From Headlines From Clear Law…

In today’s news, I bring to you the Top 5 news:

1. European defence groups warn of over-reliance on Chinese cotton used in gunpowder, and then EU launches inquiry into China’s subsidies for wind turbines;

2. GM’s Cruise Attempts Comeback for its Driverless Fleet - With Human Drivers First;

3. AI race heats up as OpenAI, Google and Mistral release new models;

4. UK startup lifts on plan to turn human waste into jet fuel; and

5. Taylor Swift’s return to TikTok put her at odds with Universal.

and much more to stay tuned for.

Detailed Report for the Day consists of:

European defence groups warn of over-reliance on Chinese cotton used in gunpowder

Saab and Rheinmettall are warning about over-reliance on Chinese cotton used in gunpowder for ammunition, saying that the use of cotton linters (a byproduct and primary ingredient that is needed to make nitrocellulose that is used in explosives) from China is so prevalent that if China decided to cut off supply it would cause a real problem. Europe relied on China for more than 70% of its cotton linters.

EU launches inquiry into China’s subsidies for Wind Turbines

EU has now launched an investigation into wind turbines that are sold by Chinese suppliers to look into allegations that state subsidies for the Chinese government are giving Chinese companies an unfair advantage over European rivals. China is currently the world’s biggest maker of wind turbines and makes up about 50% of the market globally

This means: This shows the power that China has over other countries. If they cut the supply of one particular product will cause problems for several countries. However, there are constant investigations launched into Chinese companies to keep their production and growth under control.

GM’s Cruise Attempts Comeback for its Driverless Fleet - With Human Drivers First

GM’s driverless division, Cruise, is making efforts to get back on the road. Cruise suspended driverless operations nationwide in October after several high-profile incidents forced it to take around 400 self-driving cars in cities including Phoenix, San Fransico and Austin out of service. It said that would be sending out cars with humans behind the wheel to create maps and gather road information on Phoenix and then roll out at the same time in their cities. They will collect data on features including speed limits, stop signs and traffic lights.

This means that driverless cars have been a problem for years now. When will they come into force is a question.

AI race heats up as OpenAI, Google and Mistral release new models

Launch of new AI models from OpenAI (the final version of GPT-4 Turbo), Google (Gemini Pro 1.5) and France’s Mistral (Mixtral 8×22B) - all within 12 hours of each other! More releases are expected this year - Like Meta’s Llama 3 and Open AI’s GPT-5.

This means: that although there are so many releases of AI, the companies need to make sure that these models comply with the standards and risk assessments.

UK startup lifts the lid on a plan to turn human waste into jet fuel'

Bristol-based sustainable aviation company, called Firefly, said that it has managed to develop a process to convert treated sewage into sustainable aviation fuel (aka SAF). Budget airline Wizz has placed an order for up to 525,000 tonnes of Firefly’s fuel for the next 15 years, which could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds! Firefly will take biosolids from Anglian water and turn them into aircraft fuel. The company COO reckons that the plentiful supply of sewage will mean that SAF could make up around 5% of airlines’ fuel needs in the UK.

This means: Firefly has taken sustainability to another level. It is really impressive: I mean how did they come up with the initial plan in the first place?

Taylor Swift’s return to TikTok puts her at odds with Universal

Taylor Swift went against her music label, Universal Music, and made her songs available again on TikTok yesterday a week before the release of her new album. Swift has owned the copyrights of her recordings since 2018, because of a deal struck with Universal and has control over the availability of her music, unlike most of the other artists. Universal Music is currently fighting with TikTok over royalty payments and how to treat songs created by AI and has muted the songs on the social media platform.

This means: that TikTok is a tool for artists to promote their songs and albums. Other artist should also enter into deals with their companies to avoid their companies controlling their ability to promote their songs as they wish.

Editor's Self-Talks -  

From next week, I will start uploading deals and disputes involving firms on Tuesdays :) 

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