NVIDIA Just Became AI's Central Bank

This week Michael, Liam, and Brian open on NVIDIA becoming the "Federal Reserve of AI," the $500 billion in seller financing behind the buildout, and Gavin Baker's warning about where it leads. They dig into whether the AI boom is a bubble or growth, the $3 trillion in off-balance-sheet AI spending, and the case for an eventual government backstop. The guys run through the week's deals: Stripe's finalized $7 billion acquisition of OpenRouter, Elon's Grokbot, and why agents eventually need Bitcoin. They cover Tether's first KPMG audit, a wave of ETF plumbing from BlackRock plus Goldman's purchase of Neos, and a run of single points of failure from the Trezor and SafePal breaches to a $1 million Gmail hack. They close on Early Riders' 50 most interesting companies in Bitcoin history and OpenAI's talent exodus ahead of its IPO.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction 01:01 - NVIDIA as the Federal Reserve of AI 04:05 - Bubble or Growth: Distorted Money and Where Value Accrues 08:40 - The $3 Trillion in Off-Balance-Sheet AI Spending 10:38 - Why Frontier AI May Not Be Sustainable 14:33 - The ASI Endgame and a Government Backstop 19:10 - Stripe Finalizes Its $7B OpenRouter Acquisition 22:17 - Agents, Routing, and Why They Need Bitcoin 25:57 - Elon's Grokbot and Simplified Agent Deployment 32:15 - Tether's First KPMG Audit 37:07 - ETF Plumbing: BlackRock and Goldman Buys Neos 39:17 - World Liberty's Bank Charter and the Delayed CLARITY Vote 40:52 - Single Point of Failure: Trezor, SafePal, and a $1M Hack 46:56 - The 50 Most Interesting Companies in Bitcoin History 50:05 - OpenAI's Talent Exodus and Scarce-Asset Mania 55:37 - Closing Thoughts