Good morning. Lean and mean today, like the budget for the first season of Black Mirror. (Love ya, Channel 4.)
Today’s tech news below. —Andrew Nusca
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Nvidia CEO blasts Trump policy, praises Trump vision
It’s a tricky time to be a corporate chief executive, as tariffs, trade wars, and the red meat politics of the Trump presidency sow chaos across markets and supply chains.
But no CEO may have it more difficult than Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, whose company announced a $4.5 billion hit to inventory on Wednesday as a result of a new U.S. policy on chip exports.
On a company earnings call, the CEO walked a fine line to critique the Trump policy that left a massive hole on his company’s income statement while being careful not to provoke the president.
Huang kicked things off with sharp criticism of Trump’s new export controls that have forced Nvidia to stop selling its H20 chips in China.
“The U.S. has based its policy on the assumption that China cannot make AI chips. That assumption was always questionable, and now it’s clearly wrong.” He added: “Export controls should strengthen U.S. platforms, not drive half of the world’s AI talent to rivals.”
Nvidia said the new rule will cause it to forfeit $10.5 billion in revenue in the first half of this year.
Huang was careful not to call out President Trump by name in his critique, referring only to U.S. policy. But when Trump’s name did cross Huang’s lips, it was to bestow praise.
“President Trump has outlined a bold vision to reshore advanced manufacturing, create jobs, and strengthen national security,” he said during the call, noting that he was “honored” to join him in U.S.-United Arab Emirates AI investment projects that include Nvidia chips. “President Trump wants U.S. tech to lead.” —Alexandra Sternlicht
Elon Musk has finally exited the Trump administration
Elon Musk has officially wrapped up his time with President Donald Trump’s administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk wrote in a social media post. “The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
The move was not unexpected. Musk in April had previously pledged to spend “a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the President would like me to do so, as long as it is useful” to assuage Tesla investors who wanted the CEO to focus on the electric vehicle manufacturer.
But the particular timing of the announcement seemed to coincide with a recent CBS News interview, in which Musk said that Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, I don’t know if it can be both,” Musk told CBS.
Under Musk, DOGE claimed to have saved over $160 billion—far lower than the $1 trillion that Musk initially aimed to save in government waste. The DOGE team pushed for the departures and retirements of thousands of federal workers and cut spending on foreign food and medical aid. —Sharon Goldman and Amanda Gerut
Meet the new Instacart CEO
Earlier this month, OpenAI announced it had hired Instacart CEO Fidji Simo to be its first CEO of Applications, a role OpenAI CEO Sam Altman carved out for her.
Although it was expected Simo would remain at the delivery company for “a few months” while the board found her successor, Instacart announced Wednesday it had already found her replacement: Chris Rogers.
Rogers will take the reins on August 15. Simo will remain chair of the board “to ensure a smooth transition,” the company says.
Instacart’s new chief joined the company in 2019 and currently serves as chief business officer. He oversees commercial operations like retailer relationships and expansions, ad sales, research and development, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, Instacart Business, and Instacart Health.
Rogers hasn’t always been in the grocery business, but he has a 20-year career in consumer goods, technology, retail, and media.
He started his career at consumer goods giant Procter and Gamble, where he led relationships with Canada’s largest national grocery retailers. He was there until 2008.
Most recently, Rogers was managing director of Apple Canada, where he built and executed a country-specific strategy that drove iPhone adoption in the market. He spent 11 years at that company. —Sydney Lake
More tech
—U.S. court blocks Trump tariffs. Will the White House defy the ruling?
—Apple revamps OS names. Out: Iteration-based formats (MacOS 15, iOS 18, watchOS 11). In: Year-based conventions (MacOS 26, iOS 26, watchOS 26).
—Google Photos gets a glow up. AI editing features for its 10th anniversary.
—Salesforce beats estimates. $9.83 billion in Q1 revenue and a sunnier 2026 forecast.
—HP stock drops 15%. Weak earnings and outlook, despite Q2 revenue that beat estimates.
—Grok on Telegram? A one-year deal with xAI has been struck.
—Tesla insiders cash out. Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal exercises millions’ worth of stock options.
—U.S. to chip design firms: Stop sharing with China. A commerce crackdown on Cadence, Synopsys, Siemens EDA.
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