FirstFT: ICC's move against Netanyahu puts Biden in diplomatic and ...

Good morning.

The announcement that the International Criminal Court was seeking arrest warrants for Israel’s leaders just hours after US national security adviser Jake Sullivan held meetings with officials in Jerusalem has left American politicians across the political divide fuming.

President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson condemned ICC prosecutor Karim Khan’s statement that he was seeking warrants over alleged war crimes for Benjamin Netanyahu and leaders of Hamas.

Biden said it was “outrageous” to equate the conduct of Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and defence minister Yoav Gallant with that of Hamas leaders. “Let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security,” he said.

But the move by the ICC leaves the Biden administration with a domestic and diplomatic challenge.

The president’s passionate defence of Israel and Netanyahu threatens to exacerbate divisions over the war in Gaza within his Democratic party as it gears up for a tough election battle. Read the full report.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Blinken: US secretary of state Antony Blinken will testify before the Senate foreign relations committee on his department’s activities, including US diplomacy and global leadership. 

• AI summit: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol open the Seoul summit on AI safety, building on last year’s Bletchley Declaration.

• Earnings: AutoZone, Cranswick, Generali, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Pennon Group, SSP. Shell holds its annual meeting.

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: Nvidia’s rivals and biggest customers are rallying behind an OpenAI-led push to build software that would make it easier for developers of artificial intelligence to switch away from its chips. The push for an alternative to Nvidia’s “Cuda” software seeks to break the chipmaker’s stranglehold on the AI market. Here are the companies backing the initiative.

• ScarlettGPT: Hollywood actor Scarlett Johansson has hit out at OpenAI after the AI start-up programmed its chatbot with a voice “eerily similar” to her own.

• Scale AI: Data labelling company Scale AI has brought in $1bn in a funding round. The company is now worth $14bn, underlining the importance of quality data, “one of the least sexy problems in AI”.

2. JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon has hinted the company will have a new chief executive within five years. Dimon told investors on Monday that the search for his successor had started. In January Dimon shuffled his executive team, positioning Jennifer Piepszak, Marianne Lake and Troy Rohrbaugh as leading candidates to replace him. Read more about Dimon’s announcement here.

3. Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has urged the EU to join the US on clamping down on Beijing. In a speech in Germany Yellen warned that an influx of cheap Chinese goods could threaten the survival of European factories and said the western allies need to act in a “united way”. Read more about Yellen’s comments here.

4. The chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Martin Gruenberg will quit following an investigation into workplace harassment. His departure comes just as the bank is set to implement a series of reforms known as Basel III that would make banks increase their capital requirements, a move bitterly opposed by Wall Street. Read more about Gruenberg’s announcement here.

5. Exclusive: Skadden Arps is set to lose another of its top lawyers, as rivals continue to raid the New York corporate law firm’s lucrative practice of advising the world’s largest banks, asset managers and insurers. David Hepp, co-head of Skadden’s financial institutions group, was leaving for crosstown rival Paul Weiss after 24 years at the firm, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The move is the latest in an ongoing bidding war for elite talent.

The Big Read

Andrés Manuel López Obrador once said he would tackle Mexico’s gangs with “hugs not bullets”. But five and a half years into the populist left winger’s presidency, organised crime has worsened dramatically, with cartels controlling more territory than ever. Experts say the power of organised crime now poses a serious risk, not only to the population but to business and the economy, and threatens the country’s future.

We’re also reading and listening to . . . 

• Trump rally: There’s an aroma of marijuana, a man is sleeping in the sand and on large screens in the distance, Dirty Dancing is playing. Welcome to a Trump rally in New Jersey.

• AI and work: Even as machines take over jobs, work that requires a human touch has thrived, writes author Jon Hilsenrath. Welcome to the manicure economy.

• Tech Tonic ????: China’s BYD, one of the world’s top producers of electric vehicles, is making inroads in Europe. The EU is not pleased.

Chart of the day

The crash of the US-made Bell 212 helicopter carrying Iran’s president and foreign minister has brought the state of the country’s aircraft into the spotlight. Although Tehran has not yet given an official explanation for the deadly crash, the most likely culprit is an ageing fleet, battered by decades of wear, tear and western sanctions.

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Take a break from the news

Located in an old mansion house in Mexico City’s leafy Roma Norte neighbourhood, Casa Bosques is a design lover’s magnet offering rare books, chocolate and a place to spend the night.

Additional contributions from Irwin Cruz and Benjamin Wilhelm