Flagship

US eyes visa curbs over ‘censorship’

The US government said Wednesday it will restrict visas for foreign nationals who are “complicit in censoring Americans” online. Secretary of State Marco Rubio singled out overseas censorship actions taken against US tech companies, many of whom have criticized the European Union’s digital laws as a threat to freedom of speech. The move reflects transatlantic tensions over what Washington views as European censorship and over-policing of online speech. That stance is hypocritical, The Economist wrote recently, pointing to the White House’s crackdown on universities over ideological differences and its scrutiny of foreign students’ political views. But Europe “really does have a problem with free speech,” the magazine argued.

MAGA isn’t really isolationist

The US is seeking to broaden its global influence, contrary to President Donald Trump’s “America First” rhetoric and his movement’s purportedly isolationist stance, analysts argued. “MAGA is absolutely obsessed with foreign countries,” the Financial Times’ Janan Ganesh wrote: Trump said Wednesday the Russia-Ukraine conflict “isn’t Trump’s war,” but asserted he wants to end it; he lambasted South Africa’s president over claims of “genocide” there; and he has railed against Europe’s speech laws. Trump’s version of isolationism doesn’t defend allies with hard power, but undermines those with ideological differences, Ganesh argued. This reflects a new paradigm where world powers no longer carve spheres of influence, but offer limited concessions to control resources and supply chains, an expert wrote in Foreign Policy.

US unis’ ‘recession-style’ financial plans

Elite American universities are adapting their financial playbooks to deal with the Trump administration’s escalating threats against higher education. Schools including Harvard University and MIT have taken on more than $4 billion in additional debt since March to protect their finances amid the government’s proposed funding cuts — a “recession-style” strategy, Bloomberg reported. And to blunt the impact of Trump’s budget package that would raise taxes on university endowments, colleges are rethinking their investment plans: They are considering pursuing fewer short-term gains, and instead shifting money toward investments like private equity, which take longer to realize gains, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Nvidia beats earnings expectations

Nvidia reported a nearly 70% rise in quarterly revenues on Wednesday, beating analyst expectations even as US restrictions on advanced chips to China have weighed on the business. CEO Jensen Huang has been vocally critical of the Trump administration’s curbs on selling artificial intelligence chips to Chinese companies, saying that the limits have “backfired” by spurring Beijing to boost its own chip-making capabilities. Investors have been watching to see if Nvidia can sustain its momentum amid the US-China trade war; some analysts believe that new AI investments in the Gulf announced during US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the region could help fill the void.

Alarm over China hacking abilities

Governments are growing increasingly alarmed over China’s apparent hacking capabilities. The Czech government on Wednesday blamed a cyberattack against its foreign ministry on a Chinese state-sponsored group; the European Union and NATO both condemned “malicious” Chinese cyberespionage. And India’s government recently imposed new rules requiring manufacturers of CCTV cameras — including Chinese, Korean, and American companies — to submit their equipment, software, and source code for testing. The policy was largely driven by hacking fears linked to Beijing, Reuters reported: Chinese firms make up some 30% of the Indian surveillance camera market, and “there’s always an espionage risk,” a former government cybersecurity official said. But makers of surveillance gear have pushed back, warning the rules are onerous and could impact supply.

South Korea early voting begins

South Korean voters begin early voting Thursday to determine who will lead a country grappling with political and economic upheaval. Seoul is facing slowing economic growth, global trade tensions, deepening political polarization, and escalating risks over North Korea — all of which are amplified by a “quiet crisis” brewing in the US-South Korea alliance, an expert told the Financial Times. The left-wing frontrunner in the June 3 election has described the US as an “occupying force,” while a third-party right-wing candidate, who has pushed for deregulation à la Elon Musk, is threatening to disrupt the conservative establishment. Despite its vulnerabilities, “South Korea has shown a remarkable capacity for reinvention and renewal,” a Korean economist argued in Project Syndicate.

Wartime economy gives Putin leeway

Russia’s shift to a wartime economy has given President Vladimir Putin latitude to drag out Ukraine peace talks, despite signs that economic gains are slowing. Moscow offered big signing bonuses to build up its army; wage growth persisted throughout the economy, boosting Russians’ living standards and blunting the impact of Western sanctions. “It is absolutely imperative for Russia to continue to rely on the military industry, because it [has] become the driver of economic growth,” one expert told The Wall Street Journal. But salary growth has weakened, GDP growth has slowed, and oil revenues are falling, the Financial Times reported: “The problems are piling up,” a Russian economist said, but not enough to change residents’ views on the war.

Drones rewrite Gulf defense doctrine

The prevalence of drones in global battlefields is changing the Gulf’s defense posture. The region’s nations have long depended on complex air defense systems, but drones are “forcing a fundamental rethink,” Semafor Gulf contributor Omar Al-Ubaydli wrote, in which the technology’s proliferation could allow for mutual deterrence, and thus more stability: “They can deter through offense, not defense.” This is the rational option in a world where “the rules-based order has frayed and international law is less of a constraint,” Al-Ubaydli argued. A Syrian-born cybersecurity expert and entrepreneur who has emerged as a major supplier of drones to Ukraine recently told Semafor he plans to expand production, noting growing demand from Western and Gulf militaries.

The decline of US college towns

College towns in the US are struggling as fewer students choose regional universities. For instance, Western Illinois University’s Macomb campus has seen a 47% slump in enrollment since 2010, while the town’s population dropped 23% in the same time. Texas and Wisconsin have seen similar patterns: According to a Wall Street Journal analysis, enrollment at prominent state universities increased by 9% in 2023 compared to 2015, but lesser-known regional ones saw a 2% fall. For decades, an increase in university attendance fueled local economies, but that boom is over. Metropolitan areas reliant on higher education have seen weaker economic growth since 2011 compared to the rest of the country.

Contact lenses with night vision

Newly developed contact lenses allow people to see in the dark — sort of — even when they have their eyes closed. The lenses, created by Chinese researchers, use rare-earth nanoparticles that convert infrared into visible light, like night-vision goggles without the bulk. People wearing the lenses could see flickering light from an infrared LED even through closed eyelids, Nature reported. The images are blurry and dim, but the researchers believe they can be further optimized and used to transmit information in security or anti-counterfeiting applications, or even by surgeons using infrared light to highlight, detect, and remove cancerous lesions.

May 29:

• Former Goldman Sachs partner Tim Leissner is sentenced on federal corruption charges in connection with Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal, in New York.
• Costco, RBC, and Dell report earnings.
• The UK marks 75 years since the first broadcast of The Archers, the world’s longest-running soap.

In the foothills of Japan’s Central Alps, artisans uphold the century-old folk art tradition of mingei, crafting exquisite household items meant for everyday use. Formulated around frugality and resistance to modern consumption habits, the movement’s practitioners emphasize local sources and methods passed down through families: Mingei craftspeople fashion earthenware and sake cups lacquered with tree sap (urushi), and sometimes take six months to weave just one fine silk kimono using tree bark and other local plants. Despite the 2024 Noto earthquake destroying many artisans’ workshops, mingei workers continue to “testify to an art of living,” one shop owner told Le Monde.

Between 2011 and 2016, the 10 million-plus Americans watching CBS Thursday nights were given a tutorial on the emerging field of artificial intelligence, courtesy of Jonathan Nolan’s Person of Interest.

“For a very long time, AI has felt like the story of our time,” Nolan told Semafor’s Ben Smith and Reed Albergotti; even a decade ago, “the pieces of it were right there if you cared to look at them.” He started thinking about the subject when he began writing Interstellar in 2006, speaking to luminaries like Elon Musk and DeepMind co-founders Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman for source material. With Westworld, Nolan has influenced the next generation of AI research.