Squawk Pod: Jensen Huang, FDA commissioner Makary, & Beast Industries CEO - 02/26/26 |Audio Only
Speakers
Becky Quick — Host
— CNBC Squawk Box host
Joe Kernen — Host
— CNBC Squawk Box co-anchor
Andrew Ross Sorkin — Host
— CNBC Squawk Box host
Jensen Huang — CEO, Nvidia
— CEO NVIDIA
Summary
- AI's Third Inflection: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang argues AI has moved beyond chatbots (ChatGPT) and reasoning (O1) to "Agentic AI"—systems that take action and perform work. This drives a new wave of compute demand, sustaining 75% revenue growth despite the law of large numbers.
- The "SaaS Apocalypse": A growing narrative suggests AI agents will replace human seats, threatening the per-seat pricing models of legacy software companies like Salesforce.
- FDA Regulatory Overhaul: Commissioner Makary is radically reducing barriers for rare disease drugs, moving from two required clinical trials to one and allowing approvals based on "plausible mechanisms" rather than standard randomized control trials for ultra-rare conditions.
- Creator Economy Institutionalization: Mr. Beast's business is evolving into a conglomerate ("Beast Industries") with fintech acquisitions and Amazon partnerships, signaling a shift from individual influencers to diversified entertainment platforms.
Trade Ideas
Nvidia reported 75% revenue growth in its core data center business with 75% gross margins. Huang states AI is in its "third inflection" (Agentic AI), creating demand that is "off the charts" and broad-based across industries, not just hyperscalers. Skeptics argue the "law of large numbers" will cap growth, but Huang's "Agentic AI" thesis implies a total replacement of the software stack, justifying continued exponential capex. The valuation (PE ratio) is noted to be lower than other chip peers despite superior growth. LONG. The bottleneck is no longer chip supply but infrastructure, and demand remains uncapped by the shift to agentic systems. Hyperscaler capex exhaustion or regulatory intervention.
Reports of a "SaaS Apocalypse" are circulating, with Salesforce (CRM) trading lower. Jensen Huang confirms AI is "fundamentally a new way of doing software" where agents perform tasks. If AI agents replace human workers, the "per-seat" licensing model that underpins legacy SaaS valuations collapses. Companies like Salesforce are vulnerable if they cannot pivot their pricing power to consumption-based AI models. SHORT. The market is beginning to price in the deflationary impact of AI on traditional B2B software seats. Legacy incumbents successfully pivoting to agent-based pricing.
The Pentagon is in a showdown with Anthropic, asking defense contractors (Boeing/Lockheed) about their exposure and threatening to label Anthropic a supply chain risk if they don't grant broad access. This highlights the friction between commercial AI safety protocols and military necessity. Defense primes may be forced to sever ties with "safe" AI providers in favor of unrestricted models, or build proprietary solutions. WATCH. Monitor how defense primes navigate the "AI Supply Chain Risk" designation; it could force M&A or new partnerships. Loss of access to cutting-edge AI models due to safety disputes.
Beast Games Season 2/3 is on Amazon Prime, while the core audience (468M subscribers) remains on YouTube (Google). The "Beast Industries" strategy confirms that top-tier creator content is merging with top-tier distribution platforms. These platforms (Amazon/Google) are becoming the exclusive homes for the new "Disney-like" IP franchises, locking in younger demographics (Gen Z/Alpha). LONG. These platforms own the distribution for the next generation of media conglomerates. Platform policy changes or demonetization of creators.
Beast Industries has invested in Bitmine and is entering fintech. Henbold explicitly states, "Ethereum is the backbone of stablecoin... we're big fans of Ethereum." When major mainstream entertainment conglomerates (1B+ followers) integrate fintech built on Ethereum rails, it validates the network's utility as a settlement layer for the creator economy, driving transaction volume and demand for ETH. LONG. Institutional and cultural adoption of Ethereum for stablecoin settlement. Regulatory crackdowns on DeFi or stablecoins.
Up Next
This CNBC video, published February 26, 2026, features Jensen Huang, Becky Quick, Jeff Henbold discussing NVDA, CRM, LMT, BA, AMZN, GOOGL, ETH. 5 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers: Jensen Huang, Becky Quick, Jeff Henbold · Tickers: NVDA, CRM, LMT, BA, AMZN, GOOGL, ETH