It’s been another crazy week in the world of AI.
Right now, the Jensen Huang story — which escalated significantly after we recorded today’s podcast episode — is dominating the headlines.
As its most visible co-founder, Huang has become synonymous with Nvidia, Nvidia has become synonymous with GPUs, and GPUs are the processors that power AI. This has given Huang enormous influence, not just economically, but politically.
And then, all of a sudden, before the results of the midterm elections had been given a chance to set in, Huang was subjected to a reputational assassination that has all the hallmarks of political opposition research. An affair was revealed. Then another. Then another. One of the women is alleged to be a possible spy for the Chinese government. Nvidia’s stock — one of the strongest in the tech sector — tanked. Facing an ouster, Huang resigned today.
Clearly, the affairs were known about for some time. Someone has been dropping them in a timed release — a week before Anthropic is slated to launch it’s IPO. Anthropic — the AI company pushing hardest for the government to regulate AI so they can “pace the frontier.” Many suspect the real reason for this request is to accomplish regulatory capture — to stop the hungry open source companies who are nipping at the heels of the frontier labs, releasing cheap models they distill from the incredibly expensive R&D being done by Anthropic and OpenAI. The Trump administration has made no secret of their opposition to slowing down, deploying the slogan, “Whoever wins AI, wins.” But the Democrats have made no secret of wanting to impose heavy restrictions, and they just picked up a Congressional victory they’ve interpreted as a mandate.
It brings up the memory of the Biden white house telling Marc Andreessen that there’s no point investing in AI startups, because they won’t allow them to survive. When he asked how they can contain the linear algebra that AI is built on, they told him they’d classify it if they had to — just like they did with entire branches of physics that were removed from the public during the cold war.
The ripple effects of the Huang scandal will impact economics, politics, tech, and policy. I’d bet money on it being backed by political strategists from the Left.
Because of this story, the new AI models that came out today are getting a lot less attention. As is the growing consensus that 2027 — just a month and a half away — will become a breakout year for AI’s takeover of the status quo. The Center for AI safety says that Anthropic’s latest model, Fable 5.2, can complete over 41% of all freelance projects, up from just 2.5% previously. Remote work is being taken over by AI, just like is happening in other industries.
Which brings us to this week’s podcast.
Kale Zelden and I discuss where things are headed — which feels inevitable — but then dig deep into what it means for the human beings who remain.
Strangely, we found ourselves waxing somewhat optimistic.
We’re in for a tumultuous period of transition, and it’s time to start thinking about what happens to our humanity when it does.
As always, you can grab the audio-only version right here or from your favorite podcast provider.
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