Trump’s AI isolation

Jensen Huang is testing the theory that an executive can become too big to fail. Tech policy insiders around Washington struggled to identify individuals around the company who might fill the void if he’s ultimately forced out, when speaking with Decoded by POLITICO. Plus, a top critic of Jensen Huang, Biden’s former AI czar Ben Buchanan, is urging Democrats to go hard on regulating the technology as they take charge of Congress — and avoid a replay of the last time they had control. For more news and analysis, subscribe to the Decoded newsletter: politico.com/decoded Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world’s leading developer of advanced computer chips is under fire, after its CEO Jensen Huang admitted to an affair, following reports about U.S. government concern over a relationship between the tech leader and an executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed. It will likely cause congressional Democrats to accelerate probes into Huang’s sway over the Trump administration, which has loosened restrictions on the sale of Nvidia’s AI chips to Chinese companies. And it is almost certain to undercut the tech giant’s influence in Washington. Plus, at least four potential Democratic presidential candidates — Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, former Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and California Rep. Ro Khanna — met over the weekend in San Francisco with AI safety advocates and Democratic Party veterans. For more news and analysis, subscribe to the Decoded newsletter: politico.com/decoded  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthropic is expected to debut on the Nasdaq later this month in what could be the largest IPO of all time. But Democrats' midterm victories and data center backlash have shaken investors who were already questioning if frontier labs could make good on pie-in-the-sky projections of future growth. Plus, a big tent coalition focused on AI safety came together and won big in this year's midterms. We'll discuss what's next for this coalition. For more news and analysis, subscribe to the Decoded newsletter: politico.com/decoded Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump has dominated AI policy talks since taking office last year. But that dominance is almost certain to end after Tuesday’s midterms. Plus, Bigger trends started to emerge Wednesday as more results rolled in from election night, making even clearer who won and lost on topics ranging from data centers to AI policy. We'll discuss how some big players in the tech industry fared — who’s up and who’s down. For more news and analysis, subscribe to the Decoded newsletter: politico.com/decoded  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrats who ran hard against Big Tech claimed decisive victories on Tuesday. For the GOP, the midterm elections may go down as the moment their candidates’ emphatic embrace of the industry came to an end. For more news and analysis, subscribe to the Decoded newsletter: politico.com/decoded  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI is now a transformative force in the political economy of the U.S. And while technology won’t be top of mind for most Americans when they vote later today, it’s already having a profound influence on how they work, invest and travel.  The outcome of the midterms will have significant bearing on both development of AI and its deployment. Plus, a new poll of voters nationally and in Ohio shows how data center beliefs are interacting with other issues driving their Election Day choices — and that, for a sizable group of voters, a candidate’s stance could matter in close races. For more news and analysis, subscribe to the Decoded newsletter: politico.com/decoded Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI has been a big topic in midterm campaigns and coverage, but few races are actually referendums on the technology. That means the direction of tech policy may not differ so much, depending on who wins in Tuesday’s elections, as our reporters explain. Plus, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to POLITICO about AI regulation. For more news and analysis, subscribe to the Decoded newsletter: politico.com/decoded  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

National AI safety advocates are warning California Gov. Gavin Newsom not to blow what they see as his last window to shore up his state’s AI regulations before a presidential election cycle that may be defined by the technology — and one where he could be running. Plus, Voters in Texas, Nevada, California, Minnesota and Florida will decide on Tuesday who leads some of the country’s most consequential state attorneys general offices – and how aggressively these top cops take on Big Tech. For more news and analysis, subscribe to the Decoded newsletter: politico.com/decoded  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rohit Chopra knows the makings of an economic crisis when he sees one. And Chopra — a top consumer protection watchdog under Joe Biden who was ousted by Donald Trump — thinks the current administration is ill-prepared to handle the fallout of a possible AI bubble. Plus, jury selection continues  in the Los Angeles Superior Court’s second bellwether trial on alleged social media youth addiction, with plaintiffs bringing claims against both Snap and Meta. For more news and analysis, subscribe to the Decoded newsletter: politico.com/decoded  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

illionaire opponents of California’s proposed wealth tax have spent more fighting it than they ever have on a political cause in the state, according to a Decoded by POLITICO analysis. Plus, Decoded by Politico can exclusively report that Open AI I is standing up an election “war room” ahead of the midterms. For more news and analysis, subscribe to the Decoded newsletter: politico.com/decoded Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices