Nora: They outspent the opposition ten to one to kill a tax on themselves. So much for civic duty.
Dex: I'm Dex!
Nora: And I'm Nora.
Dex: And this is Startup Drama for Tuesday, November 10th. We've got a lot to get to today.
Nora: Let's do it.
Dex: California voters just gave a big 'no thanks' to a proposed billionaire tax.
Nora: And it looks like Anthropic is finally ready for its close-up on the public markets.
Dex: Plus, a new report on NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang reveals some… let's just say very proactive crisis planning.
Nora: [sighs] Proactive is one word for it.
Dex: So, the much-debated Proposition 40 in California has officially failed.
Nora: That's the one-time 5% wealth tax on billionaires. The AP called it on Monday, and yeah… it got crushed.
Dex: Crushed is the word. Tech leaders and their allies outspent the backers of the bill by a staggering ten-to-one margin.
Nora: Ten to one. Let that sink in. For every dollar spent trying to tax billionaires, they spent ten dollars to make sure it never happened.
Dex: Well, the argument that voters clearly bought was that it would drive innovators and job creators out of the state.
Nora: Oh, spare me the 'job creators' argument. They aren't packing up their Atherton mansions for Reno over a one-time tax. This is about hoarding wealth. Period.
Dex: But the campaign worked! They framed it as a capital flight risk. You had founders, VCs, even prominent economists coming out against it.
Nora: Of course they did—it was a tax on them! So, if you're a regular person in California, the state now has to find other ways to plug its budget holes. Spoiler alert: it probably won't involve the ultra-rich.
Dex: So, a decisive win for big tech's political machine.
Nora: A decisive win for about 170 people. And a loss for 39 million others. But who's counting?
Dex: Alright, next up, an AI giant is finally making its move. The Wall Street Journal reports that Anthropic plans to go forward with its IPO.
Nora: Right. The quote-unquote 'safer' AI company. They're expected to set their valuation range this week. It's about time.
Dex: This is a huge deal. It might be the most anticipated tech IPO since… well, since the last big AI IPO. The market is absolutely starving for this.
Nora: Is it starving, or is it just in a hype-fueled sugar rush? What are we talking for a valuation? Something reasonable or something insane?
Dex: The whispers are landing squarely on 'insane.' I keep hearing a number north of 100 billion dollars.
Nora: A hundred billion. For a company that, yes, is technologically impressive, but is also burning cash at an unbelievable rate and competing with Google, Microsoft, and every startup with a GPU.
Dex: But they have the narrative! The ex-OpenAI researchers, the focus on safety, the Amazon and Google backing… it's a hell of a story for investors.
Nora: It's a great story. A story isn't a business model. For tech workers and founders, the takeaway is clear: the AI gold rush is still on, and the public markets are ready to throw money at it. For now.
Dex: I'm optimistic. This could really open the IPO window for a lot of other AI players.
Nora: [dry] Or it could be the bell ringing at the top of the market. We'll see.
Dex: Alright, our last story today… is a doozy. Wired is reporting that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang hired a high-profile PR firm a year ago.
Nora: And not just any PR firm. A crisis firm known for handling… let's call them 'high-profile sex scandals.'
Dex: Exactly. And the timing is what's so wild. He reportedly hired them right after that New York Times piece from last October… the one detailing his niece's business dealings with NVIDIA.
Nora: The one that raised a million questions about conflicts of interest. So he read that story and his first thought was, 'Get me the sex scandal guys.' What does that tell you?
Dex: It tells me he's playing chess while everyone else plays checkers. He's thinking moves ahead, anticipating the next potential allegation. That's just smart crisis management.
Nora: No, smart crisis management is not having murky business dealings with your family in the first place! Hiring a firm known for burying scandals doesn't look like good governance, Dex. It looks like you're expecting a scandal.
Dex: But nothing has broken! This is all about preparing for the worst. He's armoring up.
Nora: He's 'armoring up' by hiring a firm whose client list is a who's who of powerful men accused of misconduct. The perception is the problem! So what are we supposed to make of that?
Dex: If you're an NVIDIA investor, you could see this as your CEO being incredibly proactive. If you're a rival, you see a vulnerability to exploit.
Nora: And if you believe in accountability, it means that at the highest levels of tech, problems aren't solved, they're just… managed. With very, very expensive PR.
Dex: Alright, let's do a quick recap.
Nora: California's billionaire tax is dead, thanks to a ten-to-one spending blitz from the tech elite.
Dex: AI darling Anthropic is officially kicking off its massive IPO.
Nora: And NVIDIA's Jensen Huang has had a 'sex scandal' PR firm on retainer for the past year. You know, just in case.
Dex: So, before we go… did you see Boston Dynamics taught its robot dog, Spot, how to speak?
Nora: Ugh, yes, the talking robot dog. They gave it this bizarre, deep, synthesized voice. It's like a dystopian butler.
Dex: [laughs] It is so creepy! It just walks around giving museum tours. I can't decide if it's the future of education or the beginning of the end.
Nora: I'm voting 'beginning of the end.' Can you imagine it ratting you out?
Dex: That's it for Startup Drama today! We'll be back tomorrow with more.
Nora: Until then, maybe don't hire a crisis PR firm until you actually have a crisis. Just a thought.
This show is made with AI: the hosts’ voices are synthetic and the scripts are AI-assisted. Every story links to its original source.