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☀ We're Halfway There 🌙

☀ We're Halfway There 🌙

Welcome back to Araw Araw!

Joachim Tobias Bautista
July 01, 2024

Good morning. Welcome to July! Can you believe we're already halfway through the year? Time flies when you're staying ahead of the game. If you’re facing setbacks, remember you’re just building pressure like a slingshot about to launch. Let's keep up the momentum, embrace new opportunities, and make the second half of 2024 even more spectacular. Keep moving forward, because the best is yet to come! 🚀🚀🧗‍♀️🧗‍♀️📈📈

Local News

😊 Manila Wage Boost: P35 Raise Brings Smiles to Private Sector Workers

By Tobias Bautista

ABS-CBN

Great news for Metro Manila's private sector workers: a P35 daily wage hike has been approved! The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) has given the green light, with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announcing the increase will take effect on July 17.

This boost brings the daily minimum wage to P645 for the non-agriculture sector and P608 for the agriculture sector, service, and retail establishments with fewer employees. That’s a 5.7% raise from the previous rates, which is also above the regional poverty threshold for a family of five.

Besides the bump in base pay, workers can expect a comparable increase in benefits like 13th-month pay, service incentive leave, and social security contributions. The DOLE says around 988,243 minimum wage earners in the National Capital Region (NCR) will benefit directly, with 1.7 million full-time workers seeing indirect benefits from adjusted wage structures.

But there's a catch: retail or service establishments with fewer than 10 workers, and businesses affected by calamities, can apply for an exemption from this wage hike. Meanwhile, Barangay Micro Business Enterprises remain exempt under Republic Act No. 9178. Cheers to a pay raise and more money in the pockets of hardworking Filipinos!

Tech

💸 SK Hynix Chips in Big for AI: $74.6 Billion Bet on the Future

By Tobias Bautista

Shoppee

South Korea's chip giant, SK Hynix, is doubling down on its chip biz with a whopping 103 trillion won ($74.6 billion) investment through 2028, all eyes on AI. SK Group, the parent company, is also hunting for 80 trillion won by 2026 for AI, semiconductors, and shareholder perks while trimming its 175+ subsidiaries.

Fresh from a two-day strategy pow-wow, SK Group aims to bounce back after its chip and EV battery divisions took a hit. The focus is on beefing up AI tech like high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, AI data centers, and personalized AI assistants.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won emphasized the need for "preemptive and fundamental change" in this transition period. Executives also agreed on a gradual reduction of subsidiaries but kept mum on the specifics. Rumors hint at SK Innovation merging with gas affiliate SK E&S to streamline operations.

With South Korea's chip titans Samsung and SK Hynix facing stiff competition, the government earlier this year unveiled a 26 trillion won ($19 billion) support package to help local chipmakers stay ahead in the global semiconductor arms race.

World News

🦹‍♂️ Russia’s AI Antics Target Biden in Viral Video

By Tobias Bautista

Giphy

It might be clear that Russia wants Trump to win over Biden.

In the world of disinformation, Russia-affiliated Doppelganger is making waves with a generative AI twist. Their latest hit? An anti-Biden video titled “Bye Bye Biden,” which parodies the 2024 US presidential candidates, Biden and Trump. Think deepfake meets political satire. The video features an actor AI-altered to resemble Biden as a senile old man and corrupt politician, while Trump is depicted more favorably.

This AI-powered parody spread like wildfire on X, reaching 6.5 million users, with 5 million views. Russian researchers at Antibot4Navalny tracked the campaign, revealing 4,000 promotional posts via a network of 25,000 accounts since May 21. Doppelganger's latest trick? Slightly altering video clips to dodge social media detection systems.

US non-profit True Media confirmed the video’s AI origins with high confidence, pointing to AI-generated audio and facial manipulation. As WIRED reports, Russia's embrace of AI for election interference is escalating, echoing previous campaigns that re-angle real news with right-wing biases.

This underscores the growing power of generative AI in crafting persuasive, widespread deepfake propaganda. Just this year, the Philippine government warned against a deepfake military attack audio, while Indonesia’s presidential campaign used AI to soften the image of a strongman candidate. Welcome to the future of political warfare.