Digital Embassy

In light of the unfolding crisis in Iran, we've decided to open-access today's dailies — which include detailed analyses of reactions by Beijing, Moscow, and Brussels. 1/ BRUSSELS DAILY highlights the patchwork U.S. approach to pre-notification: daily.digitalembassy.net/p/brussels-dai…

My own tangos with state actors have taught me a few important lessons about modern cybersecurity. After yesterday's unveiling of Mythos Preview, here's a short synopsis of what's coming—and a guide to surviving the age of ubiquitous cyberattacks. choosingvictory.com/p/practical-ad…

Good to see China’s annual tradition of sending unmanned underwater vehicles to be dredged up by Indonesian fishermen is alive and well. This one likely belongs to the Haishen family developed by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). From 2021: cimsec.org/leviathan-wake…

The @abcnews is out this morning with a disturbing story: The IRGC is actively making use of detailed satellite imagery and analysis published by MizarVision, a Chinese geospatial analytics company — and has used this data to target American, Australian, and allied forces in the Middle East. This is a fluid and fast-moving situation and I want to be clear about what we know so far. 1️⃣ It's clear U.S. forces in the Gulf are operating in an environment that is very different from any other they have encountered previously. Commercial satellite imagery collected by foreign companies is now available at a quality and frequency that is good enough to put U.S. combat forces in harm's way. This is ultimately why U.S. collection platforms like @vantortech and @planet chose this weekend to suspend their coverage over the Middle East. Unfortunately, predictably, foreign competitors like MizarVision see no reason to censor their own product offerings. 2️⃣ The implications are grim: ostensibly private Chinese AI companies are directly helping the Iranian regime target U.S. and allied forces in the region. The ABC has information that the IRGC is striking U.S. facilities "within hours" of MizarVision publishing them. I told @henryzwartz that this would effectively amount to Iranian forces outsourcing targeting data to a Chinese company: It is "the greatest degree of support we have seen China provide to a proxy force against the United States" — there is really no other way to read it. 3️⃣ If the Chinese government wanted to rein in the actions of MizarVision and other imagery providers, it could. And it should. Spokespersons from @MFA_China have so far attempted to downplay the significance of this development. I'm willing to buy that Chinese officials haven't been aware of the importance of this particular imagery or the extent of its use by the IRGC — but China should recognize this is an extremely serious development. We're talking about Chinese enterprises directly supplying actionable intelligence to wartime enemies of the United States. MizarVision has spent weeks zeroing in on U.S. forces and bases in the region and publishing their activities on its Weibo account. It hasn't done the same to Iran. It's very clear what is going on here — and it is unacceptable. This doesn't have to be a story about China. It's clear the United States is also learning about the battlefield potential of commercial sat imagery in real-time. Beijing should understand that U.S. concerns at this moment are deadly serious. I expect the U.S. government will do everything in its power to defend its personnel. China should mirror the U.S. suspension of commercial satellite imagery collection over the Middle East. abc.net.au/news/2026-04-0…

NeurIPS — the flagship AI research conference — apologized to Chinese academics after a boycott over its compliance with U.S. sanctions policy. Where AI research decoupling stands now: enforcement friction reaches even the conference circuit. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/beijing-dail…

Pentagon has drafted plans for a weeks-long ground operation in Iran — including a potential Kharg Island seizure or coastal raids. Trump hasn't approved yet. Risk to U.S. troops deemed too high. But the plan exists. @washingtonpost daily.digitalembassy.net/p/tel-aviv-dai…

Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline is running at full 7-million-bpd capacity — the only reason Gulf crude is still reaching global markets with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/riyadh-daily…

The world's top ML conference, NeurIPS, formally apologized to Chinese academics for complying with U.S. sanctions policy—after a coordinated boycott. The AI research split isn't coming. It's here. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/beijing-dail…

NeurIPS formally apologized after Chinese scholars boycotted the conference for following U.S. sanctions policy. The world's top AI research venue, apologizing for complying with American law. Clean snapshot of where the tech decoupling stands. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/beijing-dail…

Japan is deepening its critical minerals partnership with Washington while refusing to deploy warships to Hormuz and questioning whether the Iran war has eroded Indo-Pacific deterrence. An ally cooperating on supply chains and quietly hedging on everything else. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/tokyo-daily-…

Commerce revised its semiconductor export license review policy for China — then hit Applied Materials with a $252M penalty for illegal equipment exports. Policy shift + enforcement action: BIS has moved from warnings to consequences. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/jakarta-dail…

Zelenskyy says Russian satellites imaged Diego Garcia, Al-Udeid, Prince Sultan, and Incirlik in the days before Iranian strikes hit U.S. troops. Claims 100% certainty Moscow fed targeting intelligence to Tehran. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/kyiv-daily-1…

As much as it pains me to say it, 2026 is probaly going to be the year Chinese AI really takes off. I wrote a sweeping piece for @WarOnTheRocks outlining what could go wrong and how 🇺🇸 should go about addressing some of the many risks. 🧵 1/20: warontherocks.com/2026/04/chinas…

NeurIPS apologized to Chinese researchers who boycotted the conference for complying with US export controls. When global AI research venues are issuing apologies over sanctions enforcement, the decoupling is no longer theoretical. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/beijing-dail…

Wang Wentao met USTR Greer in Geneva on WTO sidelines—first high-level US-China economic contact ahead of the May Trump-Xi summit. USTR also opened Section 301 probes on Chinese forced labor and excess capacity the same week. Make of that what you will. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/beijing-dail…

A Chinese postdoc researcher died by suicide after U.S. law enforcement interrogation. Beijing's Foreign Ministry expressed "deep sadness" — and filed a de facto complaint. Same week DOJ charged three individuals for smuggling AI tech to China. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/beijing-dail…

Since Khamenei's killing in February, calls for nuclear weapons inside Iran are growing louder and more public — as the IRGC consolidates control over security decisions and theological opposition erodes. The new SNSC chief is an IRGC foundational figure. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/tehran-daily…

Wang Wentao met USTR Greer in Geneva — first high-level US-China economic contact ahead of the May Trump-Xi summit. Still running: Section 301 probes targeting forced labor and structural overcapacity. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/beijing-dail…

Zelenskyy signed a defense deal with Saudi Arabia, exchanging Ukrainian counter-drone expertise for air defense interceptors. Kyiv is selling what it knows — pitching front-line experience as a strategic commodity to Gulf states under fire. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/kyiv-daily-2…

Beijing has barred Manus AI's CEO and chief scientist from leaving China as it reviews Meta's $2B acquisition. The issue: did moving the team from China to Singapore require an export license? The answer may give Beijing veto power over U.S. AI deals. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/beijing-dail…

China barred two Manus AI co-founders from leaving the country after Meta's $2B acquisition of the startup (@business). Exit bans on engineers whose work just passed to a U.S. tech giant are a different kind of Beijing leverage. daily.digitalembassy.net/p/beijing-dail…