The Nvidia Affair, Political Sixth Sense
In 2026, there are thousands of massively scaled data centers across the world, and guys still think with their dicks. The enduring stamina of the notion that the carnal is greater than the kernel, that ramming overides the ram, and that the dong is greater than the dongle, provides yet another reminder that the key risk factors presented by the AI boom are the humans behind it (or in front of it, to the side of it, or whatever else you’re into). And thus, we found ourselves bracing for the global market response to news of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s extramarital affair. Now, the idea that a tech CEO would upload his firmware into multiple devices is hardly breaking news, but in this case, at the risk of getting too graphical, Huang installed his processing unit into the wrong hosting facility. It looks like he may have been honey-trapped by a Chinese operative. This is big news because of national security, the global AI race, and Nvidia’s technological and financial prowess—and their circular deals—that place the mega-company smack dab in the middle of the AI economy, which is smack dab in the middle of the everything economy. Nvidia’s board, which denies that any damaging spying was done, has launched an internal investigation. But what, really, can be done? “Over the past four years, Jensen Huang has become the maestro of the artificial intelligence boom and its most essential billionaire executive. Nvidia, the company he co-founded in 1993, controls an estimated 90 percent of the market for the computer chips used in the big artificial intelligence projects that are driving the U.S. economy. That dominance has made Mr. Huang one of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as an ally of President Trump.” NYT (Gift Article): Is Jensen Huang Too Powerful to Be Punished by Nvidia? That’s another way of asking if he’s too big to fail. But this is hardly a time for braggadocio.
+ Trump immediately backed Jensen Huang (Huang stands accused of simultaneous infidelity and treachery. In Trumpworld, that practically qualifies him for a Presidential Medal of Freedom). But, in a twist that will surprise no one, the Trump administration could be heavily implicated in this scandal. It turns out that some inside the administration have been worried about this issue for a while. Just not the top person. Rubio Warned Officials About Nvidia Chief’s Entanglement With Chinese Spy. “Mr. Rubio’s involvement in warning administration officials about the situation has not been previously reported. It highlights how concerns about the relationship and the spying were known to senior officials even as Mr. Huang, a pivotal figure in the explosive growth of A.I., remained an influential voice with Mr. Trump over policy on the issue.” Wait, it gets shadier. Commerce Dept. Chip Inquiry Was Halted After Nvidia Intervention. “Investigators at the Commerce Department were deep into a monthslong investigation of a Singaporean company that they suspected of smuggling Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips into China when their work came to a sudden halt late last year.”
+ WSJ (Gift Article): The Chinese Woman at the Center of a Spy Probe After an Affair With Jensen Huang.
+ So far, the tech and broader markets are holding up better than expected in light of this news. As for Nvidia, it saw about $330 billion cut from its market cap on Monday. I’m guessing most investors (and political observers) will see this as a buying opportunity.
I See Red People
“How do you summon up shame for so many years of shamelessness? … For some, it will be impossible, even embarrassing, to keep Trump at arm’s length. Vance, for example, who long ago likened Trump to Hitler and to ‘cultural heroin,’ is far too bound to the regime, too eager for a promotion, too memorable as MAGA’s highest-ranking smirk to bow out now. The vice president can pray that the Iran war is his party’s only problem, but the guy who promoted lies about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats, who publicly supported fatal Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and who defended the most reviled attack ad in the 2026 midterms might want to try that ‘honest conversation’ with himself. One day you’re riding the Trump train; the next, you find yourself tied to the tracks.” NYT (Gift Article): JD Vance Needs to Stop Trying. (Trump’s enablers like JD Vance are political versions of Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense. They don’t realize they’re already dead.)
Follow the (Lost) Money
Even the losers get lucky sometimes. But luckily for betting apps and prediction markets, not very often. “It’s true that millions of people use them only occasionally, and only to have a bit of fun. But these people are of modest value to the companies. The least active two-thirds of licensed sportsbook gamblers account for just 2.7% of estimated revenue, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek analysis of almost 140,000 bettors across 29 states in 2024 and ’25. The more lucrative bettors are the small but growing cohort of gamblers exhibiting likely problem behavior. A classic symptom would be topping off their sportsbook account hundreds of times a year. Without these people, digital sportsbooks could lose about 60% of their revenue. That’s unlikely to happen: Of the people who place deposits into sportsbooks monthly, 1 in 5 will eventually do so daily, our analysis found.” Bloomberg (Gift Article): The Spiral.
Umbilical Ward
“Location tracking might start, for younger kids, with an AirTag slipped into a backpack, jacket, or shoe. (Skechers now makes shoes with a dedicated compartment in the sole.) For kids old enough to have their own smartwatch or phone, the GPS is built right in—and so parents keep tracking them into adolescence and even beyond. Three-quarters of parents with teenagers ages 14 to 17 had access to their kids’ location data, according to one study. Even among college students, one-third were being tracked by their parents, according to another study, conducted in 2021 by Michaeline Jensen, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Five years later, Jensen says, that number is even higher: More than half of college students are being tracked, per her unpublished data. In her own lab, she’s learned that even her graduate students continue to be tracked; she told me about one student, 29, who recently defended her dissertation but whose mom still checks—and calls about—her location.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children. (I don’t have to actively track my kids’ location. They share my Uber account…)
Extra, Extra
Peter Out? “The senior official described to MS NOW how Hegseth’s executive office led a planned and deliberate process that involved creating paper-only files filled with printouts from internet searches that were inaccessible to the officers under consideration. Hegseth’s office gave instructions about the new criteria over the phone instead of in writing.” Pentagon official reveals Hegseth’s criteria for senior promotions. He really can’t be gone soon enough. And it might be really soon. Republican Thomas Massie moves to force vote to impeach Pete Hegseth.
+ Youth Must Be Served: How much can older generations screw up the world before the youth finally take to the streets? About this much. “Their reasons for taking to the streets have varied widely, from protesting against corruption and an unequal playing field to calling for more investment in education, affordable housing and action on the climate crisis.” ‘A global political awakening’: how Gen Z protests are sweeping the world.
+ The Vampire Strikes Back: America to Trump: “We couldn’t hate you more.” Trump to America: “Hold my Miller.” A Chief of Staff Who ‘Will Crack Skulls‘. “Where Wiles served as something of a guardrail—making sure Trump was fully briefed and that he understood the risks and pitfalls of any decision—Miller has played the role of an accelerant for a president who already has rash tendencies.”
+ Food Groups: Tensions rise in Philadelphia over boycott of Jewish-owned restaurants. This is beyond sickening. It’s also getting more common. And, related: Kanye West Breaks His Own Record for Biggest Rap Concert in U.S. History.
+ Fraudian Slip: And…. he’s back. “President Donald Trump emerged Monday with muddled accusations of election fraud.” Also, after a crazy weekend, Trump says he was ‘only kidding’ about making UFC’s Dana White the next press secretary. (It actually made some sense. Dana White is one of the few people who can comprehend the horrific beatdown MAGA just got.)
+ On Brand: “Brand, 51, was a career chameleon who went from stand-up comic and MTV host to a political analyst esteemed by Britain’s left, only to become a conspiracy theorist and Christian convert beloved by the U.S. right.” Now he’s got a new residency. Russell Brand sentenced to over 10 years for rape and sexual assault.
+ Expand the Contract: “The College Football Playoff and ESPN have signed a five-year deal that will expand the field to 24 teams in 2027 with ESPN as the event’s continued broadcast partner.” This is in keeping with their usual M.O. Good for the bottom line. Bad for the game. (And I’m not just mad because even if they expand it to 124 teams, Cal still wouldn’t make it…)
+ Well, Well, Well: “‘Imagine explaining a wellness darty to someone who went to college in 2012,’ Aydan Child, the 25-year-old Gainesville, Fla., resident wrote in a September TikTok post that quickly went viral. In the video, fraternity brothers can be seen running shirtless and holding Pilates poses in front of the Pi Kappa Alpha house at the University of Florida. The post prompted outrage from various corners of the internet in what amounted to a generational panic; millennials and Gen Xers expressed horror at the notion that today’s college kids are hyper-fit and totally sober. The New York Post called the photos ‘bone-chilling.'” WSJ (Gift Article): Cold Plunges, Fitness Pop-Ups: The Students Pushing Clean Living on Campus. (Marlon Brando whisper-voice: “The horror, the horror.”)
Bottom of the News
“Authorities believe the man may have been in the ocean for approximately nine hours before he was spotted by Sean Norton and Grant Garrett, who were returning from a fishing trip near Catalina Island.” Cruise ship pianist rescued after nine hours treading water miles from shore. Investigators are questioning John at the bar, Paul, the real estate novelist, and Davy, who’s still in the Navy, and probably will be for life.
