CEOs Grovel to Trump — And It’s Working | Pivot
Scott Galloway (host), Kara Swisher (host), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator, Scott Galloway (host)
In this episode of Pivot, featuring Scott Galloway and Kara Swisher, CEOs Grovel to Trump — And It’s Working | Pivot explores cEOs, Chips, and Censorship: How Power Is Rewriting The Rules Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway dissect how tech CEOs are currying favor with Donald Trump to secure lucrative AI and chip deals, often at the expense of U.S. strategic interests and the public good. They critique Trump’s decision to let NVIDIA sell advanced chips to China, the politicized fight over CNN’s future ownership, and new efforts to screen foreign visitors’ social media. The conversation also covers Australia’s landmark social media ban for kids, the affordability crisis in the U.S., and the outsized influence of Big Tech and Gulf capital on media and policy. Throughout, they argue for stronger regulation, antitrust enforcement, and structural reforms while highlighting how ego and money consistently trump thoughtful governance.
CEOs, Chips, and Censorship: How Power Is Rewriting The Rules
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway dissect how tech CEOs are currying favor with Donald Trump to secure lucrative AI and chip deals, often at the expense of U.S. strategic interests and the public good. They critique Trump’s decision to let NVIDIA sell advanced chips to China, the politicized fight over CNN’s future ownership, and new efforts to screen foreign visitors’ social media. The conversation also covers Australia’s landmark social media ban for kids, the affordability crisis in the U.S., and the outsized influence of Big Tech and Gulf capital on media and policy. Throughout, they argue for stronger regulation, antitrust enforcement, and structural reforms while highlighting how ego and money consistently trump thoughtful governance.
Key Takeaways
AI–IP licensing deals are inevitable and media companies should move faster.
Disney’s $1B equity investment in OpenAI and licensing of classic characters to Sora signals the coming wave of formal IP deals with AI platforms; Kara notes YouTube’s slow start on licensing as a cautionary tale and argues studios should partner early to monetize and police unauthorized use.
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Selling advanced chips to China without extracting concessions is a strategic blunder.
Scott and Kara argue Trump’s move to let NVIDIA sell H200s to China trades away a core U. ...
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Corporate flattery of politicians is paying off—and voters are the losers.
They portray CEOs like Jensen Huang and Ted Sarandos as highly skilled, even ‘obsequious,’ lobbyists who praise Trump to secure favorable policies, insisting the real failure is voters electing leaders who don’t push back or staff serious experts in critical roles.
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Media mergers are being driven by testosterone, ego, and cheap capital more than strategy.
In the battle over CNN/Warner/Paramount, they say bidders are stretching far beyond rational prices to ‘win,’ repeating AOL–Time Warner–style overpays; Scott contrasts value-creating sellers like Jeff Bewkes with executives such as David Zaslav who may walk away rich after destroying shareholder value.
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Foreign capital in U.S. media demands rigorous antitrust and national security review.
While Scott isn’t inherently opposed to Gulf money in deals, Kara warns the Ellison/Saudi structure is being engineered to evade CFIUS review and puts regulators like Gail Slater in a political bind, especially when Trump openly links CNN’s fate to favorable coverage.
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Social media screening for tourists is economically self-defeating and chills speech.
They distinguish between deep screening for immigrants/green cards and routine visitors, arguing that trawling tourists’ posts for anti-Trump or anti-U. ...
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Structural reforms, not slogans, are needed to tackle affordability.
Mocking ‘affordability’ as a hoax is politically tone-deaf given rising costs; Scott calls for more housing supply, national or socialized medicine, tuition caps, and aggressive antitrust in food and healthcare, noting both parties prefer short-term subsidies or tariffs over hard structural fixes.
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Age-gating social media is one of the most powerful pro-child policies available.
They hail Australia’s under-16 social media ban as a historic ‘gift’ of childhood back to kids, crediting Jonathan Haidt’s research; Scott likens social platforms’ teen strategy to Joe Camel and tobacco, and both reject Tim Cook’s attempt to dump responsibility solely on parents given the design of these products.
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Notable Quotes
“We gave a strategic competitor AI progress, stronger military capability, and in exchange what we got was NVIDIA stock’s gonna go up.”
— Scott Galloway
“Jensen Huang is the most, and I mean this as a compliment, manipulative CEO there is.”
— Kara Swisher
“The way this is supposed to work is the one with the most money wins, and then thoughtful regulators decide if it’s bad for competition or national security.”
— Scott Galloway
“Oh, fuck you, Tim Cook. Do you think it’s parenting that bars should be able to serve my kid alcohol?”
— Scott Galloway
“The Australian government just gave back more childhood to children than any single legislation I think passed in the West in the last decade.”
— Scott Galloway
Questions Answered in This Episode
How should democracies balance economic gains from AI and chips against long-term national security risks when dealing with China?
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway dissect how tech CEOs are currying favor with Donald Trump to secure lucrative AI and chip deals, often at the expense of U. ...
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What concrete guardrails could ensure foreign or Gulf capital in media companies doesn’t translate into editorial or political influence?
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If structural reforms are needed for affordability, which single policy—housing, healthcare, education, or antitrust—would move the needle fastest and why?
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Should social media age bans like Australia’s be adopted in the U.S., and what enforcement mechanisms would realistically work without over-surveillance?
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Where is the ethical line between hard-nosed corporate lobbying and outright corporate capture of public policy, and who should draw it?
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Transcript Preview
When they go to meet with the president, the only thing they repeat over in their heads over and over is, "Don't forget to swallow."
Right. But they get what they want. Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher. And Scott was late for my birthday.
Uh, so, uh, look, this is a big one, 73. But I-
It's not 73. (laughs)
Um-
That's you, my friend.
Uh, I'm much younger than you.
N- Yeah.
I'm much younger than you.
By like two months, yeah.
I'm much younger than you.
Mm-mm. Mm-mm.
Uh-huh. And plus-
(laughs)
... plus for men, 60 is the new 40. And for women, 30 is the new 80.
Mm-hmm.
Um, (laughs)
Mm-hmm. Okay.
Why does that make me happy? Let's talk ... Happy birthday, Kara. I mean, you literally are the longest-serving tech journalist. I remember-
Mm.
... the first interview you did about technology was talking to the guy who invented fire.
(laughs) Yeah.
Um, (laughs) that's good.
That was a good technology.
That's good.
That was a hell of a good technology.
Yeah.
Any ... We've got a lot to get to today.
Or when you inv- (laughs) when you interviewed that company, the hottest startup, uh, that it had started this thing called electricity.
Right.
Um, yeah.
I got that. Very ... What else? What else? Dirt?
Um-
When I invented, when I talked to the guy who invented dirt.
No. You're so old, you interviewed Zuckerberg back when he had human emotions. Um-
He never did. He never did.
Yes, he did. Yes, he did.
He never did, so that's not true. Anyway, we've got a lot to get to today. W- there is a lot to get to, including Trump calling affordability a hoax, which is not a good idea. Australia's new social media ban. Uh, so much, there's so much going on. Um, uh, but first, Disney just announced a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and will allow users to make videos with its characters on Sora. Characters available through the deal will include Mickey Mouse and Cinderella as well as Frozen, and the agreements do not include any talent, likeness, or voices, meaning the people, like the John Cenas, whoever, the diff- pe- people that are in their movies. Uh, Scott, I don't want to know what you want to make Mickey Mouse do, but what, what do you think of this? This is interesting. And I actually texted Iger. I go, "Look at you, Mr. Tech." And, um, uh, but it- it was interesting, sort of, especially since OpenAI really needs a win right now, which we'll go into in a minute. But any thoughts on this?
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