San Francisco, CA
Joe Biden is meeting a weaker Xi Jinping in San Francisco
Good morning.
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met yesterday on the edges of the APEC Summit in California. And that, in and of itself, is a good thing. Two wars in the world at the same time are enough. Peaceful relations between the U.S. and China are critical to global business and society.
But it is also worth noting how much the world has changed since Xi’s last visit, when he was hosted by Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. I’d cite three changes in particular:
—China is no longer the economic juggernaut it was. Growth in China has slowed substantially, real estate problems have become massive, and the once widespread assumption that China would eventually surpass the U.S. as the world’s biggest economic power has evaporated.
—China’s effort to win over the world with “soft” power has faltered. I was struck by a recent graphic prepared by my former colleagues at the Pew Research Center comparing views of the U.S. and China in 24 key countries. The U.S. is seen far more favorably in most countries, and the gap has gotten larger.
—The U.S. is fighting back in the economic competition with China. A surprising combination of Trump and Biden policies have driven perhaps the most dramatic change of U.S. economic policy in my lifetime. For the first time, the U.S. has a robust and quasi-coherent industrial policy designed to protect U.S. business, preserve its technological superiority, and reestablish key domestic industries that were ceded to Asia over the last 20 years.
The difficult question, of course, is whether a weaker China decreases the risk of military conflict…or increases it. And that question is adding to the geopolitical uncertainty weighing on business right now.
By the way, this week’s episode of the Leadership Next podcast features a case study in industrial policy. It features a fascinating woman, Christina Lampe-Onnerud, a central player in both ceding the battery business to China and now fighting to win it back. You can listen on Apple or Spotify.
Also this morning, Fortune is releasing our annual list of the World’s Best Workplaces, compiled with our partners at Great Place to Work. Top 10 on the list:
1. Hilton
2. DHL Express
3. Cisco
4. AbbVie
5. Teleperformance
6. Deloitte
7. Salesforce
8. Stryker
9. Cadence
10. Accenture
More news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
Big Four history
EY will appoint Janet Truncale as its next global CEO, replacing outgoing head Carmine Di Sibio. She will be the first woman to lead the global operations of a Big Four accounting firm. Truncale, who is currently EY’s Americas head of financial services, will face an immediate challenge in picking up the pieces from the firm’s failed plan to split up its auditing and consulting businesses. Financial Times
Weak guidance
Cisco shares plunged almost 11% in extended trading after the company lowered its guidance for its full fiscal year, which ends in July. The company now projects up to $55 billion in revenue for the full fiscal year, down from an earlier forecast of $58.2 billion. Cisco argues the soft forecast is the result of earlier strong quarters; its customers are now installing and implementing what they’ve already bought, rather than buying new products. CNBC
Airbnb’s ‘Holy Grail’
Airbnb purchased AI startup GamePlanner.AI for a reported $200 million in what is the travel firm’s first acquisition as a public company. Airbnb is pursuing a goal of becoming an “AI travel agent” that understands “who you are and then can match you to anything you want,” CEO Brian Chesky told Fortune’s Michal Lev-Ram in an interview last week. Fortune
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
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Stanford AI professor Fei-Fei Li says we need more human-centered technology. Still, she had to convince herself to share her own story by Emma Hinchliffe and Joseph Abrams
Ultrawealthy charities that are helping no one and report nothing cost U.S. taxpayers billions every year, report says by Irina Ivanova
Billionaire Citadel founder Ken Griffin says employers won’t go the ‘extra distance’ to keep hybrid workers on the payroll: ‘It’s an email to all… and goodbye’ by Eleanor Pringle
Building AI models is an ‘enormous waste of social resources,’ says Baidu CEO one month after his company released its latest AI model by Paolo Confino
This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.
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