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The World
“As the global far right celebrate Javier Milei’s win in Argentina’s presidential race, his rise to power is raising questions about the country’s new role on the world stage.” World leaders “are scrambling to figure out how they will navigate relations with Milei, a far-right libertarian who has vowed to gut government institutions crucial for global economics.” (Semafor)
Milei’s victory “brings much uncertainty for Argentina’s science community.” Milei and other members of his party “have pledged to shut down or possibly privatize the country’s main science agency, the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), as well as to eliminate the ministries of health, science and environment.” (Nature)
The leader of the far-right Forum for Democracy party “was hit on the head with a beer bottle Monday in an attack that took place two days before the Netherlands holds a general election.” Thierry Baudet was taken to a hospital and treated by a trauma surgeon, according to the party. (Associated Press)
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals “moved on Monday to drastically weaken the Voting Rights Act, issuing a ruling that would effectively bar private citizens and civil rights groups from filing lawsuits” under Section 2 of the landmark 1965 law. That section “prohibits election or voting practices that discriminate against Americans based on race.” (New York Times)
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, “designed to expand the power of U.S. agencies to collect electronic ‘foreign intelligence information,’ whether about spies, terrorists, or cybercriminals abroad, and to do so without a warrant,” is up for renewal, and critics in the tech policy world are organizing against it. Under Section 702, tech companies “are compelled to hand over communications records like phone calls, texts, and emails to U.S. intelligence agencies including the FBI, CIA, and NSA,” which critics say is unconstitutional. (MIT Technology Review)
It has been one year since Bob Iger returned to Disney — a year he has spent “trying to fix one problem after another in nearly every corner” of the company. “Disney’s organizational structure was broken. Expenses had soared. Disney’s faithful fans were furious about a series of price hikes at the vaunted theme parks,” and Ron DeSantis “was taking swipes, saying the company was too ‘woke.’ Then, in May, 11,500 screenwriters went on strike, joined later by 160,000 actors.” (Los Angeles Times)
Ron Klain, White House chief of staff during President Biden’s first two years in office, will join Airbnb as chief legal officer on January 1. It is a “surprise twist for the storied career of Klain, who remains a confidant of President Biden, with a big behind-the-scenes voice in his re-election campaign.” (Axios)
Big public companies that rent out single-family homes are beating the rest of the rental market this year, thanks to tenants who are paying large rent increases on the sorts of homes they increasingly can’t afford to buy. Landlords Tricon Residential, Invitation Homes and AMH, which together own about 180,000 rental homes, each posted rent increases greater than 6% for the third quarter over the same period a year prior. That was about twice as much as the average increase for rental homes in September, compared with the same month last year, according to separate indexes from data firm CoreLogic and online-listing company Zillow. (Wall Street Journal)
“A series of storms are poised to strike a large portion of the U.S. this week, including the heavily populated Northeast, and will likely cause travel disruptions for some of the 55.4 million people on the move.” Major air travel hubs like Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and St. Louis may be hit by severe thunderstorms and snow, impacting departures. (Axios)
Economy
Over 75% of foreign money invested into Chinese stocks in 2023 has left: More than three-quarters of the foreign money that flowed into China’s stock market in the first seven months of the year has left, with global investors dumping more than $25bn worth of shares despite Beijing’s efforts to restore confidence in the world’s second-largest economy. The sharp selling in recent months puts net purchases by offshore investors on course for the smallest annual total since 2015, the first full year of the Stock Connect programme that links up markets in Hong Kong and mainland China. (Financial Times)
“While most hybrid workers prefer a mix of in-office and at-home work, they gravitate toward remote settings: A larger share said they are more productive when working remotely (50%) than when working in person (41%).” And 57% of hybrid workers “said they would only seek future jobs that allowed both remote and in-person work.” (Morning Consult)
Nissan will increase top wages at U.S. manufacturing plants by 10% in January, with about 9,000 workers expected to see increases. The announcement came “after the United Auto Workers union reached new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers.” (Reuters)
Citigroup is eliminating more than 300 senior manager roles. The cuts will impact about 10% of all current workers “two levels below” CEO Jane Fraser’s executive management team. (Bloomberg)
Bayer shares fell after the company announced that it had discontinued a phase 3 clinical trial for a cardiovascular drug and as the company was simultaneously ordered to pay $1.56 billion in a lawsuit relating to its Roundup weedkiller. Earlier this month, CEO Bill Anderson said an overhaul of Bayer’s corporate structure was likely. (Wall Street Journal)
Nvidia investors weigh risks from US’s China chip rules ahead of earnings: Market will look to forward guidance for indication of how bad disruption may be from AI processor export controls. Nvidia’s claim that its business can sidestep the effects of US controls on the export of semiconductors to China is set to be tested when it publishes quarterly earnings on Tuesday. (Financial Times)
Technology
“The future of OpenAI hangs by a thread after more than 700 of its 770 employees signed a letter saying they may leave the company for Microsoft” if ousted CEO Sam Altman is not reinstated. Altman joined Microsoft almost immediately after his dismissal, and “several key OpenAI employees have already joined Microsoft’s new A.I. subsidiary.” (New York Times)
“Altman’s surprise move to Microsoft after his shock firing at OpenAI isn’t a done deal.” He and co-founder Greg Brockman are reportedly “still willing to return to OpenAI if the remaining board members who fired him step aside.” (The Verge)
Inside the Chaos at OpenAI (The Atlantic)
X CEO Linda Yaccarino is resisting growing pressure from advertisers to step down “as big brands pause their spending on the platform over concerns about its owner Elon Musk and antisemitic content.” Over the weekend, friends and peers “privately urged her to resign in order to save her reputation,” but Yaccarino reportedly told them “that she believes in X’s mission and its employees.” (Financial Times)
The Senate Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed the CEOs of Discord, Snap, and X “to testify at a hearing on children’s online safety next month after ‘repeated refusals’ by the tech companies to cooperate with its investigation into the matter.” In the “rare show of force,” senators are seeking to force the three to appear on December 6, “which the panel said in a news release would ‘allow Committee members to press CEOs from some of the world’s largest social media companies on their failures to protect children online.’” (Washington Post)
The Justice Department wants Binance to pay more than $4 billion “as part of a proposed resolution of a years-long investigation into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Negotiations between the Justice Department and Binance include the possibility that its founder Changpeng Zhao would face criminal charges in the U.S. under an agreement to resolve the probe into alleged money laundering, bank fraud and sanctions violations.” (Bloomberg)
Zoom reported better-than-expected revenue for the third quarter “on strong enterprise sales, a sign the company is holding its own in a competitive market for business collaboration software.” Sales were up 3.2% to about $1.14 billion, beating expectations of $1.12 billion. (Bloomberg)
Early next year, the Commerce Department will “begin fielding funding applications for research and development in advanced packaging, the process that stitches multiple chips together to make devices faster, cheaper, and more complex.” The National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program “is the next big step the Biden administration is taking to implement the CHIPS and Science Act.” (Semafor)
Smart Links
More free COVID-19 tests from the government are available for home delivery through the mail. (Associated Press)
A Union for Bankers? These Workers Plan to Vote on One at Wells Fargo. (Wall Street Journal)
GM To Sit Out Super Bowl, Breaking 4-Year Streak. (AdAge)
The Case for Using AI to Log Your Every Living Moment. (Wired)
Northvolt in new sodium-ion battery breakthrough. (Financial Times)