AI gets real

As AI starts to change our lives, it’s becoming clear what’s at stake. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( When the US announced a raft of export controls targeting China last year, it signaled a dramatic escalation of the competition with Beijing over leading-edge technologies like artificial intelligence. It’s only now, as AI starts to change life as we know it, that it’s becoming clear what’s at stake. IBM’s decision, made public this week, to pause hiring for jobs that could be performed using machine intelligence was perhaps predictable. But the sudden rout of education-tech firm Chegg’s stock value came out of the blue. Key Reading - [White House Says It Backs New Rules for AI After Harris Meeting]( - [Microsoft Economist Warns Bad Actors Will Use AI to Cause Damage]( - [Chegg’s 50% Wipeout Shows Shock of AI Colliding With US Business]( - [Musk Meets With Schumer as Senate Looks Into AI]( - [How China Aims to Counter US Efforts at ‘Containment’]( San Diego-based Chegg lost half its share price at one point on Tuesday after warning that OpenAI’s ChatGPT application threatened growth of its homework-help services. It was an augur of the technology’s disruptive nature, extending into all sorts of fields to which the world is only just waking up. Striking Hollywood screen writers included the regulation of AI among their demands. More gravely, US export controls are aimed at denying China’s military access to AI for battlefield applications. Use of AI to spread misinformation carries other threats. Then there was the news that AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton had quit Google after more than a decade to warn of its risks. “It’s hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things,” he told the New York Times. No less than Elon Musk, the libertarian owner of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter, suggested last week he’s in favor of regulation. The European Union is pushing the world’s first law regulating AI. In the US, Vice President Kamala Harris said yesterday that the White House would support regulation or legislation. Some Republicans are already voicing opposition. If the advent of ChatGPT in November announced AI’s arrival, then this week showed the technology’s darker side. Politicians are realizing the potential is enormous, and its pitfalls are equally profound. [— Alan Crawford]( Robots at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Sept. 2, 2022. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg Click [here]( for this week’s most compelling political images, and if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Understand power in Washington through the lens of business, government and the economy. [Sign up]( for the new Bloomberg Washington Edition newsletter delivered weekdays. Global Headlines The Pentagon is seeking a meeting between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu in Singapore next month, as Joe Biden’s administration tries to [restart military contacts]( despite Beijing’s earlier refusal, sources say. If China agrees, it would represent the most senior in-person exchange since an alleged Chinese spy balloon crossed the US in February. - Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the US can’t use military bases in his country for [“offensive action”]( against China in the event of a future war over Taiwan. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will travel to Saudi Arabia this weekend in a bid to smooth over Washington’s [rocky ties]( with the kingdom. His trip will be followed up by a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June for a meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, sources say. - Washington is trying to convince Middle East allies to add dozens more [robot vessels]( around the Arabian Peninsula to protect waterways vital to global commerce and oil trade. India will continue to depend on coal as its [largest source of electricity generation]( until 2030 and additional plants will be required, even as the nation adds record clean energy installations to hit its climate goals. The fossil fuel will account for about 54% of electricity generation seven years from now, according to a government report. In an expletive-laden video filmed in front of a field of corpses, Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin accused Russia’s defense minister and the head of the army today of failing [to supply]( his troops with enough ammunition in Ukraine. Prigozhin reiterated a threat to pull his forces out of the city of Bakhmut, saying they’ll leave on May 10 if he doesn’t get more shells. - Follow our rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine [here](. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [Ukraine in NATO - Heart Says Yes, Head No: Andreas Kluth]( - [Make Russia’s Wagner Group a Pariah in Africa: Bobby Ghosh]( - [King Charles’ Coronation Should Be Britain’s Last: Pankaj Mishra]( UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party lost hundreds of local council seats in areas it would need to hold next year to [keep power]( in general elections. While the picture may change as more results come in from yesterday’s ballot, they’re the first clear sign that opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer’s double-digit polling lead is translating into results on the ground. - As the UK prepares for the coronation of King Charles III tomorrow, [Kitty Donaldson]( reports on how waning youth support and feuding royals are [posing risks]( for the new monarch. Explainers You Can Use - [Why Chile Is (Still) Writing a New Constitution]( - [Wynn’s UAE Ambitions Reflect Growing Chatter Over Gambling Laws]( - [Why New Alzheimer’s Drugs Raise Hopes, But Modestly]( Brazil’s central bank chief remained under attack from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after policymakers held [interest rates steady at a six-year high]( while offering no indication that looser policy is imminent. Lula has bashed the country’s monetary authorities since taking office in January, saying current interest-rate levels are “absurd” and fail to curb inflation while boosting unemployment. Tune in to Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power at 5pm to 6pm ET weekdays with Washington correspondents [Annmarie Hordern]( and [Joe Mathieu](. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here](. News to Note - Millions of people in Sudan’s capital city [can’t receive]( desperately needed aid because it’s too dangerous to transport it from a Red Sea port, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator in the North African country said. - The army has been called in to patrol the streets across large parts of India’s northeastern Manipur state and the government has shut down access to the internet to [quell violence]( that erupted over access to affirmative action benefits. - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz threw his weight behind calls for the African Union to become a [permanent member]( of the Group of 20. - Venezuela’s opposition has [regained control]( of the nation’s bank accounts in the US, sources say. - Businesses in Northern Ireland said they’re pushing ahead with investments, [despite a stalemate]( over the region’s power-sharing government that’s paralyzed political institutions. Pop quiz (no cheating!) Which crop is President Xi Jinping pushing Chinese farmers to increase production of to reduce its 80% dependence on imports? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. And finally … The high Arctic is an internationally neutral zone that has long been kept away from geopolitics. But climate change has precipitated an unusual level of activity in the remote, resources-rich polar region, as colliding [strategic interests]( and melting ice stand to reshape it profoundly. As [Danielle Bochove](, [Marie Patino]( and [Hayley Warren]( show in this graphics-laden piece, stewardship of the Arctic is suddenly in question as a result of the isolation of Russia, the largest Arctic state, over its war on Ukraine. The Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant oil-producing platform in the Pechora Sea, Russia, in May 2016. Photographer: Sergey Anisimov/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Politics newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](