New York Magazine

AI has minted a new power structure. A handful of private companies command the might and wealth of small nation-states and are mostly left alone to self-govern. A few hundred employees are on the brink of becoming centimillionaires and considering which causes and presidential candidates they will funnel their vast resources toward. One way to tell the story of how AI is changing our world is through some newly familiar names: Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Jensen Huang. But an astonishing amount of power rests in the hands of a few dozen other people, some virtually anonymous. For this year’s annual “Power” issue, we are surfacing 26 people whose influence on the AI landscape far outstrips their fame. We partnered with @ReadTransformer, a publication with a command of the politics within transformative AI, whose team drew on its years of reporting, as well as new interviews with more than 50 high-ranking industry leaders, to help articulate what makes these people powerful. The AI scene is small. Many are remarkably intertwined, sharing offices, homes, and funding. The list’s average age is 36. It is also overwhelmingly male. Read about the few dozen power brokers who will decide how AI shakes out, refashioning the world for the rest of us in the process: nymag.visitlink.me/AgEtqI

Dax Shepard thought the relationship discourse surrounding him and his wife, Kristen Bell, was ‘deeply insulting’ to her. vulture.com/article/dax-shep…

Now on Broadway, Angelica Chéri and Ross Baum’s ‘Wanted’ takes the brightest, shiniest approach to its story of Black life in post-bellum Texas. vulture.com/article/theater-…

Where there’s a will, there’s a way to Goop. Gwyneth Paltrow will be your guide on how to live more Goopily in a new video podcast with Spotify. vulture.com/article/gwyneth-…

In an interview, the actor said he’s in the business of not giving his ‘Harry Potter’ successor advice: ‘He’s got it. He doesn’t need any advice from me.’ vulture.com/article/daniel-r…

Paramount+ and HBO Max are going to try out their compatibility as a bundle before they think about launching their plans for a unified app. The company plans to roll out the new experience early next year. vulture.com/article/hbo-max-…

Some Black Friday sales have already started, and one Cut editor rounded up the best early deals from Sephora, Net-a-Porter, Nordstrom, and more. Read her top picks here. thecut.com/article/best-earl…

The elites of ‘The Gilded Age’ have had plenty of squabbles over soup and silverware, but in the latest episode, they reached the apex of their form and finally cried over spilled milk. The dairy in question was poured without permission into the tea of a judgy reporter profiling Christine Baranski’s Agnes ahead of the president’s dinner, leading to a near-certain PR disaster. The offender in question was Oliver, the klutzy new footman hired by Ada to replace Jack Trotter now that he’s made his fortune in clock-twinking. As the newest guy in the ensemble, former Evan Hansen Taylor Trensch joins a main cast packed with Broadway legends, gets his bag, and immediately fumbles the family’s luggage. “I mean, it’s every gay guy’s dream to get bullied by Ms. Baranski,” says Trensch. Read our full interview with ‘The Gilded Age’s newest footman: nymag.visitlink.me/i_04ef

Jensen Huang is under investigation by the Nvidia board after reportedly having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy. thecut.com/article/did-nvidi…

Ariana Grande went on ‘The Tonight Show’ with Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro to promote her upcoming film ‘Focker-in-Law.’ vulture.com/article/ariana-g…

Any hope that Donald Trump would respond to the Republicans’ midterms wipeout by quietly redecorating the White House and trying strike deals with his Democratic “friends” died on Friday when he announced that Stephen Miller would be the new White House chief of staff. But rest assured that Trump’s lame-duck years won’t be totally focused on enacting cruel policies and seeking revenge on his enemies either. There’s also going to be plenty of previously unfathomable absurdity, as evidenced by Trump’s Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social revealing that he wants Dana White to be the next White House press secretary. From a quick glance, it might look like a hiring announcement. But Trump said he’d merely offered White the role, and closed by begging, “Dana, please take the job!” White House communications director Steven Cheung promoted the president’s post on X, saying “Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite!” However, within hours an anonymous White House source told CNN that the president was “joking.” Read more from Margaret Hartmann: nymag.visitlink.me/HsPDbp

A handful of incoming Democratic senators pulled off an impressive level of color-coordination for Monday’s orientation, all showing up in complementary jewel tones. thecut.com/article/did-the-n…

Jensen Huang’s company, Nvidia, has launched an investigation, and Congress is likely to follow given national security concerns. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

Donald Trump’s reactions to his party’s midterm-election disaster were all over the place, writes political columnist Ed Kilgore. Would he drift toward retirement quietly and somewhat passively? Or resort even more to wild theories of unlimited executive power to get his way without any significant involvement from Congress? We didn’t have to wait long for the answer. Trump has now taken the step that best explains his take on the midterms and where he intends to lead his party and the country, announcing on Truth Social that Stephen Miller is his new White House chief of staff. The move “is a pretty clear signal of defiance to Democrats, to Republicans who wanted a change of direction, and to the electorate,” writes Kilgore. For one thing, Miller is especially devoted to the task of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and, beyond that, to eliminating to the maximum extent possible avenues for legal immigration, too. He is deeply responsible for losing 2024 Trump voters who supported border control and deportation of violent criminals but never bargained for the terror ICE has inflicted on immigrant communities or the unapologetic racism that underlies Miller’s approach. “And that may be the scariest thing of all about his new base of power: He has two more years to act on his deep belief in the Great Replacement theory, the idea that traitorous liberals are deliberately destroying the country through a conspiracy to drown native-born white Americans in a sea of shiftless immigrants who trade illegal votes for welfare benefits and the opportunity to commit crimes. Trump talks about this nightmare scenario all the time as part of his demagogic pitch to the MAGA base. But for Miller, it’s an article of faith.” Read more from Kilgore on what Miller’s promotion means for the final Trump years: nymag.visitlink.me/i_2Yac

Lauren Boebert will lose reelection to Democrat Eileen Laubacher, according to a CNN projection, ending the conservative’s tenure in Congress and flipping Colorado’s 4th District. Of the four House Republicans who pushed the Epstein vote over the line, Boebert was the last one standing ahead of the 2026 midterms. Caught between the wariness of Trumpworld and the gleeful animosity of Democrats, Boebert found herself in a tough spot. It didn't help that she has a party-girl persona, bolstered by such incidents as her being kicked out of a regional-theater performance of ‘Beetlejuice’ in 2023 after aggressively fondling her date. Revisit Lahut’s full report on Boebert’s last stand: nymag.visitlink.me/1THiOx

Republicans have a trifecta until January, but Democrats are likely to back impeaching Pete Hegseth and de-funding the Iran War. There will also be leadership elections, a possible government shutdown, and maybe even one more GOP power play. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

The Knicks’ Tyler Kolek swore he’s a huge Swiftie after calling Taylor Swift a “performative” fan of the team. thecut.com/article/tyler-kol…

DCU heads James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down at David Ellison’s Skydance. The DCU will now be led by Jeremy Latcham. vulture.com/article/dcu-jame…

On ‘60 Minutes,’ Ross Douthat prodded President Trump into giving unusually thoughtful answers on everything from his midterms blunders to UFOs to what he’d do to get into Heaven. Here are the six most stunning moments from Trump’s interview. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…