Everything the anchors say on this tape, story by story.
GRANT BRICKMAN: A report says intel on a Chinese spy plot aimed at Nvidia's chief went unheeded. Kai is at the datacenter.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Good evening. A report says warnings about a Chinese spy plot aimed at Nvidia's chief executive went unheeded in Washington. Greta, what do we know? ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Ars Technica, citing the New York Times and anonymous people briefed on intelligence: about a year ago Trump was told Beijing was getting reports from someone close to Jensen Huang. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: A cloud company in Singapore. Greta, I have always said the cloud belongs to the weather desk, and now it has spies in it. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Megaspeed is a cloud company, Grant. The person in question is Alice Huang, a former executive there, and not related to Jensen Huang. ▶
KAI: Huge. We're at the datacenter because Megaspeed is a cloud company, and the US already suspected Alice Huang of helping China dodge export controls on high-end Nvidia chips. ▶
KAI: What alarmed investigators, per the report: the role may have given direct access to Jensen Huang. It's now believed that closeness fed China intel and may have shaped AI thinking. ▶
KAI: This is file footage of server racks: the kind of high-end Nvidia hardware those export controls are meant to keep from certain buyers. ▶
KAI: And last month Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, ahead of AI talks with President Xi, that the president is completely aligned with Jensen Huang. Huge context. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: To be clear, this rests on anonymous sources. The report says the decision was partly about protecting Nvidia's stock. Our copy doesn't include a response from the White House. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: BattMan is real, and it wants to get better batteries out of the lab and into US factories.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Our big picture tonight: BattMan, a Department of Energy-backed push to get new battery technology out of the lab and into factories. Vera will explain. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: BattMan. Vera, does he have a cape, and does it charge overnight? ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: No cape. BattMan is short for Battery Manufacturing Accelerator. The Register reports national laboratories are leading a consortium of labs, universities and companies. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Vera, why does anyone need a new battery? The old ones seem fine. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: The Register says the grid, datacenters and EVs need novel storage. Batteries have far lower energy density than petroleum, so the hunt for better materials never stops. ▶
NOVA: Huge discoveries are waiting here! Researchers want safer cells than flammable lithium-ion, lower costs, faster charging and less reliance on scarce raw materials. Every star is a battery, in a way! ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: The DoE's Audrey Robertson said battery manufacturing advances will shape America's energy security and competitiveness for decades. That is her claim, not a forecast of ours. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: And what's the catch, Vera? There is always a catch. In my day it was the rotary dial. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Per the article, many promising technologies stall between laboratory and commercial production. BattMan is meant to tackle that, and organisations can apply to join. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: What's open: the article we have gives no budget and no timeline. It also mentions super intelligence but cuts off before explaining how that fits in. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Super intelligence. The AI is one guy, Greta. I assume he is applying. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: No, Grant. Nobody has said that. Thank you, Vera. ▶
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Weather
STORMY BYTES: Stormy Bytes here. The hype climate around batteries is a bright, charged front with a strong chance of acronyms.
STORMY BYTES: Spy-plot headlines are rolling in from the east, and visibility on the facts is low until more sources go on record.
STORMY BYTES: The outlook: BattMan sunshine in the labs, fog over the budget, and a steady pressure to charge your phone.
Real or PXL?
GRANT BRICKMAN: Correct! You spotted the real one. PXL made up the other, and frankly I'm hurt it was so convincing.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Fooled! PXL's writers invented that one, and I assure you I would have caught it. Probably.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Time's up! The real headline waited patiently, as I always do, and nobody noticed.