Reuters World News - Why does Elon Musk want to press pause on AI?

Episode Date: March 30, 2023

Elon Musk wants an AI pause: is he concerned or playing catch up? The Taiwan president’s high stakes trip--- to Latin America. Disney’s plot twist in Florida. Plus, Bolsonaro goes home, prayers for the Pope and South Africa's Blade Runner tries for parole. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Elon Musk wants AI development halted for six months. Is it for the good of society or the Tesla boss? A stopover in the US by Taiwan's president is stirring the wrath of China, but the Latin America leg of her trip is critical for wider diplomatic relations. Plus, prayers for the Pope, Bolsonaro goes home, and South Africa's blade runner tries for parole. It's Thursday, March 30th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes.

I'm Kim Vinal in London. We start in Russia, where security services say they've detained a Wall Street Journal reporter on suspicion of spying for Washington. The FSB accuses Evan Gershkovich of gathering information classified as a state secret about a military factory. It's the most serious public move against a foreign journalist since Russia invaded you. Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Over in Ukraine, there's fresh fears over the military buildup near a major nuclear power plant. I am now more convinced than ever that the protection of the plant is absolutely necessary. Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency,

Rafael Grossi. He says Russia and Ukraine are increasing their forces, with signs the fighting could escalate. Grossi crossed a front line held by the Ukrainian military to inspect the Zaporizia power station. Before the invasion, it accounted for about 20% of national power. It was captured by Russian troops in the opening weeks of the war. In Mexico, prosecutors are investigating a deadly fire at a detention center as a homicide case

and are preparing to make arrests. That's security minister, Rosa Issela Rorriguez, saying they've identified eight suspects, including federal and state agents. Dozens of migrants, mainly from Guatemala and other Central American countries, died in the blaze. Witnesses said they were locked in their cell as the fire spread. A video circulating on social media appears to show men kicking on the bars of a locked door as their cell filling. filled with smoke. Three uniformed people can be seen walking past. Two army Black Hawk helicopters have crashed during a training mission in Kentucky. The status of the crew members is not immediately known, but Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said that fatalities were expected. The cause of

the crash is under investigation. This is a developing story. Follow our updates throughout the day at Reuters.com. The Pope is being treated for a respiratory infection in Rome. The Vatican says Pope Francis will need to be in hospital for a few days. The 86-year-old had suffered some breathing difficulties. Catholics at the San Jose de Las Flores Basilica in his hometown of Buenos Aires prayed for his recovery. Joe Biden voiced his concerns for the Pope's health at the White House. Republican lawmakers in Kentucky have pushed through one of the most extreme

anti-transgender rights bills in the country. They overturned the governor's veto of the bill, which would ban transgender youths from gender-affirming health care. If it becomes law, it would also restrict which toilets they can use in public schools and allow teachers to refuse to refer to transgender students by their chosen pronouns. To Florida now, and it looks like the mouse house has out-maneuvered Governor Ron DeSantis. A board picked by DeSantis to oversee Walt Disney's Orlando theme park says it's been neutered by a last-minute contract change. Walt Disney pushed through changes that limit the board's powers. The board is now considering legal action. It's the latest stage in a culture war between Disney and DeSantis,

as the governor considers a possible bid for the 2024 GOP nomination. Disney has said its action was appropriate. DeSantis could not be reached for comment. It's time for the markets now, our very own Carmel Crimmons. The mantra appears to be no news is good news, Kim. It's been quiet on the banking front, and that's eased concerns about a crisis there and encouraged investors back in. Bonds and tech companies have been catching some of the action. Speaking of tech, investors are cheering plans from Alibaba to spin-off and separately list its business. They're taking it as a sign that China wants to get foreign capital back in. That was the media circus outside the South African trial of Oscar Pistorius. The Paralympian convictorian convictors. The Paralympian

convicted in 2016 of killing his girlfriend. Now he's up for parole after serving half of his 13-year sentence. Pistorius claimed he believed his girlfriend, Reva Steencamp, was an intruder when he shot her dead. The parole hearing on Friday to decide whether to release him from prison is closed to the media. Taiwan's president, Sai Ying Wen, is in New York, the first leg of a sensitive U.S. stopover before she heads to Latin America. Beijing is threatening retaliation if Sae meets with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. But it's the Latin America part of her trip where the stakes are really high for Taipei.

Foreign policy editor Don Durfey in Washington, D.C. explains. So McCarthy is expected to meet with Tai when she transits through California sometime next week. Just remember that last summer Nancy Pelosi had visited Taiwan. She was the House Speaker at the time. And it caused a real diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and China with China staging these really dramatic military exercises around the island. So McCarthy agreeing, you're planning to see her in California. Instead, it's actually significantly less provocative. And so we expect that China won't react quite as harshly. What about in Latin America? What does Taiwan have at stake there?

Right. So Taiwan has gradually been losing countries that offer a diplomatic recognition. I think it's to just 13 now after Honduras, just this weekend, severed diplomatic ties. Taiwan does have a lot of economic interests in Latin America and then would see any additional losses as a bail blow. For the Chinese Communist Party, every country that they can convince to switch recognition to the PRC is further proof in their minds that the world supports their claims to Taiwan. All right, Don Durfee, thank you so much. You're welcome, thanks. Elon Musk wants a six-month pause on developing powerful new AI systems so that regulators around the world can catch up.

That's what he and a group of scientists and technologists have written in an open letter. The letter cites the risk to society. But is that all that's motivating Musk? I spoke to global automotive correspondent Joe White in Detroit. So, Joe, what's going on? Well, first of all, Elon Musk has been very public in the past. with his concerns about where artificial intelligence is headed. I mean, he said the kinds of things you see in this letter in multiple forms.

That said, I would think that regulators would find it curious that this is the same Elon Musk who has resisted efforts to regulate Tesla's autopilot. He has never been a fan up until this moment of government intervention in technology or certainly his technology companies. So there's that, right? And there's a certain irony there. There's also, I think, a competitive angle to this, that may emerge. What is the competitive element here? Well, Elon Musk has been positioning

Tesla and his other enterprises, SpaceX and Neurilink and so on, as artificial intelligence companies. I mean, in Tesla's case, an AI company is worth a lot more than just a plain old auto company. And he's been trying to do things like develop a humanoid robot using artificial that would be powered by artificial intelligence. So Musk is competing with OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, for the same talent for investor attention, for capital as these companies, but suddenly he finds himself not playing in the hottest part of this emerging industry. He's not got a generative AI language robot. That's not what he's been doing.

All right, Joe, thank you so much. To Florida and the start of the journey home for former Brazilian president Jaya Bolsonaro. This is Orlando International, where he's taking selfies before. boarding his flight back to Brazil. This ends three months of self-imposed exile. Bolsonaro's never conceded defeat after last year's election. He's returning to lead the right-wing opposition against leftist president, Luis Anasio Lula de Silva.

His party is hoping Bolsonaro will galvanize voters. But there are also fears he could rekindle divisions. Security has been tightened in Brazil ahead of his return. Reuters senior politics correspondent in Brazil, Anthony Bodle. People in Brazil are hoping he won't inflame tensions more than he has in the past. They don't want to see another January 8th when his supporters stormed government buildings in downtown Brasilia. His party wants him to behave like a traditional politician and not like the populace president he was and engage his 58 million voters so that they will vote for the party in the

coming elections, municipal elections next year and presidential elections in 2026. That's it for Reuters World News. We'll be back on Friday. In the meantime, you can find more trusted news at Reuters.com.