WSJ

Michael Sheen squeezing his bum into Prince Andrew’s golf wardrobe? That’s fun: In A Very Royal Scandal, we’re forced to watch the hapless prince (not) sweat his way through that Newsnight interview one more time. The Times

Refik Anadol, the keynote artist for the UN General Assembly, has announced he will open the world’s first AI museum, DataLand, in Los Angeles in 2025. Anadol’s piece” Large Nature Model” is displayed at UNGA this week. 

*** Sport ***

Brett Favre announced in Congress that he’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s.


Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc 

Marc A. Ross | Chief Communications Strategist @ Caracal