Decoder with Nilay Patel

Today, we’re talking about the Jensen Huang scandal at Nvidia, which is developing so quickly that we had to do an emergency update of this intro minutes before publishing this episode — Huang just resigned from his position as CEO of Nvidia as news of his affairs, including with an alleged Chinese spy, threatened to engulf the company.

We’ll have more on that story as things develop. But just two days ago I talked to Kyle Chan, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center, about the real heart of the scandal: what China would even seek to accomplish by having a spy so close to Jensen, and what the state of the US-China AI conflict really looks like, particularly from the Chinese point of view.

Read the full interview transcript on The Verge.

Links:

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns amid spy, affair scandals | The Verge

It only takes a prick to pop a bubble | Vergecast

Jensen Huang said ot have had relationship with Nvidia exec | NYT

What could China get from Jensen Huang? | The Verge

The US is winning the AI race. Jensen Huang could have blown it | The Verge

The future of AI hinges on… Jensen Huang’s sex life? | The Verge

Nvidia’s board has a history of letting Jensen Huang get his way | NYT

Commerce Dept. inquiry halted after Nvidia intervention | NYT

Rubio warned officials about Huang’s affair with Chinese spy | NYT

China’s top spy agency recruited woman who targeted Huang | NYT

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Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Decoder is produced by Greg Ott, Kate Cox, and Nick Statt. The show is edited by Ursa Wright and Xander Adams. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I was in college when Napster hit, and the RIAA instantly became the big villain because it was suing kids for downloading music. That was when I decided to go be a copyright lawyer, which set the rest of my career in motion — and Mitch Glazier was in the background as a young lawyer at the RIAA, on the other side of those cases.

So part of me was very deeply, very genuinely surprised to discover just how much fun I had talking to Mitch, who's now on the same side as musicians and audiences in the fight against AI.

Read the full interview transcript on The Verge.

Links:

Major labels propose rules to keep AI slop off charts | The Verge

Suno snatched songs from YouTube, Genius, and Deezer | The Verge

Villain of Napster era turns on AI firms: ‘It’s a lot more fun now’ | LA Times

Spotify working with record labels on ‘responsible’ AI tools | The Verge

Warner Music signs deal with Suno, settles lawsuit | TechCrunch

Universal Music and Udio sign partnership, settle lawsuit | Associated Press

Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder!

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Decoder’s producers are Greg Ott, Kate Cox, and Nick Statt. Our editors are Xander Adams and Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I’ve always enjoyed talking to security expert Alex Stamos because he’s so direct — and he doesn't mince words about how the multibillion dollar cybersecurity industry as we’ve known it is all but doomed thanks to the unrelenting, AI-boosted waves of hacks, breaches, and attacks.

That much disruption means a lot of places where bad guys can get in while everyone else is left scrambling. Alex isn’t a doomer in the long run, but he does think we've got a dark age to get through before things get better.

Read the full interview transcript on The Verge.

Links:

Attack of the killer script kiddies | The Verge

Alex Stamos on AI's coming cybersecurity dark age | Ground Level AI

Palo Alto’s CEO Said ‘AI Must Fight AI’ | Palo Alto Networks

Cybersecurity vets protest ‘dangerous’ ban on Mythos | TechCrunch

Binance: $6.3B heist used fake job interviews, internal AI tool | The Verge

A thousand fewer paths to root | OpenAI

Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder!

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Decoder is produced by Greg Ott, Kate Cox, and Nick Statt. Our editors are Xander Adams and Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My guest today is Willy Shih, an economist, a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, and the author of the upcoming book, Where Does My Stuff Come From? The Powerful Economics Behind Global Supply Chains.

Willy’s new book is all about the economics underlying global trade, which our politicians and regulators seem to insistently ignore. So we got into Trump’s tariffs, why the markets have reacted to supply chain disruptions the way they have, and why China remains a global manufacturing powerhouse even though every other country thinks that’s so risky.

Read the full interview transcript on The Verge.

Links:

Where Does My Stuff Come From? | Willy Shih

RAM price hikes: the latest on the global memory shortage | The Verge

Tariffs didn’t bring manufacturing jobs back to the US | Decoder

Trump tariffs mean chaos for consumers | Harvard Crimson

Why the global chip shortage is making it so hard to buy a PS5 | Decoder (2021)

Inside Foxconn’s empty buildings, empty factories, and empty promises | The Verge (2020)

Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder!

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Decoder is produced by Greg Ott, Kate Cox, and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Eileen Felix. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s been a whole lot of organizational and structural change at NBCUniversal since the last time Matt Strauss joined Decoder. First, Comcast spun most of the cable channels off into something called Versant, and Matt became the chairman of the entire NBCU Media Group. Next year, Comcast is splitting off NBCU into an entirely separate company.

That's a lot to have going on all at once — and Matt's the guy who has to make sure broadcast, Peacock, and every other platform keeps making you watch.

Read the full interview transcript on The Verge.

Links:

Comcast plans major layoffs as it preps for NBCU spinoff | Variety

YouTube Premium will include Peacock starting next year | The Verge

Pipes dream: Why Comcast gave up on NBCU | Decoder

Langley, Strauss unveil new executive structures at NBCU | Variety

NBCU’s streaming chief isn’t worried about you cancelling cable | Decoder

Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder!

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Decoder is produced by Greg Ott, Kate Cox, and Nick Statt. The show is editors by Ursa Wright and Xander Adams. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices