As an aside, I do think once a man obtains a certain amount of capital and power, he needs to start to subvert norms. Like, transgression as a more novel expression of power.
I think having an affair is perhaps the most milquetoast of that subversion. See: Epstein, et al.
The data suggest! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.…
If Huang really is indispensable to American AI leadership, that should raise the stakes of his judgment, not lower them.
It's also a huge leap to go from "Jensen is one of the greatest entrepreneurs" to "Jensen is irreplaceable for America's AI leadership."
The Nvidia corporate statement is weak. Also I find it funny all the people who call TikTok a Chinese psyop casually waving off Jensen’s affair.
I suppose we will see whether corporate governance standards are applied consistently when a CEO is considered indispensable!
I think there are two complementary arguments to make about what Silicon Valley has gotten wrong wrt telling the story of AI & data centers:
1. Silicon Valley has accumulated enormous institutional power without developing a corresponding sense of institutional responsibility. Its leaders still speak like outsiders and provocateurs, often sounding juvenile, combative, or even vindictive, despite wielding extraordinary influence over public life.
2. Silicon Valley's intellectual habits make it difficult to articulate what that power is actually for. There's an almost intellectual immaturity to it all: an inability, or unwillingness, to grapple seriously with who benefits, who bears the costs, and what obligations come with shaping the future.
The problem isn't simply bad storytelling. It's that the industry seems unable to reckon with the moral and civic dimensions of its own ambitions.
I'm hosting again tonight: 5 adults, 4 kids.
Ordering pizza & then making pasta salad, herby salad, garlic knots, marinated olives, and if I can manage, tonnato with potato chips.
Chris on the bar for Negronis & will likely open a few bottles of wine.
Reading Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner and it's such a beautiful celebration of adult friendship & it makes me excited to continue to make new friends in every season of life.
