Nvidia’s Investable Chips, the VA Governor, & AI Gone Rogue 8/11/26

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information-packed daily market preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions, and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and subscribe at schwab.com/marketupdatepodcast, or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:28)
Hey, before your Q3 call, I've got the campaign brief ready, built from last quarter's data and the competitive landscape.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:35)
Great. Did you include the differentiation angle the CMO asked for?

**SPEAKER_2** (0:39)
Already in there. Three angles no competitors using right now. Just need your approval.

**Katie Kramer** (0:44)
Approved. Thanks. Oh, agents, where would we be without you?

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**Katie Kramer** (0:53)
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**SPEAKER_2** (0:59)
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**Katie Kramer** (1:03)
Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod, the governor and the nearly $70 billion merger, Virginia's Abigail Spanberger taking the rare step of intervening in the sale of Dominion Energy to an out-of-state company.

**Abigail Spanberger** (1:19)
For a merger this size, wholly unprecedented in Virginia's history, it is important that Virginians know that there is someone advocating for their priorities throughout the entirety of the process.

**Katie Kramer** (1:31)
And it is primary day in a few states, the moderate Democrat on the political landscape.

**Abigail Spanberger** (1:37)
Anyone who's running for office should be telling voters what it is that they are for, what it is they intend to do, who they are as people, what experience they bring to bear.

**Katie Kramer** (1:46)
The AI race between the US and China playing out in hacks. Sriram Krishnan, former White House advisor for AI, joins us.

**Sriram Krishnan** (1:55)
I think this is a great moment for open source. The hugging face as a company used a Chinese open source model to defend themselves because it turns out that closed models refused to help them.

**Katie Kramer** (2:08)
Plus, the newest asset class, chips, the latest in the Mideast with CNBC's Dan Murphy.

**Dan Murphy** (2:13)
Well, the question for energy markets this morning is really whether the situation in the Strait is just the new normal.

**Katie Kramer** (2:20)
Elon Musk's big payday and the president's great escape into a catering cart.

**Andrew Ross Sorkin** (2:25)
The entire purpose of taking him off the plane was because you believe that somebody is going to hit the plane. Right, right.

**Sriram Krishnan** (2:32)
And you're putting all those other people in danger.

**Katie Kramer** (2:35)
It's Tuesday, August 11th, 2026 Squawk Pod begins right now.

**Sriram Krishnan** (2:41)
Stand under by in 3, 2, 1, Q&A.

**Andrew Ross Sorkin** (2:46)
Good morning. Welcome to Squawk Box right here on CNBC. We're live at the NASDAQ market site in Times Square. I'm Andrew Ross Sorkin, along with Melissa Lee. Joe and Becky are off today. We got a lot going on.

**Abigail Spanberger** (2:56)
Nvidia partnering with six asset management giants on a $500 billion financing push that aims to turn compute infrastructure into Wall Street's newest asset class. Nvidia signing memorandums of understanding with Apollo Global, Blackstone, BlackRock, Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, and KKR to set up financing platforms for Nvidia's customers. The effort aims to mobilize more than $500 billion in third-party capital for hyperscalers, frontier AI labs, and enterprises to build data centers and acquire Nvidia hardware. Here's Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in a roundtable discussion with Becky.

**Jensen Huang** (3:31)
We used to build chips that we sell and these are technology components that people buy and use. But now, Nvidia's AI factory platform is really an investible asset, an infrastructure asset.

**Abigail Spanberger** (3:45)
Here's the take from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.

**Larry Fink** (3:49)
I actually see this as also an opportunity for those who are over invested in equities. They're going to be moving into this asset class too.
So this is just going to be expanding the opportunities to invest in a high credit quality investment with long term returns.

**Abigail Spanberger** (4:10)
Fink said the project reminds him of the creation of mortgage-backed securities in the 1970s. He called it imperative that the US maintain its AI lead.

**Andrew Ross Sorkin** (4:21)
Meantime, President Trump responding to Iran's demand for war reparations with its own call for compensation from the Islamic Republic. CNBC's Dan Murphy joins us now with more from Abu Dhabi. Dan.

**Dan Murphy** (4:32)
Andrew, good morning to you. The question for energy markets this morning is really whether the situation in the Strait is just the new normal. The Wall Street Journal reporting Gulf producers are now increasingly resigned to the idea of Iran retaining significant leverage over the Strait, the alternative, of course, being another round of US-Iran fighting that puts their economies and energy infrastructure at risk. I've spoken with shipping industry representatives this morning who say tolls and fees are still a non-starter for the industry, and that's also a view being shared by Gulf and Arab leaders that I've spoken to over the last few months as well. And then, of course, President Trump, who has seemingly shifted from military strikes to economic pressure tactics now, also insisting overnight that the US is firmly in control of Hormuz. But, Andrew, as you say, these negotiations are getting more complicated, not less.