Slate Money Three-Headed AI Unicorn
57 snips
Sep 27, 2025 
Max Chafkin, a BusinessWeek/Bloomberg writer, joins the discussion to unpack NVIDIA's staggering $100 billion investment in OpenAI, hinting at the possibility of an AI bubble. He also delves into the chaos surrounding the Trump administration's new $100,000 H-1B visa fee and its broader implications for immigration policy. Additionally, Max shares the wild tale of how an Enron parody morphed into a memecoin disaster, raising questions about the value of memes in the cryptocurrency world. It's a whirlwind of tech, finance, and unexpected satire!
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Felix's H‑1B Beginnings
- Felix recalls getting an H-1B to write for a small web company paid $30,000, showing visas can enable people to build careers in the U.S.
- He frames H-1Bs as sometimes filling roles Americans wouldn't take, not always high-skilled wage arbitrage.
Chaotic Rollout Sparked Travel And Legal Panic
- The Trump administration's $100,000 H-1B rollout was chaotic and poorly communicated, triggering immediate travel and legal confusion.
- Such rollouts damage business planning and highlight how policy noise can create real disruption.
Big Firms Can Absorb Shocks; Startups Can't
- Large H‑1B employers may stay silent because they can absorb costs and await judicial resolution.
- The most harmed are tiny startups that cannot afford abrupt policy shocks.
