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The World
Javier Milei, a radical libertarian economist and first-term congressman, has secured a decisive victory in Argentina’s presidential election, defeating economy minister Sergio Massa and pulling the country’s politics far to the right amid its worst crisis in two decades. Milei won 55.8 per cent of the vote against Massa’s 44.2 per cent, with 93.4 per cent of ballots counted, according to the electoral commission. Pollsters had expected a very closely fought election. “Today is the end of Argentina’s decline,” Milei told a crowd of supporters at the Libertador Hotel in Buenos Aires after the results on Sunday. “Today is the end of the model of an omnipresent state that impoverishes Argentines.” Reforms to the country’s fragile economy would be swift, he added. “I want you to understand that Argentina is in a critical situation. The changes our country needs are drastic. There is no room for gradualism.” (Financial Times)
Ukraine “has collected evidence of around 109,000 alleged Russian war crimes, including physical and cyberattacks.” Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said officials “have identified more than 400 suspected perpetrators of these crimes. Around 300 have been indicted, and 66 convicted.” (Politico)
“Russia launched several waves of drone attacks on Kyiv early on Sunday for the second night in row,” city officials said. (Reuters)
A late poll in advance of this week’s Dutch elections showed a surge for the Party for Freedom, which “calls for an asylum ‘stop’ and ban on ‘Islamic schools, Qu’rans and mosques.’” Liberal parties “have urged people to vote strategically to avoid a far-right government.” (The Guardian)
Lai Ching-te, the frontrunner for Taiwan's presidency, named Taipei's former envoy to the United States as his running mate in January's election. Lai, vice president and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate, has almost consistently led opinion polls ahead of the election, which is taking place amid increased Chinese pressure on Taiwan to accept Beijing's sovereignty claims. (Reuters)
One in eight bridges in Pennsylvania have been classified as structurally deficient, so the state is using AI “to create lighter concrete blocks for new construction. Another project is using A.I. to develop a highway wall that can absorb noise from cars — and some of the greenhouse gas emissions that traffic releases as well.” (New York Times)
A top official at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says a critical flaw in software from Citrix Systems “has been exploited by government-backed hackers and criminal groups.” Citrix provides software to facilitate remote work. (Bloomberg)
Lax cybersecurity is leaving thousands of U.S. public schools vulnerable to attack by ransomware gangs. Since a White House conference on ransomware threats this summer, “dozens of school districts have signed up for free cybersecurity services, and federal officials have hosted exercises with schools to help them learn how to better secure their networks.” But President Biden’s top advisor on cyber and emerging technology says more districts need to take advantage of the programs. (Associated Press)
Kyle Vogt resigned as chief executive of General Motors Co.’s autonomous driving unit, Cruise LLC, following the loss of its license to operate driverless cars in the state of California. Vogt, who confirmed his departure in a post on X, said he plans to spend time with his family and explore some new ideas. (Bloomberg)
Economy
Despite indicators of a strong economy, “most Americans hold a glum view” of where things stand. While “many factors lie behind the disconnect,” economists increasingly point “to one in particular: The lingering financial and psychological effects of the worst bout of inflation in four decades.” (Associated Press)
“News last week that inflation eased more than expected in October solidified the view that the Federal Reserve is done with its most aggressive rate-hike campaign in four decades. And that could be a boon for the stock market and your 401(k).” Over the past half-century, “the S&P 500 index rose an average 14.3% in the 12 months following the Fed’s final rate increase.” (USA Today)
Japanese shares climbed to highs not seen since 1990. (Reuters)
“Wall Street rushed to embrace sustainable investing just a few years ago. Now it is quietly closing funds or scrubbing their names after disappointing returns that have investors cashing out billions.” (Wall Street Journal)
“The sense of hope for the film and TV industries at the conclusion of Hollywood's six-month labor stoppage is crashing into the grim reality that the industry faces a brutal road ahead.” Moody's says the new contracts will cost studios as much as $600 million per year. (Axios)
Technology
OpenAI Taps ex-Twitch CEO to Lead as Altman Joins Microsoft: OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman is joining Microsoft Corp. to lead its AI effort after the board replaced him with Twitch’s ex-CEO, a stunning reversal for the widely respected tech-evangelist who helped jumpstart the artificial intelligence boom. Altman and Greg Brockman, who quit the board around the same time, will lead a newly created in-house AI development team at the US software firm, a major OpenAI backer. Microsoft remains committed to the relationship and is looking forward to working with the startup’s new CEO, Emmett Shear, CEO Satya Nadella said in a post early on Monday. (Bloomberg)
Microsoft Stock Price Gains: How much is Sam Altman worth? Quite a bit judging by Microsoft’s stock price. Shares in the tech colossus rose more than 2% in offhours trading after it hired the artificial-intelligence expert. (Wall Street Journal)
Altman Sought Billions For Chip Venture Before OpenAI Ouster: In the weeks leading up to his shocking ouster from OpenAI, Sam Altman was actively working to raise billions from some of the world’s largest investors for a new chip venture, according to people familiar with the matter. Altman had been traveling to the Middle East to fundraise for the project, which was code-named Tigris, the people said. The OpenAI chief executive officer planned to spin up an AI-focused chip company that could produce semiconductors that compete against those from Nvidia Corp., which currently dominates the market for artificial intelligence tasks. Altman’s chip venture is not yet formed and the talks with investors are in the early stages, said the people. (Bloomberg)
“Over the last year, Sam Altman led OpenAI to the adult table of the technology industry.” But the company’s quick success “raised tensions inside the company,” with co-founder Ilya Sutskever worried that ChatGPT could be dangerous and that Altman “was not paying enough attention to that risk.” (New York Times)
“There were some signs of technological challenges at OpenAI, but no indications that tensions were emerging in the boardroom and the C-suite.” (CNBC)
“Only a fraction of Microsoft’s $10 billion investment in OpenAI has been wired to the startup, while a significant portion of the funding, divided into tranches, is in the form of cloud compute purchases instead of cash.” (Semafor)
“The social media giant Twitter/X was plunged into crisis this weekend” as companies including Apple, Comcast, Disney, Paramount, and Warner Brothers “paused ad spending on the platform as its owner, Elon Musk, railed against accusations that it allowed adverts to be displayed alongside far-right posts. The boycott came days after Musk personally endorsed an antisemitic post on the platform.” (Times of London)
“SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket reached space for the first time Saturday, flying straight and true for more than eight minutes before exploding nearly 100 miles over the Gulf of Mexico downrange from the company's South Texas launch base.” (Ars Technica)
“The company made it further this time than at its first Starship launch attempt in April.” But the “explosion still counts as a setback, and it may very well delay NASA’s timeline for putting Americans back on the moon.” (The Atlantic)
Meta has disbanded its Responsible AI division, “the team dedicated to regulating the safety of its artificial intelligence ventures as they get developed and deployed.” Most members of the team “have been reassigned to the company’s Generative AI product division, while some others will now work on the AI Infrastructure team.” (CNBC)
Smart Links
From airlines to ticket sellers, companies fight U.S. to keep junk fees. (Washington Post)
Petrobras aims to transform Brazil into global energy power. (Financial Times)
Why superconductor research is in a ‘golden age’ — despite controversy. (Nature)
World’s fastest supercomputers are helping to sharpen climate forecasts and design new materials. (Science)
U.S. Subsidies Fuel Boom in Global Auto Trade. (Wall Street Journal)
Sugar prices are rising worldwide after bad weather tied to El Nino damaged crops in Asia. (Associated Press)