What we’re reading (11/26)
“Nvidia Says It Isn’t Using ‘Circular Financing’ Schemes. 2 Famous Short Sellers Disagree.” (Yahoo! Finance). “Nvidia wrote a seven-page document — first reported by Barron's on Tuesday morning — rebuffing claims that it invests in its own customers to inflate its revenue. The memo was written in response to a newsletter from a little-known Substack author last week claiming that the $5 trillion AI chipmaker is engaged in a "circular financing scheme" — using vendor financing to boost sales — drawing parallels between Nvidia and famous dot-com era accounting frauds committed by Enron and Lucent.”
“Why Is Crypto Crashing?” (The Week). “The crypto industry is having a ‘terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month,’ said USA Today. Bitcoin has lost more than 10% of its value for the year, dropping from a high of $126,000 in October to under $90,000 last week. The drop in digital currency values is due to a ‘whirlwind of factors’ that include shaky showings for artificial intelligence and technology stocks amid growing concerns about the overall economy. ‘No one can say’ when the dust might settle.”
“Tech Trumps Tariffs: Why US Exceptionalism Will Last” (Nouriel Roubini, Financial Times). “[T]he US is experiencing a few quarters of a growth recession (GDP expansion below potential) and a modest rise in inflation rather than a serious stagflationary recession. By next year growth will recover as monetary easing and fiscal stimulus are still under way while financial conditions have eased and the tailwinds from AI-related capital expenditure will continue.”
“Uber Headhunted PhDs To Join 'Project Sandbox.’ After A Month, It Said That Their AI Training Contracts Were Over.” (Business Insider). “The workers are part of Project Sandbox, Uber’s name for the AI training work it carries out for Google. The project represents an early effort by Uber to develop AI tools for other companies under its AI Solutions division. About a dozen contractors were involved in the project, two workers told Business Insider, though it wasn't immediately clear how many were cut. ‘The client has recently communicated a change in their internal priorities, which directly affects ongoing work on this program,’ Uber emailed the affected contractors on Monday.”
“The Untold Story Of Charlie Munger’s Final Years” (Wall Street Journal). “The unexpected last chapter of Munger’s life is less well-known. In the year before his death, Munger made over $50 million from a bet on an out-of-favor industry he had shunned for 60 years. He revved up his real-estate activities, working with a young neighbor to place big, long-term wagers, unusual for a nonagenarian. He faced down health challenges and wrestled with the future.”
