August 22, 2025

WIRED Roundup: Chip Manufacturers Bonanza

19 minutes

In today’s episode, Zöe is joined by WIRED’s Louise Matsakis to run through five of the best stories we published this week — from OpenAI’s being poised to become the highest valued startup in history, to how government staffing cuts have fueled an ant smuggling boom. Then, Zöe and Louise discuss the controversial deals that the Trump administration appears to be striking with chip manufacturers.

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Articles mentioned in this episode:

How DOGE Set Up a Shadow X Account for a Government Agency | WIRED

OpenAI Is Poised to Become the Most Valuable Startup Ever. Should It Be? | WIRED

Silicon Valley Is Panicking About Zohran Mamdani. NYC’s Tech Scene Is Not | WIRED

Government Staffing Cuts Have Fueled an Ant-Smuggling Boom | WIRED

Why Trump Flip-Flopped on Nvidia Selling H20 Chips to China | WIRED

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.

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