I want to wish a couple of fond farewells.
First, TBone posted about this in the comments, and another reader sent me this clip:
Don’t tempt me with a good time, Senator.
Yet another reason to get rid of the filibuster is to stop giving these prima donna drama queens so much attention. As AOC put it in her inimitable way, in the House, at least, with at 30 member majority, “we can’t play hokey pokey like this anymore.”
Second, farewell to Jensen Huang. You won’t be missed.
Even though Huang is gone, the Senate still loves to play hokey pokey: Schumer & co sure want to rush through BAAJA, which is being sold as a permitting bill, even though every smart expert calls it a giveaway to AI and an environmental disaster. Example: former podcast guest and climate scientist Genevieve Guenther.
So, with Jensen Huang exiting stage right, and his departure probably triggering an AI meltdown, I almost have to laugh at the spectacle of Democratic establishment fossils strapping themselves to the sinking AI ship. Really on brand for the donor-beholden gerontocracy to follow AI down the toilet, just as they tried (and failed) to follow crypto currency down the crapper. (Side note: I wonder how Kirsten Gillibrand son’s crypto startup is going.)
It sure looks like Nvidia was, in part, a ponzi scheme that loaned money to weak AI startups to buy Nvidia chips, which in turn caused Nvidia’s stock to skyrocket. Unlike SpaceTesla, Nvidia apparently has a somewhat functional board of directors. My guess is they’re going to try to dump all of the blame for the ponzi scheme on the stinking carcass of Huang’s career.
But wait, Elon Musk says it would be an “honor” to hire Huang, so perhaps a second act is coming down the pike.
Anway, two things can be true:
AI has some useful applications in the real world, though some of it is socially corrosive, and it sure needs more regulation.
There’s a real AI chip and datacenter bubble that, when it collapses, will lead us to another big recession and wipe out many a rich person’s portfolio. Hopefully, grifters like Huang and Musk will be held to account, but that’s going to require a lot of changes in the way the government works.
