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What Next TBD | Trump Dips into NVIDIA’s Chips

Slate News

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.66K Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jensen Huang, cofounder of NVIDIA, finds himself president of a $4 trillion company, at the forefront of A.I. technology, and, consequently, something of an international diplomat, as he charms President Trump and negotiates to sell his powerful chips to China.  Guest: Amrith Ramkumar, reporter for The Wall Street Journal in Washington covering tech and crypto policy. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Ethan Oberman, Patrick Fort, and Elena Schwartz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I've ruled out uni because I want to live at home.

0:02.0

I've ruled out uni because I want to earn money.

0:05.0

I've ruled out uni because of my grades.

0:10.0

Study with the Open University and there's no need to rule out anything.

0:13.0

With our respected degrees, you can learn from home and work alongside study.

0:17.0

We're open to all. Plus, you'll have the support of expert tutors.

0:22.8

So rethink your future with the degree you didn't think was possible. The Open University.

0:28.3

The future is open.

0:36.2

If you don't spend a lot of time thinking about tech CEOs,

0:39.7

you might not be too familiar with Jensen Wong, who runs Nvidia.

0:44.7

Invidia makes chips, graphics, processing units, or GPUs.

0:50.3

And for a long time, this was basically the realm of video game nerds.

0:54.6

So Jensen Huang was an engineer who basically did not have anything to do in Washington, D.C.

1:01.0

because he made this relatively niche product.

1:04.6

That's Amrith Ram Kumar, who covers tech policy for the Wall Street Journal.

1:08.7

With the rise of artificial intelligence, it turns out these GPUs and the products

1:13.0

and software and video makes are actually vital.

1:15.7

So the company has just gotten gangbusters, their market values above $4 trillion now.

1:20.5

And the chips they make are really these strategic commodities.

1:24.5

And Wong, who's got a shock of gray hair and always wears a black leather jacket,

1:29.2

is at the center of a global fight between the U.S. and China and lots of other countries over

1:34.5

who gets his chips. He's an engineer turned CEO turned amateur diplomat.

...

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