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The World
The European Union must be prepared to develop measures to protect trade and investment that China might exploit for its own security and military purposes, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned. Speaking before a trip to China planned for next week, von der Leyen said that it’s important to stop “sensitive technologies” that could be used in security crackdowns or to restrict human rights from falling into Beijing’s hands. (Associated Press)
China's ambassador to the European Union said European countries should "resist the unwarranted pressure from the U.S." to curb trade with Beijing and hinted that China would retaliate if the Netherlands goes ahead with imposing export restrictions on its high-end semiconductor-making technology this year. (Financial Times)
Taiwan speeds up preparation for potential conflict with China: Taiwan’s military is bolstering its preparation for a possible future war with China by planning an unprecedented military drill at a civilian airport this coming July. The military aircraft emergency landing and takeoff drill will be staged at Taitung Fengnian Airport on the southeast coast of Taiwan. The scenario is that Taiwan’s military airports and airstrips would be severely damaged in attacks by mainland China, forcing fighter-jets to land at civilian airports or on highways, the CNA quoted an unnamed military source as saying. (Radio Free Asia)
China rolls over $2 bln loan to Pakistan as it struggles with external liquidity. (Retuers)
Elon Musk plans China visit, seeks meeting with premier: Chief Executive Elon Musk is making plans to visit China as early as April and is seeking a meeting with China's Premier Li Qiang, two people with knowledge of planning for the trip told Reuters. The exact timing of the visit is subject to Li Qiang's availability, one of the sources said. (Reuters)
Turkey’s parliament voted to approve Finland’s membership in NATO, removing the final obstacle to the accession of Russia’s Nordic neighbor into the defense alliance as its 31st member. Lawmakers in Ankara unanimously voted to ratify Finland’s entry into the NATO, the last of current members to approve the expansion after the Hungarian parliament on Monday also backed the move. (Bloomberg)
Moscow’s arrest of a Wall Street Journal reporter on espionage charges this week broadens a rift between the U.S. and Russia that is already so wide, the two nuclear powers barely maintain diplomatic communications. That will make any agreement on the release of the reporter, 31-year-old Evan Gershkovich, difficult to secure as he heads toward a trial in a court under the control of Russia’s security service, the FSB, U.S. officials say. Such a court is expected to operate on the orders of the Kremlin, increasing the prospect of a conviction after a trial that may be held in secret. The FSB said Thursday that Mr. Gershkovich was detained Wednesday for alleged espionage while on a reporting trip to the Russian provincial city of Yekaterinburg, around 800 miles east of Moscow. The Journal vehemently denied wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Gershkovich and called for his immediate release. (Wall Street Journal)
Bolsonaro back in Brazil: Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro ended his self-imposed exile in Florida on Thursday, returning home to lead the opposition against his archenemy, leftist President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva. After losing the election to Lula last autumn, he never conceded and skipped town instead of attending the inauguration. Lula was confirmed on New Year’s Day, and a week later Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in the capital in Brazil’s own Jan. 6. Lula must now decide whether to try to put Bolsonaro behind bars or ban him from politics. (GZERO Media)
A new bipartisan Senate bill, almost identical to a 2022 bill, would force companies with $20B+ in annual digital ad revenue to sell part of their business. (AdExchanger)
Americans Are Losing Faith in College Education, WSJ-NORC Poll Finds: The survey, conducted with NORC at the University of Chicago, a nonpartisan research organization, found that 56% of Americans think earning a four-year degree is a bad bet compared with 42% who retain faith in the credential. Skepticism is strongest among people ages 18-34, and people with college degrees are among those whose opinions have soured the most, portending a profound shift for higher education in the years ahead. (Wall Street Journal)
Economy
The eurozone’s rate of inflation fell sharply in March, as energy prices across the region continued to fall from record levels reached last summer, but prices for food remained stubbornly high. Prices rose 6.9 percent in the year through March for the 20 countries that use the euro, down from an 8.5 percent annual pace in February, the European Union’s statistical office said on Friday. Largely driving the drop was the cost of energy, which soared last year following the invasion of Ukraine and has fallen this year as Europe has successfully pivoted away from a reliance on Russian fuels. But the price of food rose at an annual rate of 15.4 percent, a record, compared with 15 percent in February. (New York Times)
Flight to Money Funds Is Adding to the Strains on Small Banks: Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse has caused savers to seek out alternatives, but the shift poses risks to the financial system and the wider economy. (Bloomberg)
Manhattan’s office-vacancy rate is at a record high as new developments add even more space to the struggling market. More than 16% of space was empty as of the first quarter, according to brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., which tracks about 470 million square feet (44 million square meters) of Manhattan offices. Leasing is at its lowest levels since the second quarter of 2021. (Bloomberg)
The Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into the largest U.S. alcohol distributor, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, over practices related to how wine and liquor are priced and sold around the country, according to three people with knowledge of the probe. The FTC is investigating Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits for possible violations of the Robinson-Patman Act, a 1936 law prohibiting suppliers from offering better prices to large retailers at the expense of their smaller competitors, according to the people. (Politico)
Disney blocks Ron DeSantis’ Florida power play with a royal family clause. The public feud between Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Company rages on after Disney invoked a rare legal clause based on the descendants of the British royal family. Before DeSantis could replace the Reedy Creek district board of directors, a Disney-allied board signed a long-lasting development agreement that drastically limits his control. Florida legislators have balked at the new agreement, vowing to find a legal way to repeal or void the document. However, Disney says all of its conduct was legal. (CNBC)
Technology
Huawei will support 'all' of China's efforts on chip self-reliance: China's semiconductor industry will not sit still amid the U.S. crackdown and Huawei Technologies will support "all" of the country's efforts to be self-sufficient in chips, the company's rotating chairman said. "What we've seen in the past few years is China's semiconductor industry being sanctioned, sanctioned and sanctioned. But the Chinese chip industry will not just sit still. ... It will self-rescue and be self-reliant," Huawei Rotating Chairman Eric Xu told a press conference after the release of the company's full-year earnings. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Japan to restrict semiconductor equipment exports as China chip war intensifies: Tokyo aligns with Washington in move expected to significantly curtail activity by Beijing. (Financial Times)
OpenAI’s success in overtaking Google with an artificial intelligence–powered chatbot has achieved what seemed impossible in the past: It has forced the two AI research teams within Google’s parent, Alphabet, to overcome years of intense rivalry to work together. Software engineers at Google’s Brain AI group are working with employees at DeepMind, an AI lab that is a sibling company within Alphabet, to develop software to compete with OpenAI, according to two people with knowledge of the project. Known internally as Gemini, the joint effort began in recent weeks, after Google stumbled with Bard, its first attempt to compete with OpenAI’s chatbot. (The Information)
Italy's privacy regulator temporarily bans ChatGPT and will probe OpenAI, claiming the company lacks a basis for “mass collection and storage of personal data”. (Politico)
Twitter plans to exempt its top 500 advertisers and 10K most-followed, previously verified organizations from paying $1,000 per month for a checkmark. Meanwhile, the NYT, LAT, and WaPo won't buy Twitter Blue; NYT, LAT, BuzzFeed, and Politico won't reimburse reporters for it, but Semafor and some other small outlets will. (New York Times, Buzzfeed)
Google starts letting the public test generative AI in Gmail and Docs. Google gave an overview of what generative AI features are coming to Workspace apps two weeks ago and is now beginning public testing in Gmail and Docs. Today’s trusted test program spans consumer, enterprise, and education users (over 18) in the United States. This “small group,” invited to join by Google, must sign up and opt in, with the ability to leave the program at any time. In Gmail, you can use generative AI to draft everything from a birthday invitation to a job cover letter. Users can also have Google take what they’ve written and make it more elaborate or shorten it, including down to bullet points. There’s also the ability to “Formalize” a message, while Google has shown off a whimsical “I’m feeling lucky” option that adds levity and makes other whimsical stylistic choices (e.g., emoji). (9to5Google)
‘Iger is stuck’: Disney chief debates future of Hulu and ESPN. Since Bob Iger’s second term as Disney chief executive started in November, some of America’s most prominent media executives have offered him advice on how to turn the world’s largest entertainment group round. One topic has dominated the conversations: what to do with Hulu, the popular but complicated streaming service in which Disney owns a majority stake. The executives have counseled selling the platform, according to people familiar with the conversations, with some also suggesting Iger spin off ESPN, a profitable but declining piece of the Disney kingdom. Rumors surrounding the streaming service and the sports network, assets potentially worth $40bn, get to the heart of a larger question: as Hollywood enters a more mature phase of the streaming era, what kind of company should Disney be? (Financial Times)
Smart Links
Researchers find new molecule that shows promise in slowing SARS-CoV-2. (Stanford University)
Quarter of emerging countries lose effective access to debt markets. (Financial Times)
UK minimum wage to increase 9.7% in ‘real-terms pay boost’. (Financial Times)
Audible is testing ad-supported access to select titles for non-members. (TechCrunch)
Vinod Khosla on how AI will ‘free humanity from the need to work’. (Semafor)
Why skinny soda cans are everywhere. (CNN)
Bill Gates took a ‘test ride’ in an autonomous vehicle, and says they’ll save you money—take a look. (CNBC)