Got this newsletter from a friend? Subscribe for free →

Happy Friday! Welcome to Day 1 of a new AI world without Jensen Huang, who resigned from Nvidia yesterday.

Given Huang's outsize personality and role as king of the AI mountain, it was surprising to see him quietly leave the company he founded after 33 years via a press release. Bloomberg has more details of how Huang was confronting the situation, which exploded after revelations of two extramarital affairs, including one with an alleged Chinese spy.

According to Bloomberg, "[a]t the end, Jensen Huang looked broken and shattered, his legendary energy depleted." The former CEO had reportedly started using phrases like "whatever" and "I don't care," calling himself a "piece of sh-t" in recent days.

Nvidia's throne now falls to Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, who has been named interim CEO. And while Huang may be out at Nvidia, this isn't the last we'll hear of him. He’s agreed to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee behind closed doors before Thanksgiving.

Let's get started.

→ Nvidia has a new CEO
→ The FAA is launching a new AI tool nationwide
→ Companies want personal AI agents as far away from them as possible

...and all the AI news we couldn’t fit here.

The news: Nvidia's board appointed CFO Colette Kress as the company's interim CEO following the resignation of Jensen Huang on Thursday, ending recent days defined by sex scandals and plunges in the company's stock.

Hired directly by Huang, Kress joined Nvidia in 2013 after multiyear stints at Microsoft and Cisco. She's largely a reassuring presence to investors, having delivered rosy messages about Nvidia's performance and growth over the past four years. Kress will be serving concurrently as both CFO and interim CEO, The New York Times reports.

In her first message to Nvidia employees as interim CEO, a copy of which was obtained by The Verge, Kress thanked them for their "resilience" and "professionalism" during this "difficult period."

"We play a vital role in building the technology that is powering the AI revolution, and we have important work ahead of us," Kress wrote, proceeding to call on employees to move forward together.

The takeaway: Given Nvidia's lack of a succession plan, Kress was the most obvious choice to take over the company on a temporary basis. Her tenure will be the first test of whether Nvidia can continue to thrive without Huang, who previously served as its chief dealmaker, diplomat, cheerleader, and more.

The news: The FAA is rolling out its $875 million SMART AI tool to the entire U.S. airspace system. SMART is an AI system that predicts air traffic using "weather patterns, flight paths, arrival/departure statistics," according to the FAA, and provides recommendations on scheduling, optimal flight routes, and best order of arrivals.

The agency added that a human team of experts validates the system's recommendations before passing them on to air traffic controllers, who have the final say over whether they accept SMART's suggestions.

While that may sound harmless, Ars Technica reports that the National Air Traffic Controllers Association was not involved in the “design, testing, or implementation of SMART and therefore cannot speak to its effect on the air traffic control workforce.”

The takeaway: Democrats have expressed concern about the tool, noting that air traffic controllers had little to no input on SMART's development and had received limited training on the system. While the air traffic control system clearly needs additional support and modernization, there is no guarantee that adding more tech to the mix, especially AI, which has a hallucination problem, will make things better. It could make them worse.

The news: United Airlines said this week it would ban AI agents from making bookings on behalf of customers over concerns about privacy, data leaks, and unwarranted purchases, joining companies like JPMorgan Chase and Amazon.

However, recent data show that United may not have to worry about being overrun by agents. In its third quarter earnings call, Uber revealed that few people use agents to call Ubers or order food through Uber Eats. During the week of Halloween, Uber’s busiest period in October, AI agents only requested four rides and 500 food orders out of roughly 320 million transactions.

DoorDash and Airbnb report similar findings, even as they've opened their doors for agents.

The takeaway: Personal AI agents still haven't demonstrated the transformational capacities their creators talk about at length. In addition, some of these tasks, such as ordering food or an Uber, are essentially frictionless for most users, making them less likely to use AI agents to complete them.

In an op-ed for The New York Times, Witt reflects on what led to Jensen Huang's downfall, noting a "culture of omertà" that enabled Huang to be his "worst self."
Read more →

Datacentres are deeply unpopular. Has Sweden made one we can all love?

Before His Ouster, Jensen Huang Belittled the Executive Replacing Him

Tear Down Those Guardrails! Meet the Renegades Freeing Chatbots From Corporate Enslavers

Voters Rejected Data Centers. Many Will Be Built Anyway.

Nothing’s First AI Gadget Needs to Break the Mold

‘Bring Back THE Boss’: Nvidia Employees Petition for Jensen Huang’s Return

Google rolls out Gemini 4 Hydrogen, finally replacing 3.8 Flash

US Justice Department has not concluded Alice Huang was Chinese spy, Blanche says

AI chatbots are recommending fake retail websites, study finds

China Is Racing to Exploit an Nvidia Loophole Before the Trump Admin Slams It Shut