Bloomberg Television48 min
Trump Backs Lutnick Amid Chip Uproar
Trump, Lutnick, Joe Mathieu, Kailey Leinz, Ben Buchanan, Rick Davis, Caitlin Legacki, Maxine Dexter, Joe Matthew, Kaylee Lines, Charlie Pellett, Emily Chang, Tyler Kendall, Michael Shepard
Interview, Panel, Press Conference, Other
- NVIDIA is expected to report earnings and hold a call on Tuesday, with Colette Kress presiding in an interim CEO capacity while the search for a permanent successor to Jensen Wong continues; no obvious successors are currently in the pipeline, and the company seeks a leader willing to manage a flat structure with 60 direct reports.
- Investigations into Jensen Wong are expected to mount, including a behind-closed-doors meeting with intelligence and foreign affairs committee leaders, letters demanding record preservation from the Commerce Secretary, and congressional pressure to clarify knowledge of smuggling activities and the decision to reverse the diffusion rule.
- Jensen Wong is expected to testify before Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, and China Select Committees before the Thanksgiving recess, potentially face classified briefings regarding the scandal, and address inquiries about family obligations while investors contemplate the future of AI leadership.
- Legislation is expected to tighten export controls on ships and AI-enabling video chips during the lame-duck session via the NDAA, with a specific "Chip Security Act" proposed to track chips, while the White House story regarding President Trump's stance on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is expected to evolve.
- Beijing is expected to retaliate against tighter U.S. export controls by withholding rare earth or critical minerals, though the U.S. aims to utilize the estimated 100-to-1 production advantage to build a significant lead in chip manufacturing over China and allies.
- Congress is expected to withhold funding from the executive branch if unsatisfied with agency interactions, demand guardrails for data centers, and prioritize national security, with Democrats anticipating leverage in a January Continuing Resolution to assert new priorities.
- SpaceX plans to invest approximately $74 billion to build two supercomputing facilities, including a new site in Arizona, and to operate gas-fired power plants in Texas and Arizona.
- The scandal is expected to play out for months, potentially strengthening the political position of Democrats advocating for legislative export controls while the public coalesces to demand accountability regarding data centers, national security, and job security.
- Structural incentives at NVIDIA are expected to continue supporting open-weight AI models even without Jensen Wong, and the Commerce Department faces pressure to explain what it knew regarding Megaspeed and how it intends to plug leaks and tighten loopholes.
- President Trump is not expected to necessarily raise the Jensen Wong issue during his upcoming meeting with Xi Jinping, while the House Natural Resources Committee is expected to question potential benefits to the Department of Interior from federal land sales related to data centers.
- A new episode of "The Circuit" is expected to appear on the terminal and online, with a specific episode airing on Bloomberg Originals at 8 p.m.