Hard Fork

Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, has admitted to an affair with a top executive at the data center company Megaspeed — a woman going by the name of Alice Huang who the U.S. government alleges is a Chinese spy. In this special midweek episode of “Hard Fork,” we sit down with Stephen Witt, who wrote last year’s Jensen Huang biography “The Thinking Machine.” We’ll dig into what you need to know about this spiraling scandal and what it means for A.I. and the global economy. Guests: Stephen Witt, author of “The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip” Additional Reading: A Mystery C.E.O. and Billions in Sales: Is China Buying Banned Nvidia Chips? Nvidia Chief, Jensen Huang, Is Seen as Target of Chinese Spy Plot Nvidia Opens Investigation Into Jensen Huang’s Relationship With Suspected Chinese Spy Rubio Warned Officials About Nvidia Chief’s Entanglement With Chinese Spy Commerce Dept. Chip Inquiry Was Halted After Nvidia Intervention We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After watching the historic election results on Tuesday night, we sat down with Erin Griffith and Ezra Klein to make sense of what they mean for the tech industry. We talk about the role of anti-A.I. and anti-data-center sentiment, backlash against billionaires and whether Silicon Valley is experiencing a vibe shift away from the Tech Right. Finally, Max sits down with the reporter Theodore Schleifer to rank midterm tech megadonors from first to worst. Who got the most bang for their buck? Guests: Erin Griffith, a technology reporter at The New York Times Ezra Klein, a columnist and host of ‘The Ezra Klein Show’ Theodore Schleifer, a reporter for The New York Times covering billionaires and their impact on the world Additional Reading: Tech Billionaires Face Tricky Political Waters After Democratic Sweep The Bell Tolls for Trumpism The Republican Party’s Financial Advantage Wasn’t Enough in the 2026 Midterm Elections SpaceX and Tesla Stocks Tumble After Elon Musk-Backed Candidates Lose in Texas Sherrod Brown’s Win in Ohio Is a Rare Loss for Crypto Under Trump We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Monday gave us the release of Anthropic’s S-1 filing, providing the clearest view yet into the business side of the A.I. boom and setting the stage for what could be the largest initial public offering in history. We’ll talk to Erin Griffith, who has been reporting on the story, about what it means for the company, the tech industry and the broader economy. Then we’re joined by the tech reporter Mike Isaac and the writer Jasmine Sun to break down the rest of this week’s tech news, including how the midterm elections next week could affect the future of tech policy, as well as the latest round of cybersecurity worries and Microsoft’s offer of buyouts to 60,000 employees. Guests: Erin Griffith, a technology reporter at The New York Times Mike Isaac, a technology reporter at The New York Times Jasmine Sun, journalist and writer at jasmi.news Additional Reading: Anthropic Reveals Skyrocketing Growth and Spending Plans in I.P.O. Filing What’s Riding on Anthropic’s Market Debut? Nearly Everything. Anthropic’s I.P.O. Prospectus Spells Out a Future of Promise and Peril Why Anger About Data Centers and Energy Prices May Not Swing Votes What Is PHP? Why Are Government and Business Websites Going Offline? Microsoft Offers Buyouts to 60,000 Employees as It Spends on A.I. We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore stories from the wild frontier of tech. What’s real? What’s hype? “Hard Fork” is here to help you make sense of it. Tune in every Friday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.