About this episode
Always On is the new home of Marina Hyde’s writing. Read Marina’s latest articles at https://www.marinahyde.com.
Marina Hyde on the Nvidia boss Jensen Huang’s affair with a woman US officials suspect of spying for China, the powerful men rushing to defend him, and what it reveals about an AI boom that may have become too big to fail.
Why are Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Bill Ackman so quick to excuse the man at the centre of the AI revolution? Marina examines the reaction to Huang’s admission of an affair, the reported intelligence briefings that came before it, and the question of whether Nvidia, at its peak worth more than every economy on Earth except America and China, can be separated from its chief executive.
From the web of investments tying Nvidia to nearly every major AI company to the defenders insisting he’s irreplaceable, Marina asks whether this is really about one man’s judgment, or about an economy that has made him impossible to lose. And what does it say about the rules for the powerful that “he’s irreplaceable” is now the defence?
Words and ideation: Marina Hyde
With support from Sam, Dom, Anna, Josh, Harry, Charlie, Kieron, Bex, Gabriella and Oliver at Goalhanger.