California blame game

Good morning. Donald Trump and Gavin Newsom spar as the Los Angeles clashes escalate. Trade talks between the US and China are set to kick off in London. And Apple’s big announcement looks set to disappoint. Listen to the day’s top stories.

Demonstrators clashed with law enforcement in Los Angeles as unrest spilled into a third night. Donald Trump said it was “looking really bad in LA” as he sparred with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who blamed the president’s deployment of 2,000 national guard troops for inflaming tensions over increasingly aggressive immigration raids.

The US and China kick off fresh trade negotiations in London today in a bid to further defuse tensions over rare-earth minerals and advanced technology. Here’s what to expect. The talks come after last week’s big phone call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping helped to clear the air and restore the flow of critical minerals to the US.

In tech news, Meta is said to be in multibillion dollar talks to invest in artificial intelligence startup Scale AI—marking what could turn out to be one of the largest private company funding events of all time. Check out what’s so special about the company. Meanwhile, OpenAI founder Sam Altman’s eyeball-scanning identification tech is being rolled out in the UK.

Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay is in a critical condition after an assassination attempt in Bogotá. A 15-year-old was arrested. The shooting is the latest sign of trouble in the Andean nation, where cocaine production is at a record, organized crime gangs are capturing ever more territory, and the economy is flailing.
Israel intercepteda humanitarian aid ship trying to reach Gaza that was carrying activists including Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg. “Israel is once again acting with total impunity,” according to the group operating the vessel. Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it recovered the body of senior Hamas commander Mohammed Sinwar, who was killed in an airstrike.

Deep Dive: Apple’s Big Week

Apple’s big annual unveiling of new technology kicks off in Cupertino, California, today, but the tech giant’s efforts in AI look set to fall flat.

Opinion

College grads are lab rats in the AI experiment, Parmy Olson writes. Businesses need to find a balance between leveraging the technology and ensuring their junior staff develop strategic thinking skills.

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The Big Take

Quant firm Headlands accused one of its former traders of stealing $1 billion worth of secret trading code. It’s a rare criminal case that may define how an algorithm can become stolen property and have a huge impact on Wall Street’s talent wars.

Before You Go

Students attempting to cheat using AI chatbots during China's high-stakes “gaokao” college entrance exam had an unpleasant shock as the country’s most popular apps disabled various functions for the duration of the tests. Asked to explain, the chatbots responded that it was to ensure fairness.

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